Why this ride
A 156 km round trip from Veurne - roughly 3 h 10 in the saddle. On the way it passes Stadhuis met Belfort, Stadshal met Belfort, Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort and Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Landhuis met Belfort and Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 156 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 10
- 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. Landhuis met Belfort
Veurne's market square is one of the most complete in Flanders, and the old Landhuis, with its belfry rising behind it, is the reason. The Landhuis was the seat of the castellany, the regional administration that governed the surrounding countryside, and its belfry is part of the group of Belgian and French belfries protected by UNESCO. Around the square stand the town hall, the old meat hall and a row of gabled houses, many dating back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when Veurne was under Spanish rule, which explains the stepped gables and ornate facades.
Read the complete Landhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Landhuis met Belfort is where the day begins. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
2. Stadhuis met Belfort
Diksmuide was almost wiped from the map in the First World War. The town stood right on the front line along the Yser, and from 1914 to 1918 it was pounded into rubble, along with its town hall, belfry and church. In October 1914, the Belgian army halted the German advance by opening the sluices at Nieuwpoort and flooding the low-lying plain, creating a watery barrier that held for four years. After the war, the town was rebuilt in the old style, with the town hall and belfry carefully reconstructed on the market square, and the belfry is now part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.
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 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stadshal met Belfort.
3. Stadshal met Belfort
Nieuwpoort's cloth hall and belfry look medieval, and in a sense they are: they follow the design of the thirteenth-century originals. But almost everything you see was rebuilt after the First World War, when the town was reduced to rubble. Nieuwpoort lay at the northern end of the Western Front, where the River Yser reaches the sea, and in October 1914 the Belgians made a decision that changed the course of the war. By opening the sluices of the canals and the river at high tide, they flooded the low-lying land between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, creating a barrier of water that stopped the German advance. The front line stayed there for four years, and the town was shelled into ruins. The belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Stadshal met Belfort. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort.
4. Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Lo is one of the smallest towns in Belgium, a cluster of brick houses around a market square in the flat polders of the Westhoek, a few kilometres from the French border. Its former town hall, built in the sixteenth century in Renaissance style, has a small belfry tower, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France, alongside much grander towers in Bruges, Ghent and Lille. It is a reminder that even tiny towns had civic pride and privileges worth announcing to the world.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort, about halfway. Next is Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor.
5. Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Every evening at eight o'clock, traffic stops under the Menin Gate in Ypres, and buglers from the local fire brigade sound the Last Post in memory of the soldiers of the British Empire who died in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. The ceremony has been held almost every evening since 1928, interrupted only during the German occupation in the Second World War, and it draws crowds of all ages, many of them descendants of the fallen. The gate itself is inscribed with the names of more than fifty thousand soldiers whose bodies were never found. It is one of the sites included in the World Heritage inscription of the Funerary and Memory Sites of the First World War, inscribed in 2023.
Read the complete Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor sits at 84 km, about halfway. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort.
6. back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Voormalig 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 Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort comes up about 96 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Stadshal met Belfort.
7. back through Stadshal met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 121 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Stadshal met Belfort. 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 Landhuis met Belfort.
9. Landhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Landhuis met Belfort 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 156 km.
Leg by leg
Landhuis met Belfort to Stadhuis met Belfort
Landhuis met Belfort → Stadhuis met Belfort is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadhuis met Belfort to Stadshal met Belfort
Stadhuis met Belfort → Stadshal met Belfort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadshal met Belfort to Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Stadshal met Belfort → Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort to Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort → Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor to back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor → back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort to back through Stadshal met Belfort
back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort → back through Stadshal met Belfort is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadshal met Belfort to back through Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Stadshal met Belfort → back through Stadhuis met Belfort is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadhuis met Belfort to Landhuis met Belfort
back through Stadhuis met Belfort → Landhuis met Belfort is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.