Why this ride
A 270 km round trip from Spa - roughly 4 h 16 in the saddle. The stops in between: Beguinage de Sint-Truiden, Beffroi de Gembloux and back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Spa and Beffroi de Gembloux
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 270 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 16
- 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
Belgian Ardennes Scenic Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 80 km this is Belgian Ardennes Scenic Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 80 km
- Named road
- Belgian Ardennes Scenic Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Spa
The word spa comes from this town, and that is the kind of claim that most places make and few can prove. Here it happens to be true: Spa, in the Ardennes foothills of eastern Belgium, has been a place for taking the waters since the Romans, who are said to have noted its iron-rich springs, and from the sixteenth century it was a fashionable resort. Visitors have included the Russian emperor Peter the Great, who came in 1717 to cure his stomach, and the town's central spring, the Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand, is named after him. The bottled water that bears the town's name is sold worldwide, and the little town has a quiet, slightly faded charm, with grand hotels, a thermal baths complex on the hill and a casino.
Read the complete Spa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Spa is where the day begins. Next is Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
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 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Gembloux.
3. Beffroi de Gembloux
Gembloux grew up around a Benedictine abbey founded in the tenth century, and for most of its history the monks ran the show. The abbey buildings, rebuilt in a grand classical style in the eighteenth century, now house a university faculty of agricultural sciences, fitting for a town surrounded by some of the richest farmland in Belgium. The belfry, a solid tower that was once part of a church and later became the town's civic symbol, stands in the centre and is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Climbing it gives views over the rooftops and across the open fields of the Hesbaye.
Read the complete Beffroi de Gembloux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 137 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de Gembloux. Next is back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is Spa.
5. Spa
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Spa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Spa. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Spa to Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Spa → Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to Beffroi de Gembloux
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Beffroi de Gembloux is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Gembloux to back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Beffroi de Gembloux → back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to Spa
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Spa is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Blegny-Mine and Béguinage de Diest · 165 km