Bruges

Bruges (Brugge in Dutch and also Bruges in French) is a popular destination for tourists in Belgium, drawn by its beautiful historic centre, filled with canals, cobbled lanes and medieval buildings. Once an international trading hub, now a time capsule, Bruges is (probably) Belgium's most beautiful city.

Guided tour of Bruges’ oldest brewery. See how the beer is made , get a 360 degree view of the city from the roof and taste one of their beers. The brewery’s beer pipeline across the city was a subject of a YouTube video by Tom Scott. There is also a bar and restaurant on site.

Interactive beer experience in the centre of Bruges. Looks at history, brewing, Belgian beer culture, food pairing and more.

Bar with an on site brewery in the the old town centre of Bruges. That offers several different brewery tours and testing experiences. Their Bourgogne des Flandres is a blend of old and young beer, both their lambic, which is brewed off site and the Bruinen Os, a Flemish brown ail, which is brewed on site. Both the Bruinen Os and Blonden Os, their brown and blonde Flemish ales are brewed in limited quantities on site in the Bruges brewery.

As a city Bruges started to grow when Baldwin I, the Count of Flanders was sent to Bruges in the 9th century by his father in law (West-Frankish King Charles the Bald) to act as his representative. Through the presence of the line of counts and the location within reach of the sea Bruges was able to become a hub of industry and international trade, for products as Flemish cloth. By the 13th century merchants from all over Europe had set up shop in the city, and the city had grown too. The Belfry, City Hall and all manner of industrial infrastructure were built. In the 14th Century the Burgundian Duke Philip married the heiress of the Flemish count and Flanders became part of the Burgundian empire. The Burgundians loved Bruges and under them Bruges became a city rich with refined taste and luxury goods. Bruges quickly grew into one of Europe’s largest cities with a population, thought to have been, around 60 thousand, twice the size of London at the time. In 1482 the popular Duchess Mary of Burgundy died leaving her husband in charge, who proved unpopular with the citizens of the city and eventually he left. At the same time the river connecting Bruges to the sea, and international trade, silted up and ships could no longer reach Bruges. Traders went to Antwerp instead, leaving Bruges with just a few small industries such as lacemaking.

Visually Bruges became frozen in its golden age, now a historical window into that time. Today most of the inner city’s gothic buildings remain preserved. The entire inner city has been listed by UNESCO for its Outstanding Universal Value.

This is the beating heart of Bruges. This impressive main square surrounded by guildhouses with the Belfort towering over it has been the centre of Bruges since the 13th century. A market takes place here and most of the free walking tours start here too.

In a city with a past as long and storied as Bruges, there is nothing better that you can do that take a guided walking tour. You can hear what shaped the city and see it with your own eyes at the same time.

Multiple, ‘free’ walking tours guides leave the Grote Markt (central square) periodically, look out for guides with umbrellas or flags
(Note, free tour guides will expect tips of €10-20). Tours last 1-2 hours.

Standing 83m tall in the heart of Bruges is the 13th century belfry. The UNESCO world heritage site was once a vital part of Bruges’s security , serving as a look out post, for invaders or fires and also a treasury and city archive. Now open for visitors to climb almost 400 stairs to the top and see some of the city’s artifacts on the way up.

An art gallery with works from many well known Low-Countries Masters including: Hieronymus Bosch, Jan van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, and much more.

In ‘De Verloren Hoek’ (The Lost Corner) of the city stand 4 of what was once 20 windmills which were built in 1770. The windmills were used to grind grain and now are preserved and Sint-Janshuismolen, the only windmill that still grinds grain, is open to visitors.

You can get to Bruges very easily by train. When you arrive you can walk from the station to the old town, and then because it is so small, you can just walk around.

You can easily book trains through our Trip.com affiliate link and support the site.

You may also benefit from a discount by buying discounted tickets for people of certain ages or multi-trip tickets.

Bruges has its own museum card which gives free access to many of the city's museums. It is called the Musea Brugge Card, it works for 72 hours after purchase and costs: Standard Rate: €33 Youth 18-25: €25 Youth 13-17: €17 It can be purchased online or at any of the participating museums. The table on the right should help you ascertain if the card would be good value for money for your trip.