Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto and Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto

   Tongeren likes to remind you that it is the oldest town in Belgium, and it has a strong claim. The Romans founded a settlement here, Atuatuca Tungrorum, on the road between Cologne and Bavay, and the remains of its walls can still be seen around the town. Before that, the area was home to the Eburones, a Celtic tribe whose chieftain Ambiorix famously ambushed and destroyed a Roman legion in 54 BC. His statue, a heroic nineteenth-century figure with a winged helmet and a magnificent moustache, stands in the main square, the Grote Markt.

   Read the complete Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto is where the day begins. Next is Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.

2. 2. Beguinage de Sint-Truiden

   At the edge of Sint-Truiden, a market town in the fruit country of Haspengouw, a ring of low brick houses surrounds a large grassy courtyard with trees and a Gothic church in the middle. This is the béguinage, one of the Flemish béguinages listed together by UNESCO, where for centuries communities of laywomen lived devout lives of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. It is one of the largest and best preserved in the region, and it has a calm, almost village-like feel.

   Read the complete Beguinage de Sint-Truiden write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Beguinage de Sint-Truiden comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Diest.

3. 3. Béguinage de Diest

   Diest has one of the largest béguinages in Flanders, a walled town within the town, with its own streets, gates, church and some ninety houses. The béguines were laywomen who lived a religious life without taking permanent vows, earning their own living and sharing a community, and their béguinages flourished in the Low Countries from the thirteenth century onward. The Flemish béguinages are listed together by UNESCO. In Diest, the béguinage has been restored with care, and its cobbled streets, whitewashed houses and quiet gardens feel worlds away from the traffic outside.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Diest write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Diest. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.

4. 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 Béguinage de Diest.

5. 5. back through Béguinage de Diest

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Béguinage de Diest 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 Diest sits at 120 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.

6. 6. back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beguinage de Sint-Truiden write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden comes up about 140 km into the recorded legs. Next is Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto.

7. 7. Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Onze-Lieve-Lievevrouwebasiliek met Stadsto closes the day.