Why this ride
227 km from Spa to Spa, about 4 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Blegny-Mine, Béguinage de Tongeren, Beguinage de Sint-Truiden and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Spa and Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 227 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 04
- 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 36 km this is Belgian Ardennes Scenic Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 36 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 Blegny-Mine.
2. Blegny-Mine
Blegny-Mine is one of the few places in Europe where you can still go down a real coal mine in the lift cage, with former miners as your guides. The mine, in the Pays de Herve northeast of Liège, closed in 1980, and it was soon turned into a museum, with guided tours that take you down to galleries tens of metres underground, where you can see the machinery, the narrow seams and the conditions in which miners worked. In 2012, it was listed by UNESCO as one of the four Major Mining Sites of Wallonia, along with Grand-Hornu, Bois-du-Luc and Bois du Cazier. It is a powerful reminder of how coal built the industrial wealth of Belgium, and at what cost.
Read the complete Blegny-Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Blegny-Mine comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Tongeren.
3. Béguinage de Tongeren
Tongeren calls itself the oldest town in Belgium, and it has a Roman name, a Gallic hero and a weekly antiques market to back up the claim. Under the Romans it was Atuatuca Tungrorum, and in the main square stands a romantic nineteenth-century statue of Ambiorix, the chieftain who gave Julius Caesar a very bad winter. A few minutes' walk from all that pomp lies the béguinage, a quiet quarter of low brick houses, cobbled lanes and small gardens that once housed communities of beguines, religious women who lived a semi-independent life without taking the full vows of nuns.
Read the complete Béguinage de Tongeren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Béguinage de Tongeren. Next is Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
4. 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, 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 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden.
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 133 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Béguinage de Tongeren.
7. back through Béguinage de Tongeren
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Tongeren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Béguinage de Tongeren. Next is back through Blegny-Mine.
8. back through Blegny-Mine
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Blegny-Mine write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Blegny-Mine, late in the day. Next is Spa.
9. 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
The route ends here after 227 km.
Leg by leg
Spa to Blegny-Mine
Spa → Blegny-Mine is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Blegny-Mine to Béguinage de Tongeren
Blegny-Mine → Béguinage de Tongeren is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Tongeren to Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Béguinage de Tongeren → Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren
Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren to back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden
Sint-Germanuskerk met Stadstoren → back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden to back through Béguinage de Tongeren
back through Beguinage de Sint-Truiden → back through Béguinage de Tongeren is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Tongeren to back through Blegny-Mine
back through Béguinage de Tongeren → back through Blegny-Mine is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Blegny-Mine to Spa
back through Blegny-Mine → Spa is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.