Because Bruges is a small and quaint and charming and historic city with a fairy tale vibe. Swans on the canals, a maze of medieval streets, mostly original mind you – one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe - the clatter of hooves, hidden parks, charming courtyards... there are no jarring notes to disturb this historic picture. No high rises sticking out like a sore thumb. You are surrounded by classical Flemish architecture most dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries, all akimbo in places…including the impressive belfry in the Markt Square. Many of the buildings are several hundred years old, yet beautifully maintained. The city truly gives you the feeling of stepping back in time. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Picnic in Koningin Astridpark (Queen Astrid Park), linger on the Boniface Bridge, or savour the peace of the Beguinage. Walking the ancient cobblestone streets feels like a step back in time. Small enough that 3 days will do it justice and totally walkable….part of the magic is just walking around and taking in the beauty of the city. Some people rhapsodize about Paris or Florence (me among them) but give me Bruges with its other type of charm.
The late Middle Ages – early Renaissance saw the golden age of the city – part of the Hanseatic League - it became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. Much of the city’s impressive buildings were built then, and artists, architects and painters flocked there. The Duke of Burgundy set up one of his courts there. The world’s first stock exchange was established there. The Waterhalle was a lively trading place. It was the largest covered harbour in Europe – the construction was built over the river Reie that runs through the city, and was a real marvel of its time.
These days in its place stands the Historium, a full immersion museum using virtual reality to take flight and travel back to Jan van Eyck’s time (1435) to see the Waterhalle et al. Seven historically themed rooms, with film, music and special effects will take you to Bruges’ Golden Age. See how people lived, loved and worked. Climb the Historium’s tower to get a bird’s eye view of the city. A must-see attraction…and BTW, the outside of the building is eye-popping all by itself.
OK, so Beguinage?? The Women of Beguinage Bruges. Consider a large square – a parkland, filled with trees and flowers. The four sides of the square are lined with identical houses, all touching each other and mostly all the same colour. One gateway into the square. Peaceful, quiet – you are asked to be quiet by a sign at the entrance – out of respect for the residents. No men anywhere, so what’s up?
The Flemish Beguinages were established in medieval times (as early as the 12th century) by groups of secular religious women, spinsters and widows – a bit like convents, but these women took no vows and bowed to no authority, thus living independently and typically surrounded by walls with one or more entrances, through which the ‘beguines’ could come and go as they pleased. St. Elizabeth of Hungary was the foundation stone, who recognised a dire need for single women and widows to have a means to earn a living. At their height in the 17th century, there were 360 beguinages in Flanders, now all but a few have been converted to other uses, but because of their character still function as communities of like-minded individuals. Address: Beginjhof 30, Brugge.
Bruges is known as the Venice of the north. Canals criss-cross the city - eighty bridges cross them. The must-do is to take a canal tour, usually lasting half an hour. Some of the houses on the sides are awe-worthy (how are they still standing, especially with their feet in water) and you’ll get some history from the guide. See it in the daytime, but please come back after dark for a completely different look. Any of the boat tours will take you past Rosary Quay, the most Instagrammed spot.
If you like, take in a free walking tour – Tell Me About Bruges is the original free walking tour. Just leave your guide a generous tip. Bruges at night, haunted, and otherwise, is another.
The rich decorations of the Gothic Great Hall offers competition to the elaborate exterior façade of The City Hall (Stadhuis) on Burg Square. Take the time to go see. This has been Bruges’ city council for the past 600 years.
Any lover of beer knows the knockout power of some Belgian beers, especially the ones out of Trappist monasteries (those monks knew how to party!). The one with the most cachet is Westvleteren - a strong dark beer from the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus. In 1839, the brewery produced its first batch, though the monks had been making beer for their own use for some decades. The Westvleteren 12 is 10.2% alcohol. Then there is Chimay. Of 13 different styles of ale, the Chimay Blue is the classic, with peppery, fruity, slightly bitter flavor, copper-colored and 9% alcohol. These guys also make cheeses.
And… there is that gem, my favourite lager, Stella Artois, winner of the world’s best award for international lagers… traces its lineage to 1336 in Leuven. Slight pale yellow, easy drinking with punchy hops and a reasonable 5% alcohol content.
Take a brewery tour, get the history of beer in Bruges. Right, you want unique? This is unique, the De Halve Mann Brewery is still brewing beer inside the old city walls…and… has pipelines running to filling stations outside the walls, which can be seen through glazed manholes in the streets of Bruges!!
Check out Grote Markt and Burg Square – at the heart of the old town, full of shops, restaurants and, for what else, waffles. You can’t come to Belgium and NOT have Belgian waffles. Search out Fred’s waffles (I like this place already) down a little cobbled street off Markt Square, choose the Nutella, chocolate (de rigueur), whipped cream, strawberry and banana and get enough enjoyment, satisfaction and calories to last three days.
You must (if you can) climb the Belfry Tower for the iconic view of the city and its canals. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, between 11:00 and 12:00 the city carillonneur plays the Belfry Tower’s 47-bell!! carillon – I guess a must-hear.
Did you know that the unofficial national dish of Belgium is ‘moules et frites’ (mussels and fries), cooked in beer and served with a variety of dipping sauces? In France it is cooked, of course, in white wine. Vicky is an afficionado and she swears that the best moules and frites she has had were in Bruges. In fact, there is where she was addicted.
There are three worthy churches – the Church of Our Lady, with a stunning interior, from the 15th century and which houses Michelangelo’s epic sculpture of Madonna and Child completed in the early 16th century. The sad expression on Mary’s face foreshadows her son’s fate.
Then, there is the Basilica of the Holy Blood, striking from the outside, splendidly decorated on the inside, it purportedly contains a drop of the Blood of Jesus, collected by Joseph of Arimathea, one of Jesus’ disciples - brought back from the Holy Land in 1147 by Thierry of Alsace during the Second Crusade. This Joseph is also connected to the emerging mythology of the Holy Grail, as it is said that he undertook missionary work to Britain and brought with him the Holy Grail (not).
The Jerusalem church stands in a quiet area of the town in late Gothic style, practically next to the lace museum, and has a rather macabre altarpiece, just to remind you that ‘all this’ is mmmmm… ephemeral.
The Groeninge Museum is for art lovers, built on the site of a former abbey, it contains a great collection of Belgian and Flemish paintings, including from Jan van Eyck. Worth a look.
Chocolate, who does not like chocolate, and everybody knows (don’t they?) that Belgium IS the chocolate capital of the world. The country’s association with the cocoa bean goes back to the 17th century and expanded massively in the 19th. There is Swiss…but really?
By the middle of the 18th century the upper classes had fallen in love with hot chocolate (yum), including a certain Charles-Alexandre of Lorraine, the governor of then Austrian Netherlands (Flanders) who was a devotee. The industry grew by the proverbial leaps and bounds until someone with merchandising flair called the sweet: “Belgian Chocolate”. Give that man a prize…and since it now had a ‘terroir’, it also came with stringent standards to be eligible to be called Belgian. So, visit the Choco-Story Museum in Bruges, a feast for the eyes, the nose and, of course, the taste buds. Address: Wijnzakstraat 2, Brugge.
Chocolate shops are naturally everywhere, particularly on Katelijnestraat. Try Chocolatier Van Oost for high quality artisanal chocolate.
Bruges has markets every day of the week – cutesy vintage markets, handmade craft markets, flower markets, food markets, and at that time of year, the amazing Christmas market.
If you are comfortable on bicycles, rent one in Bruges and take the Maerlant bicycle trail the seven kms to Damme to take in the lovely scenery including the windmills of Bruges.
Belgium has a long association with lace making and though lace is also made elsewhere, the intricate patterns made in Belgium are unmatched, and the center of lace making is Bruges. Emperor Charles V decreed that lace-making should be a compulsory skill for women in convents and beguinages. A one-inch section of lace takes about two hours to create. Many different types of lace were made, and in the 1800s as many 150,000 women were making lace. By 1975 only a few hundred, mostly older women were left earning some extra change. Watching a woman tat…make lace… is nothing short of mind-boggling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Yni5aRxen1o
…which you can try your hand at (good luck) at the tatting museum in Bruges. The Lace Centre offers demonstrations, workshops, and what else, a shop.
Old St. John’s hospital, founded in the 12th century, whose mission it was to serve the sick and indigent regardless of state or class, has some of the oldest surviving hospital buildings in Europe, and features an apothecary, huge ward rooms and instruments of torture, errr, healing, such as lancets for blood letting, screws for trepanning (look it up), etc, and then in a complete change of pace, a museum showing the art of early German-Flemish painter Hans Memling (15th century).
For a restaurant with down-home charm and down-home Belgian fare, try Oud Handbogenhof with a fireplace indoors a terrace outdoors. The Moules et Frites here will set you back about $40 CAD.
…and for fine dining, Cafedraal, for things like pheasant, rabbit, venison…not your ordinary fare, at extraordinary prices.
So, get out from under the crowd, and wander away into the warren of cobble-stoned side streets, try your hand at tatting, sit at the Bistro du Phare on the canal, sip a Stella, tell yourself you are one lucky person.
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