Bruges, Belgium
A great day trip from Brussels for shops, strolls and chocolate.
Go. We got the train! From Brussels, Bruges is only a 60 minute train ride, so during our trip to Brussels over the festive period we decided to do a day outing to Bruges. We had considered Luxembourg, however a 3 hour (one way) train journey felt a bit too much for a day trip.
The train was busy, but we got seats, and the station in Bruges is a short walk from the entrance to the historic old town with its picturesque canals, buildings and plenty of places to shop, eat and drink.
Stay. We didn’t need to, but looking at all the options I wouldn’t be averse to staying at the Ibis Budget next to the station - it’s easily walkable into the town and they usually have those bunk beds above the double bed that the little one loves. At £80 a night, less than half the price of anything else in the area, and you tend to know what you are getting with an Ibis.
Eat. We may have only been in Bruges for a day, but we managed to squeeze two meals in!
Carpe Diem Bakery and Tea Room. There are a LOT of small cafes and tea rooms all over Bruges - it can be quite overwhelming trying to find one that has a table, and that is going to be worth the money. Carpe Diem looks good from the outside with its combination of bakery and seating area - and we were lucky to get a nice seat towards the back. Service here is really friendly, and there’s plenty on the menu for everyone including nice hot chocolates, croques and a range of pastries.
T’Voutje. We hadn’t planned particularly well for Bruges, so when a couple of restaurants we tried were full, we ended up in that risky “hungry wandering” zone. Here, any restaurant that looks alright becomes fair game, especially when kids are starting to grumble about being starving. We dived into T’Voutje as it looked busy and the menu was reasonably priced (under 20 Euros for 3 courses). Here, the food was simple but effective and tasty, with mussels, pate, local beef stew all going down well.
Do. You could spend days wandering the streets, exploring and grazing, taking a boat cruise and enjoying the architecture and parks. We had little time, so we bounced in and out of chocolate shops and gift stores, strolled leisurely down cobbled streets next to beautiful canals, and stopped for beer! A very popular place is the Beer Wall where you can get a good selection of local beers to try.