Bruges short break

chocolatepennyfarthing

Looking to go to Bruges 20th - 24th July for a special Birthday. want to go by Eurostar as not keen on flying. Am I best booking a package or doing it separately? Any recommendations of best sites/companies to book through. Would like to be fairly central so was wondering if anyone had any experience of nice hotels they have stayed at, would ideally like breakfast included or not opposed to nice self catering accommodation.
Any other hints and tips and ideas what to do/see would be really appreciated. Thanks

itsnever2lateisit?

Last time I went to Brugges I drove, it is about 90mins from calais.
Cheap comfortable budget hotel within the ring road I used was Ibis (It also has parking)about 5 min walk from the station

What to do?

Go up the belfry, fantastic views, but get there early queues soon develop.

Trip on the canals?
If you like beer, the half moon brewery
Do try the local chocolatairs:)
The local flemish stew is nice

HTH

gettingtheresometime

Avoid a restaurant called Tom Pouce in the Burg Square is my only tip

benjus

I drove there too - it's very easy if you can get to Dover or Folkestone easily. Getting the Eurostar should be easy though.

The Groeningemuseum is worth a visit - some good Flemish art.

4 days sounds like quite a lot just for Bruges though - it's not a big place. Maybe add Ghent or Brussels?

If you like beer it's a great place to be. Frites with Samauri sauce is a nice snack.

We arrived quite late on the first day and found that most restaurants were closed. Eventually we found a place called Christophe which was open until 1am and the food was very good - so a useful find...

Kernow666

Bruges is a ace place to visit , as previously mentioned 4 days a lot so a side trip to Gent or Brussels is a good idea , i have been a couple times and found it really easy to get around on the train on a self planned trip

Alan_Bowen

Going by train is easy, just allow 45 minutes for the connection at Brussels, although there are trains every 30 minutes of so to Brugges it is rather more important on the way back when your Eurostar ticket is usually only valid for the train booked. You can buy a ticket to 'any Belgium Station' from the UK the lowest fares I can see for the days you want are £94 return unless you want to take late evening trains on the way out which I wouldn't recommend. Book as soon as you can, that is the first week of the school holidays and the fares go up as seats are sold.

Brugges is absolutely gorgeous but you might be pushed to spend 5 days there, you could of course take the train to the coast at Ostend or inland to Ghent for the day, as regards hotels we stayed at the Hotel Flanders last time and were very happy with it, the reviews are still excellent

totallybored

Like others I normally drive to Bruges and also think 4 days is too much. If you're getting the train Brussels is ok for a couple of days. I prefer Gent to Bruges, they're both very similar but Gent doesn't have as many tourists. Ostend is also a nice day if the weather is good.

bylromarha

Another one here voting for driving. A really easy run through from Calais/Dunkerque.

We spent a day there on the canals and eating chocolate and touring the C+A. Would echo that 4 days is probably a bit too much.

daveyjp

4 days is a long time. A day in Bruges and you will have seen most of it. Well worth seeing Ypres, Menin Gate etc and visiting Ghent which most people rate above Bruges.

chocolatepennyfarthing

From what everyone is saying seems we may have time to visit other places. Any idea how long it take to get to Ostend/Ghent from Bruges. Quite happy to have a lazy day or two in Bruges not had holiday for a while so a few drinks watching the world go by will be lovely. Thanks for replies so far any other suggestions would be great. Will definitely go by Eurostar as we are only about 20 mins from station.

Tarry

Or even some places near the Belgium coast are quite good like Nieuwpoort, Koksjlike (or something), or even Veurne where much enjoyed and appreciated! I never got round to visiting De Panne though

(Side note Belgium place names are hard to spell for me)