Why this ride
A 273 km round trip from Brussels - roughly 4 h 56 in the saddle. It goes by way of Béguinage de Dendermonde, Petit Béguinage de Gent, Stadhuis met Belfort and Belfort. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La Grand-Place and Belfort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 273 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 56
- 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
La Grand-Place → Béguinage de Dendermonde
This part of the ride is 35 km of La Grand-Place → Béguinage de Dendermonde.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 35 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. La Grand-Place
The Grand-Place in Brussels is a square so densely decorated with gold, stone and sculpture that visitors tend to stop at the entrance and just stare. The Gothic town hall, with its slender tower, fills one side, and the guildhalls of the old trades, brewers, bakers, butchers and others, line the rest, each topped with gilded statues and ornate gables. Most of it was rebuilt after a French bombardment in 1695 destroyed the centre of the city, and the speed and ambition of the reconstruction is part of the story.
Read the complete La Grand-Place write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Grand-Place is where the day begins. Next is Béguinage de Dendermonde.
2. 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 comes up about 35 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 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Petit Béguinage de Gent. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
4. 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, 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 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Stadhuis met Belfort.
6. 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 comes up about 174 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 208 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Petit Béguinage de Gent. Next is back through Béguinage de Dendermonde.
8. 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, late in the day. Next is La Grand-Place.
9. La Grand-Place
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Grand-Place 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 273 km.
Leg by leg
La Grand-Place to Béguinage de Dendermonde
La Grand-Place → Béguinage de Dendermonde is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Dendermonde to Petit Béguinage de Gent
Béguinage de Dendermonde → Petit Béguinage de Gent is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Petit Béguinage de Gent to Stadhuis met Belfort
Petit Béguinage de Gent → Stadhuis met Belfort is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis met Belfort to Belfort
Stadhuis met Belfort → Belfort is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Belfort to back through Stadhuis met Belfort
Belfort → back through Stadhuis met Belfort is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis met Belfort to back through Petit Béguinage de Gent
back through Stadhuis met Belfort → back through Petit Béguinage de Gent is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Petit Béguinage de Gent to back through Béguinage de Dendermonde
back through Petit Béguinage de Gent → back through Béguinage de Dendermonde is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde to La Grand-Place
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde → La Grand-Place is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.