GuideBruges, West Flanders, Belgium6 min read
Bruges in a Day (and an Evening)
Stay after the day-trippers leave
Canals, the Belfry and the Flemish Primitives, then the quiet hour when the coaches have gone.
The best hour is after five
Bruges is barely an hour by train from Brussels, which is both its blessing and its problem. Between ten and five, the medieval centre is full of tour groups following raised umbrellas along the canals. Then the coaches leave, the light turns gold on the brick gables, and the city becomes the quiet Flemish town of the paintings.
If you can, stay the night. If you cannot, at least stay for dinner. Spend the morning on the Markt and the Burg, climb the 366 steps of the Belfry before the queue builds, and take a boat along the canals from one of the landing stages near the Rozenhoedkaai. After lunch, walk south to the Groeninge Museum for the Flemish Primitives, then on to the Begijnhof, the beguinage, where white-painted houses stand around a lawn of daffodils in spring.
In the evening, return to the Rozenhoedkaai, the most photographed corner in the city, when there is nobody else on it.
The Rozenhoedkaai
The day in order
- The Belfry at opening time
- A canal boat from the Rozenhoedkaai
- Lunch: Flemish beef stew and a local beer
- The Groeninge Museum
- The Begijnhof and the Minnewater
- Dinner, then the canals after dark
Belfry tickets
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Emma EditorAuthor
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- Hannah Schmidt
Would you still recommend this in the rainy season, or is it better to wait?
- Fatima Zahra El Idrissi
We did this last month and the timings were spot on. Thank you for the tip about going early.
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