A Weekend in Bruges, Belgium – Four Things You MUST Do and Two You Can Skip

Last summer, I went to a glorious medieval town in Italy. Barely six months later I found myself in another town dating back to the first century BC – Bruges, Belgium.

Economical is not the first word I think of here, but you can save by cutting out the attractions that aren't worth your money... or time. Here are four things you must do in this picturesque city and what to skip.

Getting There

Since Bruges doesn’t have an airport, you'll no doubt arrive to this town midday via a train from Brussels. Your first stop: The central part of Bruges, where you'll find…

Four Things to Do

1. Walk the Markt (no "e")

Stores and restaurants reminiscent of gingerbread houses line the Markt, which, during the holidays, is bustling with booths selling everything from Irish coffee...

To stuffed animal gator hats.

You wouldn't think he would actually buy this... 

...but he did.  And he proceeded to walk
around the city with it on his head.

The Belfort is the biggest architectural attraction on the Markt, built in the 13th century.

As you walk around Markt, take in the sights and sounds of a little town with lots of tourists. But most importantly, take in the smells, as there are delicious scents on every corner. And the best thing is, walking around is free.

2. Visit the Chocolate Shops

Bruges is most well-known for its chocolates.  From the usual...

To the unique...

This store, The Chocolate Line, sold Cannabis chocolate, along
with other unusual flavors like Havana cigar, wasabi, and saffron.
Just so you know, I'd stick to the more normal flavors like hazelnut
chocolate - called Brugges Biscuit - as it's a little strange to have
your chocolate tasting like yellow rice.

To the flat out weird.

Sample away until your stomach hurts. The wasabi chocolates can be found at The Chocolate Line, just a few blocks from the Markt, but I thought the best sweet stuff was sold at Dumon, right behind the Markt.  That's where we got chocolate dipped orange slices.

Eating gourmet chocolate in his gator hat!

As you walk the streets, you’ll find lots of clothing stores as well, and many a lace shop, as Bruges is known for the intricate lacing work.

You’ll also find weird warnings about pickpockets.

Someone was actually manning this booth.
That's a very unusual, and perhaps boring, job.

As long as you watch your wallet literally, you’ll only spend about €8 on a bag of chocolate, even at the more expensive places like The Chocolate Line.

3. Bike Around Bruges

This is by far the best way to see this medieval city. 

You can bike along bike paths, canopied trails, and bridges around this medieval city.  The paths will take you past windmills…

By medieval watch towers…

And through the Koning Albert I Park (that’s King Albert if you don’t speak Dutch).

If you’re up for a longer journey, you can cycle the approximately seven kilometers (that’s four and half miles) to the city of Damme.

The road to Damme is a bit empty, but it provides lots of
opportunities for plays on the town name - God Damme!
Damme Bike Ride!

In Damme, you’ll find a cool church with very interesting architecture.

The trees surrounded the church look like something out of The Wizard of Oz.

Word of warning: in the winter time, Damme is just a little dead (Damme city!). 

Not a soul in sight!

Even the windmill was closed for business.

Take that windmill!  We will drink wine
out of our bota bag instead!

If you do decide to embark on a bike ride during the winter months (we were there in January), BUNDLE UP!

It is freakin' freezin' out here!

But besides frostbite, the bikes were only €12 per day.

4. Eat!

The food in Bruges will not disappoint you.  We went to several awesome restaurants, but no place had better food than De Windmolen.  Mainly because it felt colder than 30°F outside, but also because of this:

The Belgians do not play when it comes to Belgian waffles.  You can by them from stands all around the city for about €1.50, but we shelled out €4 each for this delicious treat in a restaurant, complete with whipped cream and powdered sugar.  The view from this restaurant couldn’t be beat either.

Just staring out at a windmill.  Not something
you'd traditionally see where I'm from!

The Belgians also love them some seafood.  Mussels are the specialty.

These were more mussels than any normal human being
could eat, but I certainly tried!

They also like escargot…

And even rabbit.

And you can’t forget frittes, better known as French fries (actually invented in Belgium, so they should be called Belgian fries, but I don’t think that has the same ring).

The mussels, escargot and rabbit came from the restaurant on the Markt called The Belfort.  The food was delicious, the service was less than desirable.  Plus, we pretty much had to take out a loan to eat here… the grand total of the bill at the Belfort was €112.50 (that’s $150!).

Food = Delicious
Service = Poor
Value = Very Poor

Just a few blocks away, we found superior service along with delicious food at t’ Fonteintje.

Yep, that's my husband in the gator hat!

There, we got seafood gratin (me) and sausage rolls (Frank)

This meal at t’ Fonteintje only cost €59, almost half of our first dinner at The Belfort!

And you can’t forget the drinks.

Hoegaarden, Stella Artois, Chimay, Duvel and Palm are just a few of the
many, many beers we sampled

Each beer runs about €4, but some are more expensive because the alcohol content is higher.

Two Things to Skip

Salvador Dali

If you’re short on time or money, take the Salvador Dali exhibit  off your list.  It is in the Belfort in the Markt area of Bruges.  As far as Salvador Dali exhibits go, the one in St. Petersburg, Florida is much, much better.  But, this one does have a lot of Dali’s illustrations based on various books, so it provided a unique perspective that I have not seen before.

These etchings were covered with a 24-
karat gold substance.  Dali designed
them based on poems by Tristan Carbière 

I like this crazy, broken giraffe

The price is a little steep in my opinion, you’ll have to pay €10 to get in.  The museum is open from 10am – 6pm.

Church of Our Lady

A maze of trees right outside the church

This church claims to have the only Michelangelo statue to leave Italy in his lifetime.  Apparently it was a Madonna and Child work and I would have loved to see it, but I could not find it.  I did see some of the other very intricate work of the church inside.

You’d think a person could find a giant Michelangelo statue, but Frank was rushing me to get outside.

That explains the rush!

Still, it's free to get inside this church, so you only have to spend your time if you're interested in going.

Where to Sleep

We arrived in Bruges with no place to stay (I should write a post on procrastination during travel in the near future!).  It was getting dark and we were getting anxious.  Also, every single street in the city looks exactly alike.  After checking with a few small hotels, with only five or six rooms, and seeing that there were no vacancies, we decided to pay the price to sleep at a larger hotel.  Unfortunately, there were really no vacancies there either, so we ended up at Hotel ‘t Zand.

This hotel was nice and clean, but very simple.

The bathroom was the nicest part, and I can’t be certain, but I think it had a heated floor.

There was a small breakfast each morning, with eggs and toast.  Unfortunately, while those smaller hotels were charging about €70 per night, we ended up spending about €110 per night, for a grand total of €221.

Leaving Bruges

When we were departing Bruges, we tried to buy two tickets to Brussels at a kiosk at the train station for €27.  For some reason our card would not work though, so we went to the counter where we purchased two tickets for only €19.80.  To that I say, check with both the counter and the kiosk before making any purchases.

Chocolate: €8 per bag

Bikes for two: €24 per day
Salvador Dali Museum for two: €20

Lunch of Belgian waffles for two: €8

Dinner 1: €112.50

Dinner 2: €59

Beers: €4 each times approximately 12 for our time there = €48

Hotel: €221

Train tickets for two: €19.80

Total Cost: €520.30 (that’s $696.52 – not our most economical journey)
Best Deal: Renting a bike for the day and seeing the entire city

Titanic Belfast - A Museum Short on Artifacts, Large on Innovation

The Louvre has the Mona Lisa, the Vatican Museum has the Sistine Chapel, Titanic Belfast in Northern Ireland has… well, actually pretty much nothing in the way of art or even artifacts.  But this museum will knock your socks off.

A little disappointed Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio
aren't greeting me at the door, but whatever

Before the 1997 blockbuster, before the ship sank in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that cold night in April in 1912, Titanic was built in Belfast.  This museum, located it what is now known as the Titanic Quarter of Belfast, pays homage to not only the ship, but the city that constructed what was then known as the “ship of dreams” (or was that just something that Rose said?).

This is the last known picture of Titanic

Titanic Belfast takes you through nine galleries that explore this historic ship.  We start with…

Gallery 1: Boomtown Belfast

What was Belfast like before Titanic?  It was a city known for making linen from the flax seed.  Don’t know what flax seed is?  Most people don’t, so I took a picture of it.

Most people also don’t find flax seed, or linen, to be very interesting, but the creators of Titanic Belfast realized that.  They made it a point to include pictures from the era…

Recreations of important features…

This represents the gates to Harland and Wolff, the company
that built Titanic

And most notably, interactive components to keep even the littlest tyke entertained.

I was pretty amused by this: an interactive
floor.  Just stand where it reads, "Stand here,"
and information pops up on the screen.  It helped
me learn all about the tools that helped make a
ship as large as Titanic.

Gallery 2: The Arrol Gantry and Shipyard Ride

The Arrol Gantry was the gigantic framework constructed to help build Titanic.  You took an elevator to get to the top.

A recreation of what the Arrol Gantry
would have looked like

Once there, a museum worker informed you that you were about to go on world’s slowest roller coaster.  He used “roller coaster” very loosely, as this ride topped out at MAYBE one mile per hour, but I guess some people aren’t interested in riding.  Too bad, because it takes you through the Arrol Gantry, complete with the sounds and information of what went on in the shipyard.

After the ride, you saw some of the pictures of people building Titanic.

The caption said, "Workers fitting Titanic's
starboard tail shaft.  The rudder behind them
has just been fitted, 1911."  I was super
impressed with the scale of the rudder
to the worker!

The guy overseeing this whole process?  Thomas Andrews.  You know, this guy:

Not his exact words, but you get the point.

Gallery 3: The Launch

Each gallery is clearly marked

This gallery was not the launch where Jack quickly boarded after narrowly winning his tickets to sail on Titanic in a card game.  That was in Southampton, England.  This is just the launch to make sure Titanic could float in Belfast.  It could.

Gallery 4: The Fit-Out

Okay, now that the ship can float, it’s time to put some stuff on it.  Titanic Belfast recreated what a first-class, second-class, and third-class room would have looked like.

A typical guest who would have stayed in the room was super-imposed - how cool!

Then, it’s time to Bon Voyage!

Gallery 5: The Maiden Voyage

This is where Jack quickly boards after narrowly winning his tickets to sail on Titanic in a card game.  What the movie doesn’t show you is how the ship really set out for its maiden voyage.  It left Belfast with just crew members on board.  Then it sailed to Southampton, England (where Jack and Rose would have gotten on board), then to Cherbourg, France, then to Queenstown, Ireland, before it finally set sail into the Atlantic.

Gallery 6: The Sinking

So much for being the unsinkable ship.  This gallery recounts the telegraphs sent between Titanic and other ships in the area.

The most interesting: one sent from the Californian to Titanic at about 9:05, about an hour before the ship struck the iceberg, according to “Titanic Inquiry Project.” 

Californian: We are stopped and surrounded by ice.
Titanic: Shut up.  I am busy.

By 1:39am, some of the last transmissions from Titanic.

"Cannot last much longer" was one of the
final messages Titanic sent out before
sinking into the ocean

You can read more about the final telegraphs from this article.

Gallery 7: The Aftermath

Before cell phones, heck, before telephones really, it was hard to spread the word through any other medium besides the newspaper.  Sometimes two editions a day would come out.  The day after Titanic sank, many of the first editions reported that everyone on board the ship had survived. 

From The Library of Virginia

By the second edition, many people knew the tragic truth.

Gallery 8: Myths and Legends

This gallery was very small and no one would let me take pictures because I had already moved at a snail’s pace through all the other rooms.  It did show fact and fiction for the movie Titanic though, as well as what is considered the most historically accurate movie based on the ship, A Night to Remember.

Gallery 9: Titanic Beneath

This gallery was, perhaps, the most impressive.  Again, no art, or artifacts, but the interactive let you explore the ocean floor, to see what this maritime disaster left behind.

You could even stand on a recreation of the ocean floor showing the remnants of this wreck beneath.

Even though I have been to museums paying tribute to the Titanic that showed actual pieces from the ship, these cool interactive activities made this room well worth it.

As we departed Titanic Belfast, we could see clothing worn in the actual movie – the only REAL “artifacts” on display.

I'll never let go, Jack.
I'll never let go.

But real artifacts or not, this museum was one of the best I’ve been too.

Total Cost: £13.50 each ($21.96)
Best Deal: Here’s the not best deal: buying tickets online.  I bought three tickets too many and the tickets were non-refundable.  The museum did extend them for 30 days, but the rest of my group wasn’t going to make it, even then.