Why this ride
A 180 km round trip from Brussels - roughly 2 h 54 in the saddle. It goes by way of Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi, Maison Guiete, Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal and back through Maison Guiete.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Maison & Atelier Horta and Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 180 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 54
- 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
Maison Guiete → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
The ride follows Maison Guiete → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal for 36 km.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 36 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Maison & Atelier Horta
From the street, the house at Rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles is pleasant but unassuming, a narrow town house of stone and iron among many others. Inside, it becomes something else entirely: a flowing space of curving wrought iron, stained glass, mosaic floors and woodwork that seems to grow like plant tendrils, all bathed in light from a glass roof over the stairwell. Victor Horta, one of the founders of Art Nouveau, built it as his home and studio between 1898 and 1901, and it is now a museum dedicated to his work. In 2000, it was listed by UNESCO together with three other Horta town houses in Brussels, including the Hôtel Tassel, often cited as the first true Art Nouveau building.
Read the complete Maison & Atelier Horta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Maison & Atelier Horta is where the day begins. Next is Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi.
2. Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi
The Grote Markt of Mechelen is one of the grandest squares in Belgium, and on its eastern side stands the old cloth hall with its belfry, a building with a curious history. The hall was built in the fourteenth century, when Mechelen was a rich cloth-making town, and the belfry was planned to be a tall tower, but it was never finished. Its stump was eventually given a pointed roof, and later a sixteenth-century extension in the Renaissance style was begun to house the Great Council of the Netherlands, but that too remained unfinished. The belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maison Guiete.
3. Maison Guiete
In a leafy residential street in the southern suburbs of Antwerp, there is a white house that looks as if it has walked in from a different century. The Maison Guiette, as it is usually spelled, was designed by Le Corbusier in 1926 for the painter René Guiette, and it was his first building in Belgium. Since 2016 it has been one of the sites in the UNESCO listing of Le Corbusier's architectural work, alongside the Villa Savoye, the Unité d'Habitation in Marseille and buildings on several continents.
Read the complete Maison Guiete write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Maison Guiete. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
4. Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Rik Van Looy, one of the great Belgian cyclists of the 1950s and 1960s, was known as the Emperor of Herentals, which tells you something about the priorities of this town in the Kempen. Herentals lies on the flat heathland of the province of Antwerp, and in the middle of its market square stands the old town hall, built in the fourteenth century as a cloth hall, a lakenhal, when the town grew rich on wool and weaving. Its belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a symbol of civic pride and of the freedoms that merchants bought from their lords.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal, about halfway. Next is back through Maison Guiete.
5. back through Maison Guiete
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Maison Guiete write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Maison Guiete sits at 132 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi.
6. back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi comes up about 147 km into the recorded legs. Next is Maison & Atelier Horta.
7. Maison & Atelier Horta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Maison & Atelier Horta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Maison & Atelier Horta closes the day.
Leg by leg
Maison & Atelier Horta to Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi
Maison & Atelier Horta → Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi to Maison Guiete
Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi → Maison Guiete is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maison Guiete to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Maison Guiete → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to back through Maison Guiete
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → back through Maison Guiete is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Maison Guiete to back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi
back through Maison Guiete → back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi to Maison & Atelier Horta
back through Ancienne Halle avec Beffroi → Maison & Atelier Horta is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.