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Bruges for 2 nights

As we fine-tune our itinerary a bit more wanted to run our Bruges portion of the trip by people. Most concerned with trying not to do too much in a day so we can actually enjoy our trip! Please give feedback on the tentative itinerary below regarding if it seems too crowded, has us running back and forth around town too much, or we're missing something "we shouldn't miss". We tried to prioritize what we want to do while there. Thanks in advance!

Day 1-Arrive via train at approximately 1:30. Take bus to Market Square and walk to hotel (after eating a few fries!). After check-in do first part of Rick's City Walk including Market Square, the Bell Tower, Burg Square, Basilica of the Holy Blood, and end at the Groeninge Museum. Eat dinner, and enjoy chocolates, beer, and other things around Market Square.

Day 2-Continue last part of City Walk including Church of our Lady visit, canal tour, and De Halve Maan Brewery tour. Maybe spend part of the day riding bikes? Lunch and dinner somewhere out and about. More chocolates, beer and check out some of the lace to buy as gifts.

Day 3-Leave at 9:34 AM for Paris via train.

We're having a bit of a time trying to organize this, so any help is appreciated. We're not huge museum goers, but do appreciate the history and beauty they provide, so we do want to include that. Wondering about moving the Groeninge tour to Day 2? Thanks again for any help!

Jed

Posted by
12040 posts

Rather than do Rick's walking tour, I would suggest getting hold of a few bikes (easy enough in Brugge) and follow the bike tour on the promotional map given out by many of the hotels. You'll cover more ground, save time, and you'll see interesting parts of town that Rick doesn't cover. Otherwise, sounds like a good plan to me. The Groeninge Museum is one of my favorite of Europe's smaller art museums.

Posted by
516 posts

Thanks Tom! So maybe an alternate could be bike around that afternoon we arrive and spend any of our "walking around" in the Market Square area. Check out the Bell Tower and Burg Square.

Maybe then go to the Groeninge in the morning (We arrive Friday and leave Sunday) and then go to the Church of our Lady, canal tour and finish up with the Brewery. That seems like a busy second day, but hopefully do-able?

Posted by
6788 posts

That all looks good to me -- I think Rick's city walk is a nice way to find your way around, but if you just wander you will see many of the same sights. It's easy to while away a couple days in Bruges and have fun....I'm sure you will.

Posted by
516 posts

So, it doesn't seem too hectic of a day? I don't want to feel like the Griswalds on Vacation racing through the Grand Canyon! :-)

Posted by
12040 posts

Doesn't look too hectic. Most of the sites in Brugge don't take too long to visit, so you can fit in a lot in a relatively short time.

Posted by
103 posts

I don't know what time Holy Blood and Groeninge Museum close, but you might need to push them to day 2.

A canal boat cruise makes a nice eveningtime activity, as does a long walk after dark. Bruges turns into a magical fairytale castle-land at nighttime when all the day-trippers are gone.

Have a good time!

Posted by
516 posts

We talked last night about maybe starting Day 2 with the Groeninge (open at 9:30) and then go to the Brewery after that. Could catch the 11 or 12 tour there and then have lunch. Like the idea of a post-dinner canal cruise too, especially after eating a big meal with lots of Belgian beer!

Posted by
934 posts

The brewery tour is excellent.However dont order the soup at their restauant.It was terrible.