Why this ride
227 km from Boulogne-sur-Mer to Boulogne-sur-Mer, about 3 h 19 of riding. The stops in between: Beffroi de Gravelines, Terril 244 and back through Beffroi de Gravelines.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne and Terril 244
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 227 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 19
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer has two faces: the busy fishing port down by the Liane estuary, the largest in France, and the Haute-Ville on the hill above, enclosed by thirteenth-century ramparts that you can walk all the way around. The belfry stands in the upper town, attached to the town hall, its lower part dating from the thirteenth century and the upper stages added later. It is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO, symbols of the freedom of medieval towns, which rang their bells to call citizens to arms, to work, or to assembly. You can climb it for a view over the rooftops, the port and the Channel.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Gravelines.
2. Beffroi de Gravelines
Gravelines sits right where the river Aa meets the Channel, between Calais and Dunkirk, and it still wears its walls. The town is wrapped in Vauban-era fortifications, a star of brick ramparts, bastions and water-filled moats that you can walk or ride around, and in the middle of it rises the belfry, one of the towers listed by UNESCO among the belfries of northern France and Belgium. It is a solid, sober tower rather than a showpiece, built to watch, warn and ring the hours for a frontier town that changed hands more than once.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gravelines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Gravelines comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 244.
3. Terril 244
Way out at the western tip of the coalfield, near the villages of Mametz and Norrent-Fontes, Terril 244 marks the place where coal mining reached its limit. Beyond it, the land belongs to farmers, and the next towns, Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer, have more to do with canals, marshes and markets than with mines. The heap stands as a solitary landmark in the fields, smaller than the giants further east, and its green-covered slopes blend into the landscape. It is one of the outlying components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that the coalfield stretched for over a hundred kilometres from the Belgian border to here.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach Terril 244. Next is back through Beffroi de Gravelines.
4. back through Beffroi de Gravelines
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gravelines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de Gravelines, late in the day. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne.
5. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne to Beffroi de Gravelines
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne → Beffroi de Gravelines is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Gravelines to Terril 244
Beffroi de Gravelines → Terril 244 is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 244 to back through Beffroi de Gravelines
Terril 244 → back through Beffroi de Gravelines is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Gravelines to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne
back through Beffroi de Gravelines → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Boulogne is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.