27 brilliant things to do in Bruges
The Groenerei
The most romantic canal in Bruges
Bruges was once a seaport and although the coast has shifted, it remains a waterborne city, its many canals part of a network that links it to the North Sea. Of all the canals in the centre of town, the Groenerei, the 'Green Canal' (above), is the most romantic. It is best seen from Peerdebrug, the Horse Bridge (on Peerdenstraat): looking towards the Meebrug, the canal is lined with trees and creepers, elegant 17th-century mansions and almshouses, and topped by the cathedral tower.
David GodichaudMaison Amodio
One of Bruges' most stylish B&Bs
Bruges has no shortage of good hotels, but the real finds in this city are the B&Bs - none finer than Maison Amodio. The house belongs to a local, Geert, and his partner Henri, and together they have created somewhere we would all like to come home to. The three rooms (from €165 per night) are themed on places the owners enjoy - Paris, Biarritz and nearby Knokke - have ensuite facilities and just about everything a visitor could want. There's a large breakfast to start the day and an honesty bar if you fancy a drink at the other end.
Address: Maison Amodio, 22 Molenmeers, Bruges, Belgium
**Telephone:**00 32 50 68 80 90
Website: maisonamodio.eu
Getty ImagesThe Burg
Perfectly preserved Gothic square at the heart of Bruges
The city's central square was the administrative centre of medieval Bruges and offers a feast of Gothic architecture. Nowhere in the city better expresses the magnificence and wealth of this period. Many buildings were rebuilt in the 16th century or later, but the Stadhuis, Belgium's oldest town hall, is still faithful to its original 1376 design. Its first-floor Gothic Hall has a fabulous original wooden ceiling.
Mirjam BleekerSiphon
Canal-side restaurant near Damme
The Belgian flatlands are a haven for eels, one of the specialities at Siphon, a fourth-generation, canal-side restaurant outside the village of Damme. On a sunny day, crêpes and drinks are served on the terrace, but the main event happens in the bustling restaurant. Eels are cooked in a green sorrel or cream sauce, while hunks of prime beef, the other speciality, are grilled on open pits and carved at the table. The wine list ranges from country wines to some of the Bordeaux grand crus. The restaurant has some of the busy, fascinating atmosphere of a Breughel painting; service is relaxed, reservations usually necessary and they are closed on weekends.
Address: Siphon, Oostkerke, Damme, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 62 02 02
Website: siphon.be
Brasserie Raymond
The best brasserie in Bruges
There are times when life calls for a good French-style brasserie and if you have a moment like that in Bruges then there's only one place to go, Brasserie Raymond. Pull back the heavy plush curtain inside the door and you could be in Paris. Well, not quite - the waiters here are friendlier. But you are in the heart of Flanders so although some of the food such as steak tartare and dame blanche is straight out of the best brasserie cookbook, shrimp croquettes and waffles are pure Belgian. All are good.
Address: Brasserie Raymond, Eiermarkt 5, Bruges
**Telephone:**00 33 50 33 78 48
Website:brasserie-raymond.be
Schaeverbeke Bakery
The best bakery in Bruges
Some Bruges bakeries are open every day of the week and they tend to start early, by 7am at least. The Sunday-morning journey to buy fresh pistolets (crispy rolls) and bread is a ritual that many observe almost religiously. You can, of course, pop into any bakery any day and find a good range of bread and rolls, but Schaeverbeke makes what might be a chore into a joy. Beyond a window filled with macaroons and tartines russes, it sells organic bread and rolls, a huge range of pastries and the signature mattentaart, an almond-flavoured curd puff pastry. All this and it doesn't open till 7.30, so you get a lie-in!
Address: Schaeverbeke bakery, Schaarstraat 2, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: 00 32 50 33 31 82
Website: schaeverbeke.be
Mirjam BleekerFly kites on Zeebrugge Beach
A seaside escape outside Bruges
On a breezy day, nothing clears the mind better than a session on the beach at Zeebrugge, Bruges's old seaport, a half-hour drive away. You could settle for a stroll along the dunes, but when the tide is out and the wind is up, the beach becomes a playground for kiters. You can buy a simple kite in town or along the waterfront. For something more serious, sign up for a beginner's kite-surfing lesson at the Icarus Kite Centre.
Mirjam BleekerSpegelaere chocolate
The best chocolate shop in Bruges
Belgium has become a byword for chocolate, and Bruges even goes as far as to have a museum dedicated to the brown stuff. But where to buy? Forsaking the hand-pressed heights of Godiva, the high-profile exoticism of Chocolate Line and the supermarket staple Côte d'Or, many locals head for Spegelaere. There is little design and no packaging frills, but this old-fashioned, family-run chocolatier, a short walk from the city centre, has been selling some of Belgium's best truffles, fabulous confections and its signature product - a big bunch of chocolate-covered marzipan 'grapes' - since 1954.
Address: Spegelaere, 92 Ezelstraat, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 336 052
Website: sweetchocolatedreams.be
Mirjam BleekerHof Bladelin
15th-century mansion with a restored inner garden
Peter Bladelin was treasurer of the Order of the Golden Fleece and one of the wealthiest men in Bruges during its 15th-century golden era. He built his house in 1450 to the west of the central squares. Quickly recognised as one of the finest private mansions in the city, it was acquired by the Florentine Medici Bank, which accounts for the medallion with the head of Lorenzo the Magnificent on the wall. Memling and other notable residents of the period were regular visitors. It is now an old people's home which can be visited by appointment; the inner garden is open Mon-Fri, 10am-noon, 2pm-5pm.
Address: Hof Bladelin, Naaldenstraat 19, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 64 34
Website: visitbruges.be
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Mirjam BleekerDe Halve Maan Brewery
The last remaining brewery in Bruges
Beer is taken as seriously as food in Bruges and sometimes taken as often. The choice is staggering. Of the hundreds of Belgium beers, none are more local than the ones at Half Moon, one of the only working breweries left in central Bruges. It is still family owned, too. If brewing processes interest you, there are daily guided tours (45 minutes, €9). There's also a 3km pipe pumping beer from the brewery to the bottling plant out of town. Food is served in the old fermenting room and the courtyard; otherwise, come for the beer: Brugse Zot, a naturally fermented lager that comes at 5 per cent or 7.5 per cent abv, or the appropriately named Straffe Hendrik (Strong Henry) at 9 per cent.
Address: De Halve Maan, Walplein 26, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 26 97
Website: halvemaan.be
Mirjam BleekerSint Anna
A pretty district away from the crowds
The crowds that mob the nearby Burg and city centre rarely make it to the Sint Anna district and the city's northern corner. Attractions here include the Museum voor Volkskunde and De Karmeliet restaurant and some of the city's most interesting small medieval churches. The strangest of these is the 15th-century Jerusalem Church, inspired by Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre and containing a replica of Calvary. A new museum beside the church tells the fascinating story of the Adornes, part of the grand Limburg Stirum family, who commissioned the church in the 15th century.
Mirjam BleekerDe Republiek
Atmospheric bar with a pretty courtyard
There are said to be more bars in Bruges than nights of the year. The wood-panelled De Vlissinge (2 Blekersstraat) is the oldest but for atmosphere, try De Republiek. Attached to the city's best cinema, the bar has plenty of space inside or out in the yard. It serves a long list of beers from a gentle draft kriek to the savage Straffe Hendrik 'quadruple'. Cocktails are chalked on the board, there's simple food, and DJs play at the weekend, when it's open till 3am.
Address: De Republiek, 36 Sint Jacobsstraat, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 34 02 29
Website: republiekbrugge.be
Mirjam BleekerKruispoort
Bruges' best-preserved city gate
At the end of the 13th century, Bruges was ringed by thick walls and a canal that served both as moat and as a connection to the sea. The canal remains part of a Ghent-Ostend network and sees considerable barge traffic (the bridges can be raised for up to 20 minutes at busy periods to allow barges to pass). The walls were taken down in the 1780s, but four of the original eight gates have survived. The best-preserved of these is Kruispoort, originally built in 1402, with immensely thick walls. The Gentpoort has recently been restored and contains a small museum dedicated to the story of the defence and fortification of the city. Four windmills sit on the sloping rampart immediately to the north.
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Den Gouden Karpel
Eat the best mussels in Bruges
Mussels are a Belgian institution and are served by the big pot in many restaurants in town. Although competition is stiff, Den Gouden Karpel (The Golden Carp) is our current favourite. Starting with a stall at the fish market in 1937, Golden Carp still offers a full range of dishes from a swordfish carpaccio to seared tuna and fried sole. But if you only eat mussels once in Bruges, step in off the medieval street (unless you are lucky enough for the weather to allow you to eat out) and order the freshest mussels in town.
Address: Den Gouden Karpel, 4 Huidenvettersplein, Bruges
Telephone: 00 32 50 33 34 94
Website:dengoudenkarpel.be
Mirjam BleekerRent a sit-up bike
See Bruges on two wheels or cycle along the canal to the pretty village of Damme
The city's authorities have made driving in Bruges a misery at the same time as improving life for cyclists - the city is extremely bike-friendly and cyclists take priority on many road crossings. Eric Popelier rents out sit-up bikes by the hour or day; while Jos Teughels and his Quasimundo team have been leading bike tours around Bruges and out into Flanders since 2002. Book ahead to be sure of a ride and they will provide a bike, rainjacket if necessary (this is Belgium), and a free beer-stop on the two-and-a-half-hour ride through the old city. If you want to get out of town, they also have a tour to Damme, a pretty medieval village less than five miles away. A cycle-path runs along the tree-lined canal, across perfect Low Country landscape.
Address: Eric Popelier, Mariastraat 26, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 34 32 62Address: Quasimundo
Telephone: +32 50 330 775
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Mirjam BleekerCraenenburg Café
Historic café on the Markt
Most of the tourist-friendly cafés on the Markt square are avoided by Bruggelings, but the Craenenburg is different. Why? Perhaps the customers are romantics who like the idea that Margaret of York watched jousting from here in the 1460s. Or perhaps they are ex-members of the Bruges Smokers' Club, which used to meet here. Nowadays, you sit outside to smoke, watching the queue for the horse carriages, or the soaring 13th-century belfry spire. Inside is wood panelling and classic Bruges atmosphere; most people seem to skip the food, but it's a good place for a drink.
Address: Craenenburg Café, Markt 16, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 34 02
Website: craenenburg.be
Mirjam BleekerGroeninge Museum
Medieval masterpieces
The city's premier museum is home to one of Europe's finest collections of 15th- and 16th- century art. Hans Memling, the German-born master with a museum dedicated to him in the city, is featured in the Groeninge, as are Gerard David and Hieronymus Bosch. But nothing outshines the sumptuous, dramatic works of Jan van Eyck, whose painting of religious subjects capture the cosmopolitan nature of Bruges in its medieval heyday.
Address: Groeninge Museum, Djiver 12, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 44 87 11
Website:brugge.be
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Cuvée wine bar
The best wine bar in Bruges
Beer cafes, breweries, beer museums… but, you might ask, does no one drink wine in Bruges? Indeed they do and if you can drag yourself away from the cafés - difficult if it happens to be the old-time Craenenburg on the Markt - then head for Cuvée, an unassuming bar right in the centre of town with a brilliant selection of 15 natural and biodynamic wines by the glass and many more by the bottle (they are also wine merchants and supply some of the best restaurants in town). They are happy to talk you through their wines, and also serve plates of charcuterie and cheeses to go with it.
Address: Cuvée, Philipstockstraat 41, Bruges
**Telephone:**050 33 33 28
Website: info@cuvee.beOpen till 8pm most evenings, till 10pm Friday and Saturday.
The Park Restaurant, Bruges
The best restaurant in Bruges
For a long time, if you wanted the fanciest meal in Bruges you went to De Karmeliet, Bruges's only 3 Michelin starred restaurant (and one of only three in Belgium). But since Geert van Heeck gave up his stars, there is some competition to be the place to go to push the boat out. Van Heeck's new place Zetjoe is one of them and Rock-fort is another, but the Park currently leads the pack, offering traditional not grand dining, but no less delicious for that. The setting is individualistically old-fashioned, the welcome warmer than most Bruges evenings and the food as it should be: plenty of fish (cod in wine sauce, crevette cocktail, sole Meunière) and meat including fresh foie gras. A €75 four-course menu, with wines, is served on weekends.
Address: Park Restaurant, Minderbroedersstraat, Bruges
Telephone: 0032 497 801 872
Website: parkrestaurant.be
Mirjam BleekerL’Heroine
Cool concept shop for Belgian fashion
Antwerp is Belgium's fashion capital, home to the Fashion Museum (currently undergoing rennovation), to Dries Van Noten's flagship store and a range of other designers. But if you don't want to take a day trip there, you can find a selection of the best-established Belgian designers at L'Héroïne in Bruge , as well as some pieces from emerging talents. The collections here tend to be as conservative as the people of Bruges, but northern chic has its attractions and the staff are knowledgeable and helpful.
Address: L'Héroïne, Noordzandstraat 32, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 56 57
Website: lheroine.be
Mirjam BleekerBasilica of the Holy Blood
Monumental church containing the blood of Christ
On the first floor of the building on the Burg, the Heilig-Bloedbasiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood) is home to the phial said to contain the blood of Jesus. According to some sources, the blood liquefied when brought from Constantinople by a crusader Count of Flanders. It has remained dry for centuries, but is still displayed on Fridays, when the hopeful come to pray. Each year since at least the 1300s, the phial has been taken in procession around the city, an event that has now become a monument of costume theatre. The next Holy Blood Procession will be held on 10 May 2018.
Address: Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, Burg 13, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 67 92
Website: holyblood.com
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Mirjam BleekerThe Begijnhof
A beautiful 13th-century convent and museum
The Begijnhof, or Beguinage, is an unexpected delight. Established in the 13th century to cope with a rise in single women, caused by the Crusades, the convent is a world apart, reached by a bridge and through a gate that is locked each night. Inside, all is calm: white-washed houses, shade trees and lawns that are covered with daffodils in spring. The original order of begijns died out in the early 20th century and the convent is now home to Benedictine sisters, who also run a small museum.
Address: The Begijnhof, Wijngaardstraat, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 00 11
Mirjam BleekerOnze Lieve Vrouw Church
Gothic church with an impressive art collection
It's not so much its size that makes the Church of Our Lady, on Mariastraat, stand out, although at 122 metres its spire is one of the country's tallest. The wonder here is in the simplicity of the soaring Gothic interior, which contrasts perfectly with the elaborate carvings in the 15th-century royal tombs near the altar. Begun in 1220, the church took almost 200 years to complete and has fabulous acoustics, best heard during a service. Also worth the visit is Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, the only work of the master to leave Italy in his lifetime.
Mirjam BleekerThe Pand Hotel
Charming hotel in the centre of Bruges
The Pand's old-world style is entirely in keeping with the city, and its service is of a level one would expect from an award-winning hotel. Occupying an 18th-century house a short walk from the Burg and the centre of town, the hotel has the feel of a comfortable house, with breakfast served in a bright room with an Aga and drinks served in a small, clubby bar. Rooms range from the charming to the master suite.
Address: The Pand Hotel, Pandreitje 16, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 34 06 66
Website:pandhotel.com
Mirjam BleekerMuseum Voor Volkskunde
Folklore museum with lace workshops
The Shoemakers' Guild's 17th-century almshouses have been turned into a fascinating folklore museum, packed with objects from long-ago lives and with rooms made to look like a pharmacy, a grocery and so on. But the museum also attracts visitors with no interest in history, for two reasons. Much of the lace on sale in Bruges is imported from China, but the museum sells the real thing and also runs lace workshops. It also runs a bar, De Zwarte Kat, inspired by the Art Nouveau Chat Noir in Paris.
Address: Museum voor Volkskunde, Balstraat 43, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 44 87 64
Website: museabrugge.be
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Mirjam BleekerHans Memling
Discover masterpieces by a prolific 15th-century painter
Hans Memling was not born in Bruges, but this is where he produced much of his finest work and there's a museum dedicated to him and his paintings in the Early Netherlandish style, which shows his genius for representation and use of colour. Appropriately, the museum is housed in Sint Janshospitaal Museum, the 12th-century hospital who commissioned much of his best work and which is also one of the best preserved medieval hospital buildings in Europe. Among the masterpieces are an exquisite casket holding relics of St Ursula and an altarpiece with scenes including the mystic marriage of Saint Catherine, a decapitated Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos.
Address: Sint Jan Hospitaalmuseum, 38 Mariastraat, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 448 743
Website: museabrugge.be
Mirjam BleekerHoet Eyewear
Fashion-forward spectacles
The Hoet design team take nothing for granted: 'Everything can be questioned' is their founding mantra and it is reflected in the spectacles with which they have made their name. There are two main collections: Theo, 'for the cheerful positive ones', and Witness for 'serene introverted observers'. Frames range from the sublime to close to the ridiculous. Accessories include stainless-steel pince-nez, described as being 'like a butterfly that landed on your nose'. The team also designs furniture and jewellery.
Address: Hoet, Vlamingstraat 19, Bruges, Belgium
Telephone: +32 50 33 50 02
Website: hoet.be