Why this ride
From Péruwelz it runs 331 km to Péruwelz; allow about 5 h 42 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de Mons, Beffroi de Thuin, Beffroi de Gembloux and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Château de l’Hermitage and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 331 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 42
- 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. Château de l’Hermitage
On the Franco-Belgian border, in a forest that has never much cared which country it is in, a pale classical château stands in a clearing. The Château de l'Hermitage was built in the eighteenth century for the dukes of Croÿ, one of the great aristocratic families of the region, as a refined country retreat, and it sits just inside France, near Condé-sur-l'Escaut, at the edge of the forest of Bon-Secours. The family's title went back centuries, and their estates spread across both sides of what is now the border.
Read the complete Château de l’Hermitage write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Château de l’Hermitage is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de Mons.
2. Beffroi de Mons
Belgium has many belfries, but only one in the baroque style, and it rises above Mons on the hill where the medieval castle stood. Built in the seventeenth century, it is about eighty-seven metres tall, with a carillon of forty-nine bells, and it was listed by UNESCO with the other belfries of Belgium and France. A lift takes visitors to the top, where the view stretches across the Borinage, the old coal-mining country around the city, and over the rooftops of the old town. Inside, an interpretation centre tells the story of the tower.
Read the complete Beffroi de Mons write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Mons comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Thuin.
3. Beffroi de Thuin
Thuin sits on a rocky spur above the Sambre, and from the river it looks like a town that climbed a hill to keep its feet dry. At the top stands the belfry, a tall square tower with an onion-shaped spire that was originally the bell tower of a collegiate church and survived when the church itself did not. Since 1999 it has been part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a reminder that towns in this region measured their freedom in bells, towers and charters.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de Thuin. Next is Beffroi de Gembloux.
4. Beffroi de Gembloux
Gembloux grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in the tenth century, and for most of its history the monks ran the show. The abbey buildings, rebuilt in a grand classical style in the eighteenth century, now house a university faculty of agricultural sciences, fitting for a town surrounded by some of the richest farmland in Belgium. The belfry, a solid tower that was once part of a church and later became the town's civic symbol, stands in the centre and is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Climbing it gives views over the rooftops and across the open fields of the Hesbaye.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gembloux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Gembloux, about halfway. Next is Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren.
5. 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
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren sits at 166 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de Gembloux.
6. back through Beffroi de Gembloux
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gembloux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de Gembloux comes up about 209 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Beffroi de Thuin.
7. back through Beffroi de Thuin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 260 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Beffroi de Thuin. Next is back through Beffroi de Mons.
8. back through Beffroi de Mons
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Mons write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de Mons, late in the day. Next is Château de l’Hermitage.
9. Château de l’Hermitage
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château de l’Hermitage 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 331 km.
Leg by leg
Château de l’Hermitage to Beffroi de Mons
Château de l’Hermitage → Beffroi de Mons is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Mons to Beffroi de Thuin
Beffroi de Mons → Beffroi de Thuin is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Thuin to Beffroi de Gembloux
Beffroi de Thuin → Beffroi de Gembloux is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Gembloux to Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Beffroi de Gembloux → Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren to back through Beffroi de Gembloux
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren → back through Beffroi de Gembloux is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Gembloux to back through Beffroi de Thuin
back through Beffroi de Gembloux → back through Beffroi de Thuin is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Thuin to back through Beffroi de Mons
back through Beffroi de Thuin → back through Beffroi de Mons is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de Mons to Château de l’Hermitage
back through Beffroi de Mons → Château de l’Hermitage is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.