Bruges, Belgium

When I stayed:

Mid-September

Where I Stayed:

Hotel Leopold, booked through Airbnb for $109/night

Most places in Bruges are pretty cheap, but we exclusively booked through Airbnb for this trip. This location was a 10 minute walk away from the town center, and still surrounded by plenty of bars, eateries, shops, and more.

What I saw:

Belfry of Bruges
- 7/10 Recommend.
  - This structure is immense and incredibly impressive. There are a couple options to either walk around the small square inside the walls, look from the outside, or walk up to the top.
  - You do have to purchase a ticket to walk up the stairs (346 of them), so we did not do this.
A pop-up art exhibit
- 8/10 Recommend.
  - Very cool! It was called "Metamorphosen", and contained very different styles and mediums of art.
  - This was in the square of the Belfry, and was a free exhibit.
  - It appears that there is always some type of exhibit here, so if you go into the square of the Belfry, you'll probably be in luck.
Canal Boat Tour
- 10/10 Recommend.
  - Bruges is much larger than I imagined, and it takes so much time to walk through every alley and to see all the things.
  - This boat tour was a perfect 30 minutes, and showed more sights than we could have seen walking.
  - The guide was great, and spoke English, French, German, and Dutch.
  - About 10 euros/person
Walking the Town
- 10/10 Recommend.
  - This is where I saw the most interesting shops, eateries, and culture. It is a huge town, and you can walk all day and still not see it all.
  - Bruges does offer horse drawn carriages that tour you around the town as well, if that would suit you more than walking. I didn't do a carriage tour, but I heard from different Belgians that they were pretty pricey and long as well, however I'm sure there are many options as well.

One Must See/Do:

Canal Tour.

Getting to listen to a local talk about Bruges and explain history, different bridges, the architecture, and more was well worth the cheap price, and definitely doable in 30 minutes.

If you love Bruges, maybe sign up for the 1 or 2 hour long tours that are offered as well.

Total Synopsis:

Bruges was magical!

It felt like I was in a fairy tale book. The architecture was my favorite part, because it's very historic and you can also see how some of the architecture has changed and modified over time.

Walking around was sometimes a lot, as I walked easily over 10 miles in 2 days. However, there are cafes everywhere and plenty of bridges and places to sit down if needed.

Next time, I'd love to go to Ghent, a town just a bit away.

Many places will really encourage cash or even say "Cash Only", however, they are obligated to accept cards. I'd recommend carrying cash, but don't be worried if you only have plastic.

Bruges is one of my favorite European places so far, it's definitely worth a visit.