Why this ride
An 83 km round trip from Herentals - roughly 1 h 53 in the saddle. It goes by way of Béguinage de Turnhout, Béguinage de Hoogstraten and back through Béguinage de Turnhout.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal and Béguinage de Hoogstraten
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 83 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 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.
Scenic road chapters
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Béguinage de Turnhout
This part of the ride is 23 km of Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Béguinage de Turnhout.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Béguinage de Turnhout.
2. Béguinage de Turnhout
Turnhout lies in the Kempen, the sandy, wooded heath of northern Belgium, only a few kilometres from the Dutch border, and the beguinage here is a small village within the town, with brick houses, a church and quiet courtyards behind a wall. The city has nearly forty thousand people, and the beguinage is about half a kilometre from the centre. It is one of thirteen Flemish beguinages inscribed by UNESCO in 1998.
Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Béguinage de Turnhout comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Béguinage de Hoogstraten.
3. Béguinage de Hoogstraten
A béguinage is one of the most peaceful places in the Low Countries: a walled enclosure of small houses around a green courtyard and a church, built in the Middle Ages for béguines, women who lived a religious life of prayer and work without taking permanent vows. They could own property, leave if they wished and support themselves by weaving, teaching or nursing, which made the béguinages a unique form of female independence in medieval Europe. The béguinage at Hoogstraten, in the north of Antwerp province near the Dutch border, is one of thirteen Flemish béguinages on the World Heritage list, and it is a quiet, charming place, with whitewashed houses, a baroque church and a garden where time seems to slow.
Read the complete Béguinage de Hoogstraten 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 Béguinage de Hoogstraten. Next is back through Béguinage de Turnhout.
4. back through Béguinage de Turnhout
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Béguinage de Turnhout 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 Turnhout, late in the day. Next is Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal.
5. 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 at Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal to Béguinage de Turnhout
Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal → Béguinage de Turnhout is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Turnhout to Béguinage de Hoogstraten
Béguinage de Turnhout → Béguinage de Hoogstraten is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Béguinage de Hoogstraten to back through Béguinage de Turnhout
Béguinage de Hoogstraten → back through Béguinage de Turnhout is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Béguinage de Turnhout to Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal
back through Béguinage de Turnhout → Voormalig Stadhuis / Lakenhal is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.