Why this ride
260 km from Hoogstraten to Hoogstraten, about 4 h 38 of riding. On the way it passes Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal, Béguinage de Diest, Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort and Maison & Atelier Horta. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Béguinage de Hoogstraten and Maison & Atelier Horta
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 260 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 38
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
The ride follows Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal for 30 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 30 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Béguinage de Hoogstraten
A béguinage is one of the most peaceful places in the Low Countries: a walled enclosure of small houses around a green courtyard and a church, built in the Middle Ages for béguines, women who lived a religious life of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. They could own property, leave if they wished and support themselves by weaving, teaching or nursing, which made the béguinages a unique form of female independence in medieval Europe. The béguinage at Hoogstraten, in the north of Antwerp province near the Dutch border, is one of thirteen Flemish béguinages on the World Heritage list, and it is a quiet, charming place, with whitewashed houses, a baroque church and a garden where time seems to slow.
Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Hoogstraten is where the day begins. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
2. Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Rik Van Looy, one of the great Belgian cyclists of the 1950s and 1960s, was known as the Emperor of Herentals, which tells you something about the priorities of this town in the Kempen. Herentals lies on the flat heathland of the province of Antwerp, and in the middle of its market square stands the old town hall, built in the fourteenth century as a cloth hall, a lakenhal, when the town grew rich on wool and weaving. Its belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a symbol of civic pride and of the freedoms that merchants bought from their lords.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Diest.
3. Béguinage de Diest
Diest has one of the largest béguinages in Flanders, a walled town within the town, with its own streets, gates, church and some ninety houses. The béguines were laywomen who lived a religious life without taking permanent vows, earning their own living and sharing a community, and their béguinages flourished in the Low Countries from the thirteenth century onward. The Flemish béguinages are listed together by UNESCO. In Diest, the béguinage has been restored with care, and its cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and quiet gardens feel worlds away from the traffic outside.
Read the complete Béguinage de Diest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Diest. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.
4. Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Leuven is a university town through and through. Its university, founded in 1425, is the oldest in the Low Countries, and its students fill the streets, cafés and squares, giving the city a youthful energy. At its heart is the Grote Markt, dominated by two buildings: the Town Hall, a Gothic masterpiece covered in hundreds of statues, and opposite it, the Church of St Peter, a great Gothic church whose tower was never finished but which is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort, about halfway. Next is Maison & Atelier Horta.
5. Maison & Atelier Horta
From the street, the house at Rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles is pleasant but unassuming, a narrow town house of stone and iron among many others. Inside, it becomes something else entirely: a flowing space of curving wrought iron, stained glass, mosaic floors and woodwork that seems to grow like plant tendrils, all bathed in light from a glass roof over the stairwell. Victor Horta, one of the founders of Art Nouveau, built it as his home and studio between 1898 and 1901, and it is now a museum dedicated to his work. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO together with three other Horta town houses in Brussels, including the Hôtel Tassel, often cited as the first true Art Nouveau building.
Read the complete Maison & Atelier Horta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Maison & Atelier Horta sits at 142 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.
6. back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort comes up about 161 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Béguinage de Diest.
7. back through Béguinage de Diest
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Diest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 196 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Béguinage de Diest. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
8. back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal, late in the day. Next is Béguinage de Hoogstraten.
9. Béguinage de Hoogstraten
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten 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 260 km.
Leg by leg
Béguinage de Hoogstraten to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Béguinage de Hoogstraten → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to Béguinage de Diest
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Béguinage de Diest is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Diest to Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Béguinage de Diest → Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to Maison & Atelier Horta
Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → Maison & Atelier Horta is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maison & Atelier Horta to back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort
Maison & Atelier Horta → back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort to back through Béguinage de Diest
back through Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort → back through Béguinage de Diest is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Diest to back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
back through Béguinage de Diest → back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to Béguinage de Hoogstraten
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Béguinage de Hoogstraten is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.