Béguinage de Hoogstraten and Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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. 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 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stadhuis en Belforttoren.

3. 3. Stadhuis en Belforttoren

   Lier's Grote Markt is one of those squares that makes you slow down without being asked. In the middle stands an elegant eighteenth-century town hall in pale stone, and grafted onto its side is something much older: a slim Gothic belfry from the fourteenth century, its four corner turrets giving it the look of a castle chess piece. Together they belong to the group of Belgian and French belfries listed by UNESCO, symbols of the moment when medieval towns won their freedoms and built towers to prove it.

   Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Stadhuis en Belforttoren. Next is Sint-Pieterskerk / Belfort.

4. 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 back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren.

5. 5. back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Stadhuis en Belforttoren write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Stadhuis en Belforttoren sits at 133 km, about halfway. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.

6. 6. 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 comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Hoogstraten.

7. 7. 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

   Béguinage de Hoogstraten closes the day.