Tiny Bruges, Belgium

January 2014

The entire city is like a perfect fairy-tale picture pop-up book!

My friend and I spent a weekend in the fairy-tale Belgian city of Bruges. I say fairy-tale because wandering around Bruges, especially at night, makes you feel like you are in the middle of a film set. To top all of that, the main attractions in Bruges are only a walk away!

The starting point for most people’s visit to Bruges is the city’s main square, the Markt, an impressive open space lined with 17th-century houses which overlook the belfry/ bell tower on one side. On the eastern side of the square, you will find the Neo-Gothic Provincial Hof (I read that it denotes Bruges’s status as the capital of the Province of West Vlaanderen).

History – In its relatively small territory, Bruges has concentrated more castles than any other country in the world. Thanks to its large number of canals and bridges (of which there are more than 80) Bruges is often referred to as ‘Venice of the North. Explore the city by sailing along its canals.

A Gothic Townhall

The bell tower dominates the Markt and is a major tourist attraction. If you fancy climbing the tower, try and get there when it opens at 9.30am as there tend tobe  queues throughout the day! Inside there are 366 steps that take you to the roof and some great views over the city. If you’ve seen the movie “In Bruges” with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson you’ll remember the role that the bell tower plays.

The Belfry is an octagonal bell tower that rises to the height of 83m.

If you’ve seen the movie “In Bruges” with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as you will see some great footage of the city.

The wonderful thing about Bruges is that it is really hard to get lost. We wandered beyond the central square to explore more of the city and escape the expensive restaurants in the square.

According to the latest statistics, the population of Bruges is only 115,000 people; which is very small. However, there are 20 museums per its four main streets and two squares!

Fries and Choco-Story Museum – Sadly, we missed these out as we didn’t realise that they would be closed during January due to the low season. We certainly learned our lesson! It is so important to read the websites properly before planning to go on holiday. Hopefully, we will revisit sometime soon (with better organisational skills!).

I heard the Frietmuseum is a museum in Bruges, Belgium, fully devoted to the history of potatoes and the production of Belgian fries. It is known to be the first and only museum dedicated to fries.. 

Historium Brugge – We were disappointed to find there were audio tours only, I asked to speak to the manager to see if we were entitled to free entry. They stated they have turned away deaf people in the past. That is the part of the city that explains the history of Bruges, where tourists come and learn about the city so it was a shame to miss out.

Museum – I saw a few art galleries near Groeningen museum showing mainly contemporary art which I found interesting. ART14 is an art gallery focussing on contemporary artists.

Salvador Dali Art Gallery – A small gallery, but with some very interesting paintings. In Dali’s own words “The one thing the world will never have enough of is an exaggeration”, and this shows in most of his paintings.

Another of his quotes is “Modesty is not exactly my specialty”. For the people unfamiliar with Dalí’s style, it will be a very informative and interesting experience…even a bit shocking. A lot of his work is quite erotic and graphic artwork.

Picturesque canals

Heavenly chocolate

The world’s rich mix of food and culture

The end of our journey. This was the cherry on the cake for us, we left feeling extremely refreshed and with chocolate all over our faces throughout our journey back to London.

The world’s rich mix of food and culture