Bruges - what do you recommend

[OhNoNotSusan]

and how would you get there, public transport wise?

You can get the eurostar to Brussels then change onto the train to Bruges. You should be able to walk to most places from the station assuming you are ok with cobbled streets.

how easy is the train from brussels to Bruges?

Very easy to get train from Brussels. It's all in the same station, so you get off Eurostar and then just hop on next to Bruges. Plenty of displays and easy to find platform.
We mostly just walked around, tried to avoid the main streets as very crowded but the side streets and off the main drag is just as lovely.
Night time walks were particularly lovely in my opinion. Food is amazing, we had lunch at a posh restaurant which was amazing value set menu.

Really easy to get the train. They’re very frequent so we didn’t book trains on that line, just turned up. We actually took the Eurostar to Lille and got off there, spent a day in Lille, then a train to Ghent, stayed a few days there and did a day trip on the train to Bruges. I loved Ghent more than Bruges but Bruges was nice enough but we were done in a day and glad to go back to Ghent. We caught the train from Ghent to Brussels (it runs Brussels, Ghent, Bruges) and then the Eurostar back home. So apart from the Eurostar no other trains were pre booked.

We will be there next week, will be walking around ..Any good recommendations for must sees and restaurants cafes (perhaps a bit off the tourist trail) ?

we were going to fly but then i was worried about the train to bruges, will have to have a rethink

Train was so much easier than flying

We had pizza at La Trattoria, Premium Pizza & Italian Wine
which is inbetween the centre and the train station so a bit quieter. Was very good pizza.

We drove and parked in a car park just outside the old town, 5 minutes from our apartment.

Bruges is really pretty and has a few interesting (looking) museums. I say interesting looking because they were closed on a Monday! However, we went on a canal cruise, climbed the belfry, went to an art gallery with examples from artists who were either from Bruges or had worked there.

We also went into basement bars to try a couple of paddles of beer.

There are actually a lot of things to do in Bruges, some more touristy than others. There were brewery tours on offer, and I think a virtual reality experience.

The DC also streamed the film In Bruges, while we were in Bruges!

Train was very easy but if you’re getting the train back from Bruges to Brussels, be aware that the station you’re travelling to is called both Brussels-Midi and Brussels Zuid. That really confused me at first when I was looking for the right platform.

One of my favourite things was the canal tour.

Yes, I’d forgotten that. I was expecting everything in Belgium to be in French and was really freaked out when catching the train from Lille that all the stops seemed to be in Dutch, thought I was going to the wrong place initially. 😁.

Bruges is called Brugge in Flanders. Indeed Brussels - Zuid is the flemish version of Midi / South.

It made perfect sense when I thought about it - it just hadn’t occurred to me!

It's super easy by train from Brussels. And about a 10 min walk from the station into the centre brugge is beautiful. Just walk around. Lots of interesting museums You can get a steam boat into the next time town which is cute

I thought the Eurostar goes to Lille and change there?

Ghent is what I’d suggest.

Also, Flanders museums/battlefields/ cement series depending on how long you’re there

Cemeteries, doh!

That’s what I did but it’s a slightly slower train from Lille to Ghent and if you were going to Bruges I don’t know if you’d have to change at Ghent? I assume some people stay on the faster Eurostar to Brussels and change there for Bruges?

Last year stayed in Ghent for three days by Eurostar via Brussels and then did a day trip to Bruges by train - didn't want to stay there for the duration as it's so touristy, but loved my day trip. Ghent is a bit edgier!

Really enjoyed the Folk Museum in Bruges - off the tourist trail in a quiet area and full of interesting art and artefacts - if that's your kind of thing, of course!

We go via Brussels.

Recommend the canal trip (sadly Fidele the Labrador in the window is no more).

Martins Hotel is perfectly situated.

Park Restaurant is lovely.

Saturday morning market - flowers and food and live birds - not clothes - is interesting.

Beer and chocolate.

Watch the film In Bruge before you go.

How easy / difficult it is to eat out in Belgium if dairy and gluten free?

I can second this. We went after watching ‘In Bruges’ with the then-teenaged DS and we all enjoyed looking out for locations from the film.

I recommend climbing the Belfort tower (it has a key role in the film), taking a canal tour and the guided tour of the Halve Maan brewery.

There are lots of characterful little bars where you can sample the astonishing range of Belgian beers. We enjoyed De Garre and the Cafe ‘t Bruges Beertje but there’s plenty of others. Belgians like their beer strong (most beers are above 6% ABV) so their marvellous beers need to be treated with respect!

dd is coeliac and vegetarian but can have dairy. There were gf waffles in bruge, a good gf pizzeria. No idea if they do dairy free pizzas too.