Bruges travel tips: our guide to this bijou Belgian beauty

The people of Bruges are warm, welcoming and decidedly mellow and they have every good reason to be. Not only is this compact and bijou little city an absolute pleasure at every turn, but Belgium is the second happiest country in Europe.

It’s a close second too, with Finland leading the rankings at 7.8 out of 10, followed by Belgium, Austria, Romania and Slovenia, all in second place and just a smidge behind the leader, at 7.7.

With the survey based on everything from living conditions, employment, health, education, leisure and social interactions to economic and physical safety, governance and basic rights – it appears I’ve ignored Belgium for far too long, favouring its neighbour, France.

I have actually been to Bruges once before but remember little of it, being a junior reporter on a local newspaper in the UK at the time and invited to go on a work trip to Amsterdam. Having hit the nightlife too hard in Amsterdam, I spent the few hours in Bruges asleep on the coach and missed out.

It was a friend’s review of Brussels for The Sun Lounger which made me realise that I had overlooked Belgium for far too long. Impressions I’d long-held of the country in my mind were that it might be a bit boring, the food was nothing special and it was all about beer. Basically, that it was compared to France! Shame on me for thinking that.

I was ready to be proven wrong and I was. Read on for The Sun Lounger’s guide to the perfect weekend in Bruges.

About Bruges

Bruges – known as the Venice of the North due to its network of winding canals – is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its well-preserved medieval architecture, cobbled streets, waterways, beer, lace and chocolate. The Venice reference is a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest. It’s nothing like it but is a beauty in its own right.

It is the capital and largest city of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgian. Forget your Duoligo French here; they speak Dutch. Bruges in the north-west of Belgium and the sixth most populous city in the country, although still relatively small.

The city itself is oval, encircled by the canal, and has a population of around 120,000 of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre. You can walk around it in just a few hours and that’s part of its appeal.

When to visit Bruges

We went to Bruges for three lovely (although freezing-to-the-bone) nights in January, when the shiny streets were relatively quiet, except for the occasional clip clop of hooves from carriages carrying tourists around and the bell chiming in the ancient clock tower. Despite being quiet, pretty much everywhere was still open and you had to book restaurants in the evening a weekends, as they were buzzing.

There are advantages and disadvantages of travelling out of season. I’m not sure I would love it as much if I had to jostle with herds of tourists in the pretty squares of Burg and Markt, although the outdoor bar culture would be world-class.

How to get to Bruges

I’d looked into travelling by Eurostar to Bruges, which would’ve meant changing trains in London and again in Brussels, but decided that the quickest and easiest option for us was to drive, crossing the channel via LeShuttle, which I believe always takes the stress out of travelling, especially when you have a tonne of coats in your luggage and hate lugging it behind you, as I do.

Living in the UK, it was possible to get from door to door in a little over four hours (two hours to the LeShuttle terminal at Folkestone, 35 minutes crossing – a.k.a. time for a nap – and then 1.5 easy hours driving to Bruges itself).

Instead of turning right out of the terminal, towards my beloved second home of Le Touquet, we took a left this time, whizzing past Dunkerque before crossing into Belgium and zipping up to Bruges. There were no tolls, the quiet roads were a breeze and navigating Bruges itself was easy, due to its size.

Once you get into the labyrinth of little streets and bridges over the canals in the historic centre, you’ll know it’s time to find your accommodation, drop your luggage off and then find a car park. There are several within the inner sanctum of the city and ours cost around €50 to park for 4 days.

The only traffic we encountered on our entire trip was in the UK, whose roads seem eternally strewn with traffic cones and nobody apparently working.

Crossings on LeShuttle start from £59 each way.

Who goes to Bruges

While there, it felt as though there was a mix of both locals and tourists, which isn’t always the case in some major European cities, like Barcelona, for example. We encountered mostly Dutch and Spanish tourists, with a smattering of Brits, Germans and Italians.

We didn’t see as much of that uber cool coffee shop scene that you see in lots of other places, meaning the tourists in January were mostly couples from early 30s upwards. Despite the abundance of beer, there wasn’t a stag party vibe, that one might have expected. It was all rather civilised and – I’ll use the word again – mellow, although not at all boring.

Where to stay in Bruges

Prior to going on a city break, I normally do a moderate amount of research and decide what I want to see while there, then create a rough itinerary. This time I broke from tradition and decided to see where the days took us and simply wander. The only thing we’d booked in advance was the accommodation. And what a good decision I made.

When a Brit hears the term ‘B&B’, they may think of a chintzy, rather faded establishment with a matronly and slightly stern patron serving ‘full English’. That’s not the case at all at the boutique B&B Barabas, a majestic 16th century mansion which has been lovingly preserved, with a peaceful, idyllic waterfront garden fronting one of the city’s most picturesque canals, just a few steps away from everything you will need to see in Bruges.

Understated as you approach it from the street, inside is a dreamy design triumph, beautifully combining old and new, with guest suites with dripping with luxe detailing. It’s was a darling find and now I have discovered it, I wouldn’t want to stay anywhere else in Bruges.

Before arrival, the very charming and helpful Bert will send you a Whatsapp message, giving you instructions of how to gain access, where car parks can be found and other essential details. If one of the equally charming ladies isn’t there to help you on arrival (Bert runs a nearby bagel shop during the day), you’ll find your key on the large antique table and instructions on how to get to your room.

Ours was on the first floor, up some steep stairs (thank heavens for a partner who was willing to lug the suitcase full of coats up said stairs). Overlooking the canal at one end of the room and a quiet, narrow street at the other, the modern rooms are a bright contrast to the largely antique vibe downstairs and ours featured a very ‘designy’ and ridiculously pretty, free-standing bath.

The loo and shower were found in two separate dark glass cubicles at the street-end of the room. If you are bashful re bathroom sounds, turn the volume up on the TV while one of you pays a visit – or there is another loo downstairs!

The bed was huge and the square continental pillows, which many of us Brits don’t really understand, were actually among the best we’ve ever rested our heads on. Speaking of pillows, that’s how my partner described the bread rolls at breakfast, served on vintage crockery, while we sat in retro seats. In fact, his exact words were as follows:

“Breakfast is served in the orangerie, where you can enjoy a delightful selection of yogurts with homemade granola, a continental buffet selection with a side of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon and the most delicious, light bread rolls which I can only describe as being lightly crusted which, when prised open, have most wonderful consistency, like little fluffy pillows of breaded loveliness.”

There’s no physical bar but there is an honesty bar (there are cameras, if you are of a dishonest persuasion) which is well-stocked, including with some local beers.

My only regret was not having been able to sit in the garden and enjoy an aperitif. Maybe next time, when I’d also like to book into the cottage holiday home, accessed via the garden, just for the views from the bed.

Junior suites at Barabas start from around €300 a night.

What to do in Bruges

If you don’t want to wander freestyle, there’s lots to see and do in Bruges:

  • Belfry of Bruges: A 13th-century tower with 47 bells that’s part of the World Heritage Site of Belfries of Belgium and France 
  • Church of Our Lady: A Gothic church with a brick spire that’s the second-tallest in the world
  • You can take an open-air boat tour along the canals (closed when we tried on a Monday in January), bathe in beer, make chocolates, go on a guided walking tour and enjoy making Waffles ‘n Beer – where you combine the two and get creative. We booked this as it was right near our B&B and reviews were great, but it was sadly cancelled by the organisers and our money refunded 
  • Other attractions Concertgebouw Brugge (Concert Hall), O.L.V.-kerk Museum (Museum of the Church of Our Lady), Godshuizen (Almshouses), The Hanseatic Quarter and Groeningemuseum.

Where to eat in Bruges

You’ll find wall-to-wall Flemish beef stew, perhaps rather strangely for a Brit, served with apple sauce, salad and/or chips, and vol-au-vent smothered in creamy chicken, sometimes with small meatballs thrown in too. You have to try moules frites, waffles and chips with mayonnaise too.

If you are going to eat anywhere in Bruges, make it the quite new, stylish and very cool Atelier D The Bistro (above). We’d peered admiringly through the windows of this small, up-market eatery as it was on the corner of the street we turned down to get to our B&B. Having quickly glanced the menus to make sure it wasn’t another beef stew and vol au vent joint, we decided to book for my partner’s birthday meal.

We turned out to probably be the most difficult diners they could ever have asked for, but they were utterly charming. The reason for our difficultness? On sitting down and reading the menus properly, we discovered it was a seafood restaurant and my partner reacts badly when he eats all things fishy. On top of that, I was midway through a course of diet injections at the time, so was full after a few bites and therefore filled with shame at not being able to clear my plate, as usual.

Rather than putting our coats on and running (we were close to the door), I discreetly asked the chef if he was willing to make anything non-seafood for my partner (did I mention that the Belgians speak better English than many Brits?) and he happily obliged, serving a dish of goose liver for a starter and plume of pork for dessert, spooning over the shiny sauces in person at the table, directly from a small copper saucepan.

I was persuaded by the server to try the oysters (above) as they’d been having a caviar tasting and had some Iranian fish eggs left to serve with them. Despite Monjauro (my choice of diet jab) telling me I’d made the wrong decision, I gulped them down, followed by a dish of fresh brill.

When we asked what wines they had, we were taken down into the cellar and given a tour of what was good – something I’d never experienced before in a restaurant. We said no to the 1924 Margaux at £800 a bottle and went for wine by the glass, my diet injections forbidding me from drinking too much, anyway.

Telling them it was my partner’s birthday, they appeared with a steady stream of bottles, first pouring us rosé wine, then red, then champagne, then dessert wine and charging us for virtually none of it.

I managed to ‘avoid’ a delicious dessert but my partner found his rich and chocolatey, as one would expect from the country which can produce up to 600,000 tonnes of chocolate a year. As if that wasn’t enough, it was apparently compulsory to have a spoonful of tiramisu before exiting.

Our server couldn’t have been lovelier (he even played Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder over the sound system when all the other diners had departed) and kissed us when we left. Every time we subsequently walked past, they waved enthusiastically at us through the windows. Not a bad reception for the most difficult diners in town!

Starters €28 and main courses €48 per person.

Where to drink in Bruges

Bruges is famous for its beer culture and Belgium has around 1,600 different beer brands. The city even has underground beer pipeline that runs from the De Halve Maan brewery to a bottling plant, pumping around about 4,000 litres of beer per hour. 

Beer is actually regarded as tangible cultural heritage in Bruges, officially designated by UNESCO. You’ll find many different types of beer in the city, including Trappist, Abbey, Belgian dubbels, tripels, quadrupels, witbiers, Lambics, Flanders red and Guezes. 

You can take brewery tours or just find somewhere nice to try a few, but be warned, some of them are very strong indeed and you may find your legs don’t work properly after a couple. One are two are stronger than most wines, at 15%.

You’ll find lovely watering holes around the city and  couple of our favourites were Bar’n and the Bruges Beer Experience. Although a restauran serving traditional Belgian dishes and not a bar, Diligence (above) is where scenes from the Colin Farrell film In Bruges were filmed. All are within walking distance of each other.

Bar’n (above) is the size of a postage stamp (seating no more than about 20 people) but is a beautiful little traditional bar with a modern twist serving banging cocktails as well as beer and other tipples. The charcuterie boards are a great accompaniment to the liquid refreshment.

We originally popped into the Bruges Beer Experience (above), where the beer menu is on a magnum-sized bottle, to shelter from the cold and to have a loo break, but were drawn in by its premise of four different beers for €10. I am not a fan of beer, but loved the raspberry one. You can also learn all about beer in the museum here, but we just drank and didn’t learn!

And, in case you were wondering, Bulgarians are the most unhappy in Europe, with a score of just 5.9.

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About Author /

Summer-loving, holiday-craving journalist-turned-PR and mum of two beautiful young ladies in their 20s! My passport is always within reach and I dread the end of summer every year. I fully admit that I am addicted to travel.

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