Brugge - Charming & Romantic

Walking through the town square and seeing the old architecture and little shops. Having a romantic meal next to a warm fire while watching the gas burning street lamps glowing in the darkness.

Quick Tips:

Wear comfortable flat soled shoes. The cobblestones can be tough to navigate with high heel shoes.

Best Way To Get Around:

Take a taxi from the train station to your hotel. The town is fairly small so you can easily walk to dinners and shops. If you want a complete tour of the city the best option it to rent a bike. There are virtually no hills and the scenery is amazing! Venture towards the outskirts of town and see the windmills.

This was a sister hotel to the Ambassade Hotel we stayed in while in Amsterdam. While the lobby and dining areas were perfectly decorated with old-time charm, our room had a much more generic modern feel. This was quickly forgotten when we saw how large it was compared to the rest of our european hotel rooms. The staff was amazing and helped us make the most of our short stay in Brugges recommending our restaurant for dinner and providing us with bikes to tour the town. A buffet breakfast was served in the spacious dining area consisting of the same thing we'd eaten for 7 days; boiled eggs, cereal, breads, luncheon meat and sliced cheese. The hotel was perfectly located near the town square, shopping and restaurants so you can walk to everything. Just pay attention to where you are. I kept walking down side streets and into shops and ended up getting totally turned around and lost. It was very embarassing to have to ask a local where my hotel was located and how to get back to it.

This was a lovely restaurant and the ambience was great. The only difficulty we had was the menu. It was in French. After doing our best to remember our highschool lessons the waiter realized our trouble and brought us english menus. The food was delicious but the service was very, very, very slow. Plan on relaxing, ordering a bottle and having a nice long dinner.

There are many restaurants scattered along the courtyard in the town square. We were looking for someplace inviting to enjoy some hot chocolate and dessert as the evening turned cooler. We wandered into Cafe des Arts and saw the fireplace and decor and immediately felt welcomed. We sat near the fire facing the courtyard and watched the evening unfold before us. After wine, coffee and dessert we headed back to our hotel throughly warmed.

Biking around Brugge is more of a sight-seeing excursion than exercise. The streets are flat and easy to navigate and the views are amazing. The bikes have no gears and are quite large. Apparently the people in Belguim are much taller than Americans so, you'll feel like a little kid riding on them. We chose a route past some huge windmills on the outskirts of town and through a wonderful park. We saw canals and cobblestone bridges and an amazing old school and courtyard. We even came across a lovely lake (Love Lake) with swans and geese. Find a small wine/cheese shop and pack a lunch and enjoy the surroundings.

Brugge is best known for lace and chocolate and you'll find an abundance of shops with both. What I really enjoyed here were the cute little bakeries and the wine and cheese shops. The shop keepers were all charming and helpful at suggesting options for our picnic lunch. We took a loaf of french bread and a large selection of cheeses for our train ride back to Amsterdam. Most of our selection was amazing but the smell of one certain cheese was without a doubt the WORST smell I've ever experienced. Imagine being stuck in a train car with a hunk of smelly cheese. Not fun! I recommend paying closer attention to what you're buying than we did.