Why this ride
From Diksmuide it runs 162 km to Diksmuide; allow about 2 h 48 of riding. On the way it passes Stadshal met Belfort, Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort, Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Stadhuis met Belfort and Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 162 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 48
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Stadhuis met Belfort
Diksmuide was almost wiped from the map in the First World War. The town stood right on the front line along the Yser, and from 1914 to 1918 it was pounded into rubble, along with its town hall, belfry and church. In October 1914, the Belgian army halted the German advance by opening the sluices at Nieuwpoort and flooding the low-lying plain, creating a watery barrier that held for four years. After the war, the town was rebuilt in the old style, with the town hall and belfry carefully reconstructed on the market square, and the belfry is now part of the UNESCO listing of the belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadhuis met Belfort is where the day begins. Next is Stadshal met Belfort.
2. Stadshal met Belfort
Nieuwpoort's cloth hall and belfry look medieval, and in a sense they are: they follow the design of the thirteenth-century originals. But almost everything you see was rebuilt after the First World War, when the town was reduced to rubble. Nieuwpoort lay at the northern end of the Western Front, where the River Yser reaches the sea, and in October 1914 the Belgians made a decision that changed the course of the war. By opening the sluices of the canals and the river at high tide, they flooded the low-lying land between Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, creating a barrier of water that stopped the German advance. The front line stayed there for four years, and the town was shelled into ruins. The belfry is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stadshal met Belfort comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort.
3. Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Lo is one of the smallest towns in Belgium, a cluster of brick houses around a market square in the flat polders of the Westhoek, a few kilometres from the French border. Its former town hall, built in the sixteenth century in Renaissance style, has a small belfry tower, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Belfries of Belgium and France, alongside much grander towers in Bruges, Ghent and Lille. It is a reminder that even tiny towns had civic pride and privileges worth announcing to the world.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort. Next is Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor.
4. Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Every evening at eight o'clock, traffic stops under the Menin Gate in Ypres, and buglers from the local fire brigade sound the Last Post in memory of the soldiers of the British Empire who died in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. The ceremony has been held almost every evening since 1928, interrupted only during the German occupation in the Second World War, and it draws crowds of all ages, many of them descendants of the fallen. The gate itself is inscribed with the names of more than fifty thousand soldiers whose bodies were never found. It is one of the sites included in the World Heritage inscription of the Funerary and Memory Sites of the First World War, inscribed in 2023.
Read the complete Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor, about halfway. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines.
5. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Comines is one of those towns the border runs straight through. The river Lys, the Leie to the Flemish, divides French Comines from Belgian Comines-Warneton, and you can cross from one country to the other on a bridge without noticing much more than a change in the shape of the street signs. On the French side the town hall and its belfry stand over the main square, a tall brick tower in the Flemish style with a pointed roof and a carillon, part of the group of belfries of Belgium and France listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines sits at 81 km, about halfway. Next is back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor.
6. back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor comes up about 97 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort.
7. back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort. Next is back through Stadshal met Belfort.
8. back through Stadshal met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadshal met Belfort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Stadshal met Belfort, late in the day. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
9. Stadhuis met Belfort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Stadhuis met Belfort 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 162 km.
Leg by leg
Stadhuis met Belfort to Stadshal met Belfort
Stadhuis met Belfort → Stadshal met Belfort is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stadshal met Belfort to Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
Stadshal met Belfort → Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort to Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort → Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines
Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines to back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Comines → back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor to back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Funerary and memory sites of the First Wor → back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort to back through Stadshal met Belfort
back through Voormalig Stadhuis met Belfort → back through Stadshal met Belfort is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stadshal met Belfort to Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Stadshal met Belfort → Stadhuis met Belfort is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.