Bruges – Belgium

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Today’s blog is on my trip to Belgium, a few years ago. I took the Eurostar from London with my family to Brussels, Belgium and from there, took another train to Bruges.

I cannot remember exactly what I did on the holiday, so this blog may be quite short! However, I remember we stayed in really nice accommodation in the centre of the city. What I remember struck me was how picturesque the city was and how there were so many horses and carriages! It is definitely a great place to visit as well for its history (and of course for the Belgium chocolate!)

On my first day in Bruges, I went to the Choco-Story museum which was excellent. The ticket prices are relatively cheap, however, the museum does provide great insight into the history of making chocolate in Belgium and the work of the chocolatiers, definitely making it worth the money!

It is a great museum which is full of informative displays and is interspersed with free samples of chocolate, which are made in the traditional way in the museum. The tour of the museum is not only impressive, but the chocolate making presentations and speeches are excellently done. There are an abundance of things to do in the museum, including watching a film, which will leave you very well informed on the history of the chocolate businesses in Bruges.

Next, I went to the canal and walked along the canal, as well as walking near the windmill. This prompted my family and I to do the canal boat trip in Bruges. It was great value and the tour is especially interesting. I would recommend the boat trip for families, as although the boat is packed and it can be difficult to hear the tour guide at times, it is much easier to some amazing photo spots and take great pictures on the boat, rather than walking your children around the city. It was a great experience for us and enabled us to see a lot of the city in a short space of time.

The next day, we went on a horse ride carriage tour! These carriage tours are quite expensive and the queues to wait for one can be long, but the tour guides on the carriages are friendly and informative – offering recommendations for your trip and answering any questions you may have. The horse carriage tours are renowned in Bruges, which means they are always a great must-do activity for any tourists in Bruges!

We then went on the Bruges Art route, which gave us an opportunity to explore the city and take excellent photos of the very striking windmills. It is a pleasant walk and the guides are very knowledgeable and happy to inform you on the history of the city. This is definitely something I would not recommend for families with young children, as there is a lot of walking involved in the tour (roughly 40 minutes although it can vary) and so perhaps the canal boat tour would be a better alternative.

For dinner, my main recommendation would be ‘Ribs N Beer’ which was outstanding. It is extremely popular however, so I would recommend you book ahead of your trip in order to get a table. This was definitely the most notable restaurant I ate at and the one that I would definitely go back to, if I was to return to Bruges.

The next day, unfortunately, I left Bruges and embarked on my journey to Brussels. I spent a day in Brussels and was able to explore the beautiful city before leaving to get the Eurostar back to London. While in Brussels, I visited the Grand Place. This square is spectacular and is surrounded by ancient buildings made with intricate architecture. There is so much to do in the square: museums, places to eat and shops to go to! It is definitely the hub of Brussels’ tourism, which can make it extremely busy, but also an area where thieves locate. Keep hold of your possessions at all times and watch out for pickpockets. however, despite the chances of an unlikely theft, the square is stunning and the perfect place for a photo opportunity!

Thank you for reading this blog! I hope you liked it. If you did, then please, like, share and comment! I’d love to know your own thoughts.

Beth Lucy