One Day in Bruges / Brugge: canals, cobbled streets & medieval buildings – Road trip in Belgium 2/5
After 3 days of rest and chit chat in Mons with my best friend M., we are getting ready to spend 4 days together, travelling around Belgium by train. There will be 3 of us: M., his 5 years old son and me. It’s the first time that we travel together somewhere else than Paris and the little boy is very excited to sleep for the first time in a hotel. Our first destination will be Bruges.
Note : this article is part of the series of blog articles “Road Trip in Belgium”, to read the 1st part, click here
Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Diary
It’s good to be with a real Belgian girl because I don’t have to learn about basic stuff like the train in Belgium. She advises me to look at the timetables on the SNCB website. The prices are fixed for each trip so you don’t have to bother to book for this or that train. Each city can have several stations. Trains serving cities with several stations stop at all the stations of that city, so when you buy a ticket Brussels – Antwerp for example, it will be marked on the ticket “Zone Brussels – Zone Antwerp” and you can get on the train from any station in Brussels and get off at any station in Antwerp. Simple. I always buy the tickets at the machines at the station, I can pay by credit card (contactless or with code) or with coins.
Belgian trains are similar to the TER trains in France. I have the impression that many people take them to go to work simply, there isn’t even room for luggage (just a high bar) and the trains are always full. The ticket is free, it is valid all day long.
So it took us 2h30 to go from Mons to Bruges (with a small change in Brussels and a 30 minutes wait). From the station, we see small houses really too pretty. The streets are paved, so we roll up our suitcases with a lot of trouble, but we are happy to be able to drop them off at our Hotel Het Gheestelic Hof (74€ for 3 people, link Booking) that I highly recommend. Moreover, we were able to check in earlier (from 11am) and take a hot chocolate (at the hotel, there is an absolutely incredible coffee/tea/hot chocolate machine – and for free as well). We had a quick lunch (I didn’t eat anything Belgian during this road trip, don’t ask me for the addresses because M. and his son are very difficult for food, we rather ended up in Italian restaurants) before taking a boat trip (type Boottochten Brugge on Google Maps)
There are several places where you can take boats for a tour of the city on the canals, these tours all cost 10€/person (6€ for children), payment in cash only. And it is absolutely the same itinerary. Take wherever it suits you best. Honestly, the little boy with us likes it, but I find the tour quite limited. The comments are brief (I didn’t retain anything).
From the boat, we just spotted this place a little hidden, type Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce, the place is quiet and beautiful.
And this is THE picture that every self-respecting tourist must absolutely take in Bruges.
With the cloudy and grey sky, it doesn’t look great but imagine the blue sky and the light in summer. It must be very pretty.
Chocolate stores are flourishing in the city, we don’t know where to look
The belfry of Bruges
We walk quietly to the Belfry of Bruges. The belfries were used to announce the time, but also as alarms … The belfry of Bruges is classified by UNESCO and it is absolutely necessary, if your knees allow it, to climb the 366 steps up to the top to see the bell and the 47 bells manual carillon, which chimes regularly. Well, M. and his son didn’t do it, anyway, the little one wouldn’t have liked to walk so much. The route is made up of several spiral staircases, getting smaller and smaller. As we are during the week and in winter, there is no waiting, but in high season, only 70 people are allowed at a time and the wait can be long.
I went up there around 1:40 pm and at 2 pm I was at the top of the tower – to listen to the music and look at the carillon hall – just below the bells. There is an ingenious system, which looks like a giant clock (still below the carillon hall), to pull the strings – ringing this or that bell. The music changes according to the seasons and there is even an organ to play a melody by hand! It is absolutely incredible! (even if the picture does not reflect it ahahah)
Of course, the view at the top of the tower is very satisfying too, even if I had to tiptoe around to try to see (the windows being too high for me lol).
Le Markt– Main Square
This place is really too beautiful and very animated whereas we are in week. You will find there many restaurants but also many chocolate and perfume stores. Apart from the Belfry, the most impressive building is the Provincial Palace, dating from the 19th century. This building cannot be visited.
Beautiful facades of this type can be found everywhere in Bruges. With a camera, you have to stop every 10 meters as this city is so beautiful ! !
Place du Bourg
Basilica of the Holy Blood
This square houses the city hall of Bruges. Right next to it is a strange building all black and dark but with very nice golden statues. It is the Basilica of the Holy Blood of Bruges.
On the first floor is a chapel. In the beginning it was the only one. Then the building was renovated and enlarged to accommodate a flask containing a stained relic of Christ’s blood (please bring it from Jerusalem). So we find ourselves with a beautiful basilica on the first floor. The stained glass windows are superb, but there is a lack of oxygen in there (the photo isn’t from me because the interior is under construction)
Access to the “treasures” of the basilica costs 2,5€/person. I have not seen the relic in question.
Travelling with a child
This is the first time I am traveling with a 5 year old child. Even if he is accompanied by his mother, it’s hard to ignore his many “mommy, mommy”, stories and reflections without any filter. Not being used to children, I don’t know if it’s normal or not, I listen to everything he says and my head starts exploding like a bomb. Moreover, he has never traveled more than a day (anywhere but Paris), has never been to a restaurant, has never slept in a hotel in his life, so he didn’t know how to lower his voice or behave in public places. In addition, the poor man had to walk in the rain and cold. Luckily, he did not have a seizure, did not sulk, did not run like an arrow in the street ..
I admire parents who manage to travel around the world with their young children. Here, the little boy travels in his own country – the situation is stressful enough for him (and for me), but abroad, with the time differences, the local food, the change of climate, … it must be even more difficult. Anyway, when the situation becomes too stressful for everyone and the little tired one, I drop him and his mom at the hotel, while I explore the rest of the city – alone and quietly.
St. Boniface Bridge
Probably the most picturesque bridge in the city. Everything is beautiful at 360° degrees. You don’t know where to look anymore, it’s so beautiful from all sides.
The Gruuthuse Museum is very nice, I haven’t visited the interior but I like the facade.
You will surely also notice the imposing Church of Our Lady Bruges and the St. Saviour’s Cathedral of Bruges. Both do not impress me too much, the exterior isn’t very pretty, neither is the interior. We will see much more impressive things in Ghent.
It’s raining hard and we decide to go to the Carrefour express in the area to buy something to make a sandwich. With the delicious hot chocolate generously offered at the hotel, we listen to the rain gently falling on the roof. The little one is very impressed by the hotel – it’s his very first night in a hotel and he discovers the concept with wonder. We fall asleep peacefully after this long day.
The rest of our journey – in Ghent, it’s this way
Part 2: Practical Tips
Budget
- Hotel Het Gheestelic Hof (74€ for 3 persons, link Booking) – room with 1 single bed + 1 double bed: central location, hot drinks at will, warm welcome (we could access the room from 11am when it is usually from the afternoon)
- If I was alone, I would have taken a bed in a dormitory at 20€ at Snuffel Hostel (link Booking), very well noted
- Train Mons – Bruges : 17€/person
- Access to the Belfry: 12€/person, payment by card accepted
- Boat trip: 10€/person (6€ for children), 30 minutes, payment in cash only
- Basilique Saint-Sang : 2,5€/person for the access to the treasures
- Lunch: count 18€/person + drink (water isn’t free in Belgium, count minimum 2,5€)
- Dinner: 12€ for 3 at the supermarket