Why this ride
A 269 km round trip from Mechelen - roughly 4 h 41 in the saddle. It goes by way of Stadhuis met Belfort, Petit Béguinage de Gent, Béguinage de Dendermonde and Belfort. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Flemish Béguinages and Belfort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 269 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 41
- 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. Flemish Béguinages
In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Flemish Béguinages is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
2. Stadhuis met Belfort
Dendermonde sits where the Dender gives up and pours itself into the Scheldt, and the old town hall on the Grote Markt is the thing you aim for when you roll in. Its belfry is one of the Flemish and Walloon towers grouped together by UNESCO as the Belfries of Belgium and France, and the reason those towers matter is simple: in the medieval Low Countries a belfry was the civic answer to the church spire. It held the town charters, the bell that called the citizens, and the watchman who looked out for fire and for armies. Dendermonde needed the watchman more than most, because a town at a river junction is a town everybody wants, and it was besieged, burned and rebuilt more than once, most brutally in 1914 when German troops set much of it alight.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Belfort comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Petit Béguinage de Gent.
3. Petit Béguinage de Gent
Push open a gate off a busy Ghent street and the noise drops away. The Klein Begijnhof, the Small Béguinage, is a walled enclave of whitewashed and brick houses with stepped gables around a green courtyard and a Baroque church. Béguines were lay women who lived in community, devoted to prayer and work but without taking permanent vows, and this béguinage was founded in the thirteenth century. Most of the present buildings date from the seventeenth century. Together with other Flemish béguinages, it is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and it remains one of the calmest places in the city.
Read the complete Petit Béguinage de Gent write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Petit Béguinage de Gent. Next is Béguinage de Dendermonde.
4. Béguinage de Dendermonde
Push open the gate of the Dendermonde béguinage and the traffic noise of the ring road simply drops away. Inside is a quiet triangle of grass, whitewashed houses with green shutters and a modest church, where for centuries communities of beguines lived. These were laywomen who chose a shared religious life without taking permanent vows, earning their keep with lacework, nursing and teaching. The béguinage is one of thirteen in Flanders listed together by UNESCO, and it is among the most intimate of them.
Read the complete Béguinage de Dendermonde write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Dendermonde, about halfway. Next is Belfort.
5. Belfort
Ghent has three towers standing in a row, and the middle one is the belfry, rising over the old centre between St Bavo's Cathedral and St Nicholas' Church. Begun in the fourteenth century, it was the town's watchtower, bell tower and strongroom, where the charters granting the city its privileges were locked away. On its spire sits a gilded dragon, the city's mascot, keeping an eye on things. The belfry, with the cloth hall attached to its base, is part of the UNESCO list of belfries of Belgium and France, and you can climb it, partly by lift, for one of the best views over the rooftops, canals and spires.
Read the complete Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Belfort sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Béguinage de Dendermonde.
6. back through Béguinage de Dendermonde
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Dendermonde 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 Dendermonde comes up about 170 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Petit Béguinage de Gent.
7. back through Petit Béguinage de Gent
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Petit Béguinage de Gent write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 205 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Petit Béguinage de Gent. Next is back through Stadhuis met Belfort.
8. back through Stadhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadhuis met Belfort, late in the day. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
9. Flemish Béguinages
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages 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 269 km.
Leg by leg
Flemish Béguinages to Stadhuis met Belfort
Flemish Béguinages → Stadhuis met Belfort is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis met Belfort to Petit Béguinage de Gent
Stadhuis met Belfort → Petit Béguinage de Gent is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Petit Béguinage de Gent to Béguinage de Dendermonde
Petit Béguinage de Gent → Béguinage de Dendermonde is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Dendermonde to Belfort
Béguinage de Dendermonde → Belfort is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Belfort to back through Béguinage de Dendermonde
Belfort → back through Béguinage de Dendermonde is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde to back through Petit Béguinage de Gent
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde → back through Petit Béguinage de Gent is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Petit Béguinage de Gent to back through Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Petit Béguinage de Gent → back through Stadhuis met Belfort is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis met Belfort to Flemish Béguinages
back through Stadhuis met Belfort → Flemish Béguinages is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.