Bruges was an eye opening trip for me. I have not been to a city like it before & I immediately fell in love as I drove through town to get to my hotel. What did I love? It’s a UNESCO world heritage site so it’s beautiful to begin with. It’s the perfect town to aimlessly wander (which my brain needed at the time) with it’s gorgeous architecture & picturesque canals & bridges. I enjoyed sampling the food & beer, did a little shopping & got some sightseeing in. As I was leaving I was already planning my come back trip!
Watch the Time to Travel video by clicking on the photo or here.
LEFT: walk down canal during evening tour
RIGHT: view from the Belfry
DAY 1
Spent half a day in Lille, France then drove a little over an hour to Brugge, Belgium
Dropped off luggage at hotel: Hotel Bryghia
parked car: Alpha Park - BePark
sat down for a snack: Punta Est
walked back to hotel
Night tour: The Dark Side of Bruges night tour
Hotel Bryghia was a gem! It is in a great location, close enough to everything but quiet in the evening. Bonus was the canal view. You know how you fill out the hotel survey with things you are interested in & never hear anything back? Not with Hotel Bryghia. This family run hotel takes care of their customers & gets to know you. When I checked in they had a map with highlights & suggestions ready for me along with some tips & recommendations.
The hotel also helped my find my parking garage. The hotel’s spaces were sold out for the time I was there. I mentioned I drive a larger SUV & they suggested the Alpha Park garage. I made a reservation on their suggestion & just had to use the app when I pulled up to the gate. It is a newer garage with plenty of height.
My first night I did the The Dark Side of Bruges night tour. Jan was our tour guide. While learning about the places he pointed out & the history of Bruges, he made it very entertaining. As a photographer, I was super happy to have golden hour to photograph as we walked around. I was also shocked when we walked up to my hotel & it was part of the tour. The tour is free & tip based - you just need to register in advance. The tour ended at a bar with a free cold one, which ended up as my dinner!
PHOTOS L TO R: 1. Waffle Van 2. Bruges City Hall (now a museum) 3. The Beer Wall 4. Vlissinghe Pub
DAY 2
Breakfast waffle on a stick: Waffle Van (which is really not a van)
Canal Boat tour
Wandering + little flea market
Church of Our Lady Bruges
Dinner: Vlissinghe Pub
The Canal Boat tour was a highlight of my trip. There are five locations through out the city center area. I just picked the closest one after my waffle breakfast. Make sure you go early in the morning to beat the crowds. I loved seeing the city from this vantage point. Although the boat was full, I felt like I still had great views. (I sat on one of the sides). Also the boat often makes u-turns so you’ll get your chance to take photos of the other side.
This tour runs rain or shine. They have umbrellas available, but I had mine & my rain jacket just in case. As you can see from the photos, the weather was finicky. The guide speaks in several languages (to be honest I lost count of how many he was using - lol - but English was one of them)
I’m not going to lie, the only reason I was going to Church of Our Lady Bruges was to see Michelangelo’s Madonna. It is the only sculpture of his outside of Italy. I was pleasantly surprised by how much more there was inside. The chapels are beautiful & the tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the Bold are so intricate. As someone inspired by art, I am glad I visited.
I found this non-assuming pub from my night tour. (Beware, many of the kitchens are not open very late. I’m not sure if they will be open later in the summer but plan accordingly. That’s why I went back the next day) It’s the oldest operating pub in Belgium. I had 2 beers & a very hearty dinner for under 20€ with tip. It’s a little off the beaten path - so glad I took that tour!
DAY 3
Belfry Tower
Lunch: Restaurant Breydel de Conioc
More wandering + my Starbucks mug
Headed home
The Belfry Tower was the other highlight of my trip. This is another location to try & do first thing in the morning or end of the day. I’d also encourage you to purchase your tickets ahead of time. I bought mine they day before, but as summer gets busier, the sooner the better.
The climb up the Belfry Tower is not an easy one. It’s 366 stairs one way & it gets progressively narrower as you go up. Thankfully, the there are levels in between to take a break & look at displays. When I was heading back down I was encouraging people heading up & telling them they were almost there.
The views were stunning & well worth it. There is a metal screen covering all the open areas at the top. I strategically placed my lens in between them to get photos without the screen. Since I went in the morning, it wasn’t crowded. I stayed as long as I wanted & moved freely to take photos.
Before & after of my lunch.
I skipped breakfast to save room for lunch. Come hungry! Restaurant Breydel de Conioc was recommended for mussels from my hotel & the 500 Hidden Secrets website. They also serve eel, which is a local dish caught fresh in town.
This was my favorite waffle from Bruges. I dubbed it the best waffle I’ve had in my life. It’s from a cart directly in front of the Belfry Tower in the Markt Square.
LAST THOUGHTS
If I did things differently, I would have arrived earlier on Saturday for a full day. I came from Lille, France (which was lovely) but I had a hard time finding my groove during that part of the trip - that’s for another post.
If you want to take the train here, look at tickets early. In planning a second trip, the cost & the lack of options (length of trip/number of changes) made it a non-option for me since I only planned a few weeks out.
Places I didn’t make it to but on the list for next time: Basilica of the Holy Blood & Adornes Domain
Some of the small business boutiques were closed on Sunday. If I came earlier on Saturday I could have moved some things around & done the open touristy things on Sunday.
I don’t normally do breakfast at the hotel. If you want to have brunch make reservations. I found a bunch that looked really great, but they were all full & no longer taking reservations once I was in town.
Watch the movie In Bruges. It’s a dark comedy (probably not appropriate for littles). The movie takes place in Bruges, which makes a lovely background. You’ll see the many bridges & canal, the Belfry, & Adornes Domain. The tourism office even offers a self guided tour to visit all the sights from the movie and my tour guide was an extra!
Map of Locations from my trip
Official Tourism Office
500 Hidden Secrets - loved using this site to plan my next trip. The restaurant I went to for mussels was included in their seafood list.