Bruges: A Storybook Flemish Capital

My favorite Disney movie is Beauty and the Beast. There is no contest in my mind and for many years I knew the lyrics to every song. How can you not love a movie about a gorgeous, intelligent girl who loves books and has a huge heart, even for beasts?

When friends and co-workers heard we were going to Belgium everyone said we needed to spend at least one night in Bruges, a storybook village in Belgium just an hour outside Brussels. They insisted it that it was a storybook village, much like the one Belle wandered in Beauty and the Beast. There was no further convincing needed and within a day of booking our flight to Belgium we decided to add 24 hours in Bruges to our itinerary. The Flemish capital, the small narrow streets and buildings dating back to the 1400’s did not disappoint and was perfect for a 24 hour addition to a Belgium itinerary! 

Transportation: We were able to get to Bruges in just an hour from the main train station in Brussels. The train is only 18 Euros and allowed us to get a few minutes rest while also enjoying the views of the countryside.

Hotel: There aren’t very many moderately priced hotels in Bruges so we were lucky to have American Express recommend Hotel NH Bruges. The hotel earns 4 stars on TripAdvisor with over 673 reviews and rankings which reconfirmed the decision. The location was absolutely wonderful, just a 10 minute walk from the train station and a five minute walk to the heart of historic Bruges.  The hotel is actually built within a 17th century monastery, featuring exposed wood beams, fireplaces and stained glass windows in the lobby and first floor area. The rooms were comfortable but nothing special. We did however sleep in the largest bed ever as our room featured two full size beds which we pushed together for our night stay!

Drink: There were bars and beer shops around every corner in Bruges! We ended up bringing home multiple bottles of Delirium along with a few bar additions including Belgian beer glasses! We stumbled up on 2be Beer Bar & Wall Saturday evening and while it was a “beer tourist trap” we enjoyed the warm fire pits and amazing beer assortment for 3 solid hours. As soon as the sun set in Bruge the temperature dropped down in the 40s so a warm fire pit and beer flight seemed like the perfect way to spend happy hour before dinner.   The number of beers they have both on tap and available in bottle was overwhelming for sure but we had fun tasting our way through the selections. Eat: Similar to Brussels, we had no reservations or plans in Bruges. Instead, we relied on our hotel for dinner reservations and enjoyed lunch the following day at a small restaurant on the main square. We made sure to enjoy as many mussels as possible while also sampling Flemish beef stew, spice “speculoos” cookies, beer, and mussels during our time in the small town.

See: We were only in Bruges for less than 24 hours, 8 of which were spent sleeping. This finite amount of time forced us to do research in advance so we would know where to spend our time. Known as the Venice of the North, Bruges gets its name from the multiple canals that surround the city center. There are more than 80 bridges! We started our visit and tour of the city with a 30 minute boat tour through the canals right at dusk. The tour was only 4 euros per person and well worth it based on the views and the history we learned.

The other historic places we toured while in town were as follows:

• Church of Our Lady – stunning basilica and unique use of white and black marble
• Belfry & Market Halls – Go early to avoid the 2-3 hour lines to climb the 366 steps to the top! Well worth the cost as the views are gorgeous and seeing the bell tower mechanics upclose is pretty incredible!
• Historic Centre of Brugges
• Bruges Markt

Belgium was such a surprise weekend joy for us as we went in not expecting much from the country and instead left amazed! We would go back in a heart beat and have recommended this itinerary to all our friends!