Why this ride
An 85 km round trip from Tongeren - roughly 1 h 51 in the saddle. It goes by way of Beguinage de Sint-Truiden, Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren and back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Béguinage de Tongeren and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 85 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 51
- 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. Béguinage de Tongeren
Tongeren calls itself the oldest town in Belgium, and it has a Roman name, a Gallic hero and a weekly antiques market to back up the claim. Under the Romans it was Atuatuca Tungrorum, and in the main square stands a romantic nineteenth-century statue of Ambiorix, the chieftain who gave Julius Caesar a very bad winter. A few minutes' walk from all that pomp lies the béguinage, a quiet quarter of low brick houses, cobbled lanes and small gardens that once housed communities of beguines, religious women who lived a semi-independent life without taking the full vows of nuns.
Read the complete Béguinage de Tongeren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Tongeren is where the day begins. Next is Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
2. Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
At the edge of Sint-Truiden, a market town in the fruit country of Haspengouw, a ring of low brick houses surrounds a large grassy courtyard with trees and a Gothic church in the middle. This is the béguinage, one of the Flemish béguinages listed together by UNESCO, where for centuries communities of laywomen lived devout lives of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. It is one of the largest and best preserved in the region, and it has a calm, almost village-like feel.
Read the complete Beguinage de Sint-Truiden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren.
3. Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Tienen means sugar to most Belgians. The town in the east of Flemish Brabant has been the home of Belgium's largest sugar refinery since the nineteenth century, and the smell of sugar beet being processed hangs over the town in autumn during the campaign, when trucks loaded with beets roll in from the surrounding fields. The Sint-Germanuskerk, the church of Saint Germanus, with its massive tower serving as the town's belfry, stands near the huge Grote Markt, one of the largest market squares in Belgium, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France. The tower, a mix of Romanesque and Gothic, has a carillon whose bells ring out over the town.
Read the complete Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren. Next is back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
4. back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beguinage de Sint-Truiden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden, late in the day. Next is Béguinage de Tongeren.
5. Béguinage de Tongeren
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Tongeren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Béguinage de Tongeren. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Béguinage de Tongeren to Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Béguinage de Tongeren → Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren to back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren → back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to Béguinage de Tongeren
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Béguinage de Tongeren is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.