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Travel guide
Bruges
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to June, September to October, and December
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Welcome
Bruges, in a few days
A canal-ringed medieval centre listed by UNESCO, where the 83-metre belfry rises over the Markt and its stepped gables. Bruges is best seen on foot over two days, from the beguinage to the Flemish Primitives of the Groeninge, with a bike ride along the canal to Damme.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Belfry · about 1 hThe 13th-century tower lost its wooden spire in 1741; 366 steps lead past the old treasury room to the carillon's 47 bells.
- Afternoon · Basilica of the Holy Blood free · about 30 minTwo chapels stacked in one building on the Burg, the lower one being St Basil's, a bare Romanesque chapel from the 12th century.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Martin's Brugge€115 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Canal boat trip · about 30 minA half-hour loop in open boats, under bridges low enough to duck, past the old tanners' gardens, St John's Hospital, the beguinage and the Spiegelrei.
- Afternoon · Groeningemuseum · about 1 h 30The city's Flemish Primitives: Jan van Eyck's Madonna with Canon van der Paele of 1436, Memling's Moreel Triptych, Gerard David and Hieronymus Bosch.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Navarra€125 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Church of Our Lady · about 45 minIts 115-metre brick tower is among the tallest in the world, and inside is Michelangelo's marble Madonna and Child, bought by Bruges merchants.
- Afternoon · St John's Hospital and the Memling Museum · about 1 h 30Founded around 1188, one of Europe's oldest surviving hospitals, with timber-roofed wards, a chapel, a 17th-century pharmacy and paintings by Memling.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Adornes€140 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Beguinage (Ten Wijngaerde) free · about 1 hFounded in 1245, white houses around a lawn of poplars and spring daffodils; beguines lived here until 1927, and Benedictine nuns still occupy it.
- Afternoon · Minnewater free · about 30 minOnce Bruges's inner harbour, where barges unloaded wool and cloth, this long lake keeps the 1398 Powder Tower and a 16th-century lock-keeper's house.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Ter Duinen€140 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Moules-frites: a pot of mussels steamed with celery, onion or white wine, with chips on the side.
- Frites: chips fried twice, traditionally in beef fat, bought from a friterie in a paper cone with mayonnaise.
- Carbonnade flamande: beef stewed slowly in dark beer, with onion and a slice of spiced bread to thicken the sauce.
- Waffles: the Brussels kind light and rectangular, the Liège kind dense and studded with caramelised pearl sugar.
- Pralines: filled chocolates, first made in Brussels by Neuhaus in 1912.
- Beer: a brewing culture listed by UNESCO, from Trappist ales made in abbeys to sour Brussels lambics, each poured in its own glass.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Walk past the restaurants touting for trade on the Rue des Bouchers in Brussels. Photo menus and staff on the pavement are the giveaway.
- Belgian beers are strong, often 8 to 10%. Two can do the work of four elsewhere.
- In Flanders (Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp) people speak Dutch. Start in English rather than French.
- Driving? Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent are low emission zones, and foreign cars must be registered online before entering.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Dutch
| English | Dutch |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hallo |
| Thank you | Dank je |
| Please | Alstublieft |
| Yes | Ja |
| No | Nee |
| Excuse me | Pardon |
| Goodbye | Tot ziens |
| Do you speak English? | Spreekt u Engels? |
| I don't understand | Ik begrijp het niet |
| How much is it? | Hoeveel kost het? |
| Where are the toilets? | Waar zijn de toiletten? |
| The bill, please | De rekening, alstublieft |
| Help! | Help! |
| Cheers! | Proost! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €120 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to June, September to October, and December
PlugC/E · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingIncluded in the bill, round up
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo specific vaccination needed. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/bruges
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.