Why this ride
289 km from Brussels to Brussels, about 4 h 59 of riding. It goes by way of Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi, Château de l’Hermitage and back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hôtel Tassel and Château de l’Hermitage
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 289 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 59
- 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. Hôtel Tassel
In 1893, a young architect named Victor Horta finished a town house in Brussels for a professor called Emile Tassel, and in doing so he changed the course of European design. The Hotel Tassel is generally regarded as the first true Art Nouveau building. Its facade looks restrained from the street, with a curved bay window and a bit of ironwork, but inside, the staircase is a revelation. Slim iron columns split into whiplash curves that spread across the walls and ceiling, mosaics ripple across the floor, and the whole space seems to grow like a plant.
Read the complete Hôtel Tassel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hôtel Tassel is where the day begins. Next is Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.
2. Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Charleroi has a reputation, unfairly earned or not, as one of the grittiest cities in Belgium, and its belfry is a fine reason to look again. Rising from the town hall on the Place Charles II, the belfry was built in the 1930s in an elegant Art Deco style, replacing an older tower, and it is one of the belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO. Its slender shape, topped with a dome and carillon, is a symbol of the city's pride and resilience, and inside, the town hall has a sumptuous Art Deco interior.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Château de l’Hermitage.
3. 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
about 145 km into the recorded legs you reach Château de l’Hermitage. Next is back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi.
4. back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi 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 l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi, late in the day. Next is Hôtel Tassel.
5. Hôtel Tassel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hôtel Tassel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Hôtel Tassel. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Hôtel Tassel to Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Hôtel Tassel → Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi to Château de l’Hermitage
Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi → Château de l’Hermitage is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Château de l’Hermitage to back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi
Château de l’Hermitage → back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi to Hôtel Tassel
back through Beffroi de l'Hôtel de Ville de Charleroi → Hôtel Tassel is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.