Why this ride
334 km from Ledeberg to Ledeberg, about 5 h 54 of riding. It goes by way of Béguinage de Dendermonde, Flemish Béguinages, Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Petit Béguinage de Gent and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 334 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 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
Flemish Béguinages → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
53 km on Flemish Béguinages → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Petit Béguinage de Gent 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 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Flemish Béguinages.
3. Flemish Béguinages
In the thirteenth century, a remarkable movement spread across the Low Countries. Women, often unmarried or widowed, chose to live together in communities devoted to prayer and work, without taking the permanent vows of nuns, keeping their property and the freedom to leave. They were called béguines, and their walled settlements, the béguinages, became towns within towns. The Groot Begijnhof of Mechelen, the great béguinage, is one of thirteen in Flanders listed by UNESCO, and at its height it housed well over a thousand women, making it one of the largest communities of its kind.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Flemish Béguinages. 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 Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren.
5. Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Tienen means sugar to most Belgians. The town in the east of Flemish Brabant has been the home of Belgium's largest sugar refinery since the nineteenth century, and the smell of sugar beet being processed hangs over the town in autumn during the campaign, when trucks loaded with beets roll in from the surrounding fields. The Sint-Germanuskerk, the church of Saint Germanus, with its massive tower serving as the town's belfry, stands near the huge Grote Markt, one of the largest market squares in Belgium, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France. The tower, a mix of Romanesque and Gothic, has a carillon whose bells ring out over the town.
Read the complete Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren sits at 167 km, about halfway. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
6. back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal comes up about 215 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Flemish Béguinages.
7. back through Flemish Béguinages
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Flemish Béguinages write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 268 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Flemish Béguinages. 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 Petit Béguinage de Gent.
9. 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
The route ends here after 334 km.
Leg by leg
Petit Béguinage de Gent to Béguinage de Dendermonde
Petit Béguinage de Gent → Béguinage de Dendermonde is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Dendermonde to Flemish Béguinages
Béguinage de Dendermonde → Flemish Béguinages is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Flemish Béguinages to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Flemish Béguinages → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren to back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren → back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to back through Flemish Béguinages
back through Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → back through Flemish Béguinages is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Flemish Béguinages to back through Béguinage de Dendermonde
back through Flemish Béguinages → back through Béguinage de Dendermonde is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde to Petit Béguinage de Gent
back through Béguinage de Dendermonde → Petit Béguinage de Gent is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.