Bruges

Hi all,
We are off to Bruges on October 4 for 3 nights.  I've heard it's fairly small and compact but hopefully we'll be able to enjoy ourselves.  Any tips for us?  I've heard there's a chocolate museum and I understand the fries and the mussels are not to be missed.  And that there are lots of bridges over the water ways and that it's meant to be beautiful.

I saw somewhere that it's not far to the seaside, I think Ostende is like 15 minutes train ride, not sure if it's worth going out there?  I'm just thinking that if we were to see everything in a day or 2 we might want to travel a bit possibly - assuming not too much trouble with our 2 year old daughter!

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=40075.0

I love the place, and we are going back for Christmas!  And there is plenty to do for three nights, so I would say not to plan to travel.

The chocolate museum is a bit pants, though really you will learn everything there is to know about chocolate.  It's not very interactive, though it does end with free chocolate!

The Half Moon Brewery is amazing...you should definitely go on a tour.  Not only do you learn about the brewing process, but you get a fantastic view of the city from the roof.

What else?  There are some lovely old buildings to go around; the town hall etc, with some great paintings and a lot of history.  And the Christmas market is lots of fun, with a skating rink in the middle in the winter.  Hmm...might be too early for that I suppose.

Ah, but you might be early enough for the boat trip down the river, which we missed.  It looked lovely.

Mussels and frites are the best.  But don't forget the waterzooi!


Vicky

Ooh, I could spend days in Bruges .

I love it there - the main squares are beautiful and you can take horse-drawn carriage rides around the town from there, as well as boat tours along the canals. There are some lovely churches and buildings to see, as well as street performers and artists and there are chocolate shops everywhere (I'm a big chocoholic ).

I would recommend going for a meal in the main square - they do some good meal offers there (like three courses for 18 euro - with a choice of 2 or 3 options for each course) . OPh, and don't forget to try some Belgian waffles .

Go watch the movie Bruges! That'll give you an idea of what it looks like!


"It's like a fairytale!"