Brugge questions

I could easily spend a week in Bruges:) But for most people two full days is sufficient. If you wanted to take a day trip to nearby Ghent then you can tack on another night. Musts include the brewery tour, Groeninge Museum, Basilica, Onze Lieve Church, the Convent, and the canal boat cruise. Don't forget to allocate at least a half a day to sample chocolate at the various shops. The city center of Bruges is very compact so most anywhere inside the centrum is good. I had a good stay at this place: http://www.hotelterreien.be/eng/index.php

For a first trip, two days is enough. Add an extra day if you want to take a day trip to the coast, Gent or the battle fields around Ieper. The historical core of the city is small enough that it doesn't really matter where you stay within it. "things that MUST be seen" Well, only you can answer that... but if you're not familiar yet with Belgian beer, I would make sure you see the bottom of a beer glass several times.

Two days is great for Brugge. The tour buses take off at night and the streets are empty. Very cool place. I wish I would have taken a third day and gone to Ghent.....next time. Groeninge museum and canal tour were the highlights for me but there were several other very neat things to do in Brugge.

There's actually a really good chapter on Bruges, and another on Ghent, in the Rick Steves guidebook to the area. It has answers to all the questions you have raised, with prices, ratings, very good descriptions and all sorts of information about places to stay in various brackets. I'd recommend studying that with thinking about things you prefer to see and see how they marry up.

Two days will cover the must see. A great little city to just relax. I could spend a week there. Antwerp and Gent can be taken as a daytrip from Brugge. We took the train one night to Brussels to see the palace and the center all lite up. Brussels center is very pretty at night. Brugge is fabulous at night. Go to www.flickr.com and type Brugge Night in the search feature.

Thanks to all for the comments. Have used RS books in the past and found them very helpful. We're trying to put together about a 3-week trip and looking for other ideas to couple with Brugge/Ghent, etc. Have been to Brussels but not Amsterdam. Any pros/cons re Amster?

One of the "cons" for Amsterdam is high prices for accommodations relative to the other places you've mentioned. I'm finding good doubles in Haarlem for about €70, Delft for €80, Bruges for €90, €75 for Ghent, and Amsterdam for €135. You may be able to find cheaper beds...these are for places that I would personally stay in based on my own set of criteria. But there are no real cons to Amsterdam in terms of whether or not you should visit. Yes, definitely go.

Hi Jim. I was in Bruges for a daytrip and felt satisfied with everything I was able to see (the Hens Memling Museum, Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child" sculpture in the Church of Our Lady), a canal boat cruise, browsing in chocolate shops. I was also in Ghent for a day but felt like I could have used another day - to me there's more to see in Ghent than Bruges. Definitely go to Amsterdam! It deserves at least 3 full days (4 nights), especially if you're a museum buff. There are some great daytrips from Amsterdam as well. I went to The Hague to see the Mauritshuis museum. Amsterdam is expensive but if you budget well, it isn't a deal-breaker. Look into the Iamsterdam card to see if it's worth purchasing - it includes free transportation on trams and a free canal cruise but if you aren't planning to visit enough included museums to make the purchase worth it, don't buy the card.

2 days is probably sufficient which is how long I was there. I was there a couple of Augusts ago and we rented bikes and rode out to the coast. I can't remember the name of the town we went to. There bike paths are very well marked and you can get bike maps very easily. We had to have the bikes back by around 5p which actually left us plenty of time and could spend some more time exploring the town. We stopped at local pubs along the way where no one spoke english, had lunch on the beach, got momentarily lost and had an amazing time. I would highly recommend and was a great way to explore! The coast is actually very close.

Amsterdam is a great city to explore. If you decide to go let us know what you like to do.

Jim, I'd suggest two or three days in Bruges, depending on what you want to see. It's a beautiful smaller city, very easy to get around and taking a walk first thing in the morning and seeing the reflections in the canals is awesome! You might stop by the Vlissinghe Pub for a pint. It's been in operation since about 1515! There's a nice garden in the back where you can sit and enjoy some "pub grub". If you have time, you could also rent a Bicycle and take the short ride to Damme (about 30-minutes) for a pint or a Triple. The path from Bruges follows a canal and farms, so it's very scenic. Happy travels!

We spent 3 nights in Brugge and wished we could have stayed longer, we loved it. Kirsten beat me to it... we rented bikes one afternoon and then again the next day for 24 hrs and had a great time riding all over town including the residential area and out into the country to a smaller town (Damme?).

We spent a week in Brugge last spring and used it as our base for traveling around the northern part of Belgium. There are a lot of great recommendations already posted. Some of our favorites were the brewery tour and renting bicycles and riding to Damme. We stayed at Hotel Patritius and we would definitely stay there again. The rooms are clean and good size. The included breakfast is good and the husband and wife that own the hotel are friendly. For a small fee they will allow you to use the washer and dryer (including detergent). They also had great recommendations for dining.

Love Brugge. Best time is at night when all the daytrippers go. All the buildings are lite up so beautiful with reflections off the water. Two or three days will see it all but one of those places you just don't want to leave. We stayed at the Cote Canal B&B and couldn't have been happier. I would take a daytrip to both Gent and Antwerp.