Why this ride
A 239 km round trip from Dendermonde - roughly 3 h 53 in the saddle. It goes by way of Grand Béguinage of Leuven, Beffroi de Namur and back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Stadhuis met Belfort and Beffroi de Namur
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 239 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 53
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Stadhuis met Belfort
Dendermonde sits where the Dender gives up and pours itself into the Scheldt, and the old town hall on the Grote Markt is the thing you aim for when you roll in. Its belfry is one of the Flemish and Walloon towers grouped together by UNESCO as the Belfries of Belgium and France, and the reason those towers matter is simple: in the medieval Low Countries a belfry was the civic answer to the church spire. It held the town charters, the bell that called the citizens, and the watchman who looked out for fire and for armies. Dendermonde needed the watchman more than most, because a town at a river junction is a town everybody wants, and it was besieged, burned and rebuilt more than once, most brutally in 1914 when German troops set much of it alight.
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 Grand Béguinage of Leuven.
2. Grand Béguinage of Leuven
Step through the gate of the Groot Begijnhof in Leuven and the city noise drops away. Cobbled lanes, small brick houses with white window frames and stepped gables, little bridges over the arms of the river Dijle, and a Gothic church in the middle: this is one of the largest béguinages in the Low Countries, part of the Flemish Béguinages group listed by UNESCO in 1998.
Read the complete Grand Béguinage of Leuven write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grand Béguinage of Leuven comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Namur.
3. Beffroi de Namur
The belfry of Namur is a stout, round tower with a bulbous slate roof, not at all the slender Gothic spire people imagine when they hear the word. It started life in the fourteenth century as part of the town walls, the Tour Saint-Jacques, and later became the belfry, holding the bell that rang the hours and the curfew. It is one of the many towers in the World Heritage Site of the Belfries of Belgium and France.
Read the complete Beffroi de Namur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 121 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de Namur. Next is back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven.
4. back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grand Béguinage of Leuven write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven, late in the day. Next is Stadhuis met Belfort.
5. 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
Back at Stadhuis met Belfort. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Stadhuis met Belfort to Grand Béguinage of Leuven
Stadhuis met Belfort → Grand Béguinage of Leuven is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grand Béguinage of Leuven to Beffroi de Namur
Grand Béguinage of Leuven → Beffroi de Namur is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de Namur to back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven
Beffroi de Namur → back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven to Stadhuis met Belfort
back through Grand Béguinage of Leuven → Stadhuis met Belfort is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.