Oudenaarde is often introduced through the steep roads of the Tour of Flanders. Start instead at the Scheldt: the city grew on both banks of a river that served as border, trade route and source of work long before it became a cycling backdrop. On one side are the Market and town hall, on the other the former settlement of Pamele. Cloth, tapestries, brewing and present-day businesses have all used this small city's position between Ghent and the hills of the Flemish Ardennes. The result rewards a visit on foot as well as on two wheels.
Two centres on a changing river
The Flemish archaeological inventory places the oldest town core on slightly raised ground on the Scheldt's left bank. Pamele developed separately on the right, then lost its separate urban identity when the thirteenth-century walls enclosed both sides. Former river bends still help explain the street plan although the Scheldt has been straightened. A tower associated with the lords is mentioned in 1064; a later stone castle disappeared in 1786. The county granted Oudenaarde urban rights in 1150. These are documented medieval stages, not evidence that Romans founded the town. A nearby Roman-age route or later story about the name would not establish such a claim.
The bridge, market and guilds served a textile economy. By the mid-fourteenth century, according to the same heritage research, cloth production employed more than half the local population. The fourteenth-century cloth hall survives as part of the town hall complex. From the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries Oudenaarde became known for woven tapestries. Those different trades should not be collapsed into one timeless craft: cloth and decorative tapestry had their own customers, techniques and periods. The MOU museum in the town hall displays original tapestries and a notable silver collection, allowing visitors to see both makers' skill and the wealth of those who commissioned their work. Check the current collection and opening hours before travelling.
The town hall's sixteenth-century architecture and belfry stand above a square that remains a civic rather than purely ceremonial space. The belfry is included in UNESCO's Belfries of Belgium and France series. Nearby St Walburga's Church and, across the river, Our Lady of Pamele mark the two historic centres. The old castle site is less legible than the churches: the visitor needs the street pattern, river and museum to reconstruct it. Oudenaarde was also repeatedly contested as a strategic stronghold, notably in wars involving Ghent and France. Its ramparts were changed under Vauban in the seventeenth century; the city did not freeze in the age of the tapestries.
What the city makes and shares today
The historic centre still has shops, cafés and restaurants; the surrounding municipality has residential districts, services and employment beyond tourism. Brewing is one visible bridge between older trades and today's economy. Regional tourism points visitors towards the Liefmans brewery and Oudenaarde's brown-beer tradition, but a brewery visit requires checking tour arrangements. On the Market, the Tour of Flanders Centre interprets the classic race and its riders. The city's connection with the race is current as well as historic: the event organiser presents Oudenaarde as the hub for exploring the cycling region. Visitors need not ride a professional course to understand the landscape. Gentler routes follow the Scheldt towpath towards Kluisbergen and return past the Donk lake; regional route information helps choose a suitable distance and surface. The famous steep climbs belong to the wider Flemish Ardennes, not all to the streets of Oudenaarde itself.
Ename makes a particularly revealing second stop within the same municipality. The provincial heritage site and archaeological park interpret an imperial frontier settlement and the later Benedictine abbey, founded in 1063. The park reopened after conservation work in 2026; the province explains how the surviving foundations were stabilised. This is Ename's history, not a substitute Roman origin story for Oudenaarde. The early Romanesque St Lawrence Church and Bos t'Ename make it possible to combine archaeology, village life and a woodland walk. Check which sections of the nature reserve allow independent access.
Population, stay and arrival
The Belgian national register counted 33,104 inhabitants in the whole municipality of Oudenaarde on 1 January 2026. That includes Ename and the other constituent villages, not only the medieval core. The centre is a practical base for a longer visit: regional tourism lists a hotel near the old town and other accommodation across the region. Ghent is a rail-linked city to the north; Ronse lies on the same rail corridor to the south and has its own character. Kluisbergen and the Scheldt landscape offer a quieter excursion by bicycle.
Oudenaarde station has connecting buses, bicycles, ticket facilities and accessibility assistance. SNCB operates the Gent–Oudenaarde–Ronse corridor; from Brussels or Bruges check connections through Gent rather than assuming a fixed direct service. Trains can be replaced during engineering work, so verify the trip and return in the live planner. Start on the Market, cross to Pamele, then choose between Ename's archaeological landscape and a ride along the Scheldt. Each gives a different measure of what Oudenaarde has been and what it offers now.