Why this ride
From Tongeren it runs 163 km to Tongeren; allow about 3 h 11 of riding. The stops in between: Beguinage de Sint-Truiden, Béguinage de Diest, Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal and back through Béguinage de Diest.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Béguinage de Tongeren and Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 163 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 11
- 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 Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
This part of the ride is 35 km of Béguinage de Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
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 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 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Diest. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Béguinage de Diest.
5. 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
back through Béguinage de Diest sits at 121 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
6. 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 comes up about 141 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Tongeren.
7. 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
Béguinage de Tongeren closes the day.
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 Béguinage de Diest
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Béguinage de Diest is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Diest to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Béguinage de Diest → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to back through Béguinage de Diest
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → back through Béguinage de Diest is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Diest to back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
back through Béguinage de Diest → back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 25 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 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.