1 day visit to... Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is one of the most important cities in Belgium. Famous for its canals, one of the best ways to visit everything is by travelling by boat through the canals.

To get to Bruges, a very common option is to get the train, from a nearby spot to the city's station. You can also get there by bus from Belgium with one of the many companies that exist.

You can get around the city by bus, but going by foot is a good option as Bruges is not very big, and you can go down the narrow streets and see the traditional Belgian houses.

We will start the morning in Grote Markt, or the Market Square, which is situated in the historical centre of the city, of which the majority is pedestrianised. In this square, which is the most famous in the city, you can see the Bruges Belfry, one of the belfries in Bruges, which is a World Heritage Site. You can go up to the top of the tower for less than 10 euros.

You can also see the Provincial Palace, which is a neo-gothic style building that was formerly used as a meeting room for the government, but now is just used for ceremonies.

In the middle of the square, you can see a statue dedicated to the revolutionaries Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck who led the Matins of Bruges against the French.

We will continue on to the Burg Square, another one of the important squares in the city. Here you can see the town hall of the city, one of the oldest ones in Belgium.

Here, you will also be able to see the Brugse Vrije, a manor house that was firstly a Palace of Liberty of Bruges, but during the French Revolution it was turned into a strong>Palace of Justice.

Continuing on, we will finally arrive at the famous Bruges canals, where you can go on a boat to do a little trip around the waters. We had a trip for 8 euros with a company which you can find on Huidenvettersplein street, but you can also get one in another place.

The route changes with each company, but a lot of the chosen places to go to are the same. So, we will pass under lots of bridges and they will explain the history of them to us. For example, we will go under the stone bridge called Bonifaciusbrug (Bonifaciusbridge).

Also, during a part of the tour, you will have views of the Church of Our Lady, a medieval church whose tower is the highest in the city, and the second-highest brick tower in the world.

You will also be able to see other bridges such as Carmers Bridge or Koningstraat bridge.

Also, we will see the Basisschool Brugge Centrum school.

We will arrive at Jan van Eyck Square, which is dedicated to the painter of the same name, and his statue is also in this square. When we did this route, there was a giant whale made out of plastic which was part of an exhibition, but I don't know if it's still there.

When we got to this point, seeing as there wasn't an exit, we turned around and went back to do our walk-in reverse, in order to get to the exit.

When we finish the route, we will go to the Saint-Salvator Cathedral, dedicated to Christ Salvator and it is the oldest church in Bruges.

Further on, we will walk to Begijnhof, a house which was deemed a World Heritage site; which has a museum which explains the history and traditions of the Beguines that lived there, and you can go in for 2 euros.

To the side of lake Minnewater, we can see a floating school. Here, the students of the schools can have classes and also display works of art.

From the floating school we can see, to the left, the Sashuis building, a historic house that worked with the aim of controlling the level of water in the canals.

In front, we can see the restaurant Kasteel Minnewater, and to the right is the Minnewater bridge.

We crossed the bridge and we were able to walk through the Minnewaterpark. We can end the day here, or return to the centre to have a waffle or an ice-cream.

I've left you a list of names in the original language along with a map:

• Bruges Train Station
• Grote Markt
• Belfort van Brugge
• Provinciaal Hof
• Monument Jan Breydel
• Burg Square
• Stadsbestuur Brugge
• Brugse Vrije
• Bonifacius Bridge
• Church of Our Lady Bruges
• Carmersstraatbrug
• Koningstraatbrug
• Basisschool Brugge Centrum
• Jan van Eyckplein
• Sint-Salvatorskathedraal
• Begijnhof
• Minnewater
• Floating School
• Sashuis
• Kasteel Minnewater Restaurant
• Minnewaterburg
• Minnewaterpark

I hope you have a good time!

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