Visit Dates: September 22-23, 2026
After successfully navigating our train connection in Brussels (we were so proud of ourselves) we arrived in Bruges and took a taxi to our hotel – the Relais & Chateaux Hotel. It is a small hotel and when I looked at the narrow, steep, twisty spiral staircase I was thankful there is a (small) elevator and hoped it wouldn’t stop working.
We had originally planned to spend the extra day in Amsterdam or nearby. My friend Stephen visited The Netherlands in the last year and told us about a great tour showing how the Dutch over the years have reclaimed land from the sea. But Domonique recommended Bruges and when it came to a decision of windmills and sea walls or beer, waffles, and chocolates… Well the choice was obvious; I can watch a few YouTube videos about the engineering prowess of the Dutch. But YouTubes don’t taste good.
We had some time before our room was ready so we headed out to see the town. The market square is spacious and one side is borders by some beautiful buildings – almost all restaurants.
We did not eat at one of these; we found a quieter cafe that still provided us with outside seats. We weren’t extremely hungry so shared a Croque Monsieur with some Belgian fries and a Belgian beer.
It looks like they slice the bread loaf longwise instead of across. Perfect for sharing. And mayonnaise instead of ketchup with your fries? I remember l liking it when in Europe in 1973; and we loved it here. The thing to note, this mayo is not off the shelf Best Foods mayonnaise.
Bicycles are a primary mode of transportation in a lot of Europe – especially Amsterdam; but Bruges isn’t far behind. Seeing all the bikes whizzing by is interesting, but what really knocks me out is the sheer number of parked bikes everywhere.
There are a couple of streets in Bruce that are especially geared for the tourists – Bruges is a tourist town after all. I really liked these flags.
The hotel restaurant was small but beautifully appointed and we enjoyed a breakfast there the next day. When in Belgium don’t you have to have a waffle?
We had two tours scheduled for the day – our only full day we would have in the city. The first was a walking tour of the city. On our previous day’s walk we were struck by the many buildings with tall towers. I knew they weren’t all churches,
Construction of Belfort Tower (above) was started in 1240. I am amazed at the level of architectural and engineering prowess in the Middle Ages. This amazement would be reinforced when we visited Le Mont-Saint-Michel in France the following week (we’ll get there). Many of the large buildings were built by the businessmen of the era; this building was “an important centre of the Flemish cloth industry” [Thank you Wikipedia – Opens in a new tab].
Here is the Provinciaal Hof (Provincial Court) started in 1294
Well, one of the big buildings was a church.
I love the details in old buildings; things like gargoyles. Here are some guys holding up a pillar. It looks to me like the middle guy is bearing a bale of cloth on his back.
Before engines water was a great method for transportation; Bruges has its own set of canals.
Our second tour of the day was a food tour. I need to get better at writing down guides’ names but I’m thinking “Flavia” and I do know she is from Brazil. It’s interesting that all four of our tour guides in Amsterdam and Bruges were immigrants. Flavia met her husband – who lives in the city – on her one day visit to Bruges. They met and clicked then kept in touch, We started our tour at a pub and had a flight of Belgian beers.
The second beer from the left is a cherry beer. Interesting: definite taste of cherries. Not bad, but not my favorite.
I love this statuette above the doorway of another pub. I think it’s a nod to the “Mannekin Pis statue in Brussels.
There are chocolate shops everywhere in the Bruges market streets. Flavia took us to two that are distinguished by actually making their chocolates on site in the shops rather than getting them from elsewhere in Belgium (or beyond?). Our favorite has a tan awning and is named Chocolaterie Home Sweet Home. We tried a few and loved them. We filled up on packs to take home as gifts.
Next we went to a waffle shop. I could kick myself for not getting a picture of these. We went into the small shop and placed our order; on Flavia’s recommendation we ordered no toppings like syrup, whipped cream, or chocolate. She made the right call! Instead of a batter that would be poured on one of the many waffle irons, there are small – about fist sized – lumps of flour and deliciousness – similar to small loaves of bread. It was stifling hot inside so we stepped outside to wait and pick up our waffles at the window. They told us they had to close quite a few days this past summer because off the intense heat wave. The waffles were served in a simple napkin and were the best I’ve ever had or could hope to have. They have a lot of sugar in them so the edges have bits of caramelized awesomeness. I want to go back to Bruges for the waffle – might not go anywhere else even though we loved it all.
We finished the tour with another beer flight including another cherry beer.
The next day we woke up and headed to the train station after breakfast. There are frequent trains to Brussels so we took an earlier one than we originally planned because of the size and bustle at the Brussels-Midi station. We had about an hour to rest then find our platform for the Eurostar bullet train to Paris. We’d have an afternoon to ourselves; the next day the Mattilas would join us then we’d start our Road Scholar tour. Stay tuned! Don’t touch that dial!