Why this ride
201 km from Brugge to Brugge, about 3 h 28 of riding. It goes by way of \Halletoren\ ou Belfort, Stadhuis, Het Belfort of Halletoren and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Béguinage de Bruges and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 201 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 28
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Béguinage de Bruges
The Princely Beguinage of Bruges, Ten Wijngaerde, is the sort of place that makes people lower their voices without being asked. White-washed houses surround a grassy courtyard planted with old trees, and in spring thousands of daffodils bloom under them. A beguinage was a community where lay women lived a religious life without taking full vows, and Flanders had many of them from the thirteenth century. This one was founded around 1245 under Margaret of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders, and the UNESCO listing of Flemish Beguinages covers it, along with Diest and others.
Read the complete Béguinage de Bruges write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Bruges is where the day begins. Next is \Halletoren\ ou Belfort.
2. \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Tielt is a working town in the heart of West Flanders, a place of farmers' markets, textile history and flat roads, and its belfry rises above the market square like a stubborn finger pointing at the clouds. The Halletoren, the hall tower, stands on top of the old cloth hall, the building where merchants once inspected and traded woollen cloth, the source of Flanders' wealth in the Middle Ages. The belfry is one of the group of Belgian and French belfries that UNESCO listed together, symbols of the civic freedom that the cities of Flanders won from their lords, where the town charters were kept and the bells rang to call citizens to arms or to work.
Read the complete \Halletoren\ ou Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
\Halletoren\ ou Belfort comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stadhuis.
3. Stadhuis
Bruges is half an hour north, and the two make a good pairing, but Roeselare deserves to be taken on its own terms: a working town of some fifty-six thousand people, built on textiles, food processing and trade, with a town hall on its market square that anchors the centre. Like most Flemish towns, Roeselare grew around a market and a civic building that announced the burghers' independence from lords and bishops, and the tradition of the town hall as the symbol of local self-government is still very much alive here.
Read the complete Stadhuis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Stadhuis. Next is Het Belfort of Halletoren.
4. Het Belfort of Halletoren
On the Grote Markt of Kortrijk a tower stands alone in the middle of the square, as if the building it belonged to had wandered off. In a sense it did. The Belfort, or Halletoren, was once part of the cloth hall, the trading heart of a medieval textile town, and when the hall disappeared the tower stayed. It is one of the belfries of Belgium and France on the UNESCO list, and it has a pair of local celebrities at the top: two gilded figures, Manten and Kalle, who strike the hours on the bell. Kortrijk people are fond of them, and you will see their likenesses on all sorts of souvenirs.
Read the complete Het Belfort of Halletoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Het Belfort of Halletoren, about halfway. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines.
5. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Comines is one of those towns the border runs straight through. The river Lys, the Leie to the Flemish, divides French Comines from Belgian Comines-Warneton, and you can cross from one country to the other on a bridge without noticing much more than a change in the shape of the street signs. On the French side the town hall and its belfry stand over the main square, a tall brick tower in the Flemish style with a pointed roof and a carillon, part of the group of belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines 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 Comines sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Het Belfort of Halletoren.
6. back through Het Belfort of Halletoren
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Het Belfort of Halletoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Het Belfort of Halletoren comes up about 127 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Stadhuis.
7. back through Stadhuis
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 149 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Stadhuis. Next is back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort.
8. back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete \Halletoren\ ou Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort, late in the day. Next is Béguinage de Bruges.
9. Béguinage de Bruges
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Bruges write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 201 km.
Leg by leg
Béguinage de Bruges to \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
Béguinage de Bruges → \Halletoren\ ou Belfort is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
\Halletoren\ ou Belfort to Stadhuis
\Halletoren\ ou Belfort → Stadhuis is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis to Het Belfort of Halletoren
Stadhuis → Het Belfort of Halletoren is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Het Belfort of Halletoren to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Het Belfort of Halletoren → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines to back through Het Belfort of Halletoren
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines → back through Het Belfort of Halletoren is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Het Belfort of Halletoren to back through Stadhuis
back through Het Belfort of Halletoren → back through Stadhuis is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis to back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort
back through Stadhuis → back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort to Béguinage de Bruges
back through \Halletoren\ ou Belfort → Béguinage de Bruges is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.