• Home
  • Destinations
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • North & South America
  • Travel Your Way
    • Away with Photos
    • Away with Video
    • Away with Words
  • Travel Tips & Hacks
  • Travel Musings
    • Life
    • Travel Quotes
    • Travel Poetry
  • Contribute
Instagram
Away With Words | Travel Blog from Dubai to the World
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Middle East
    • North & South America
  • Travel Your Way
    • Away with Photos
    • Away with Video
    • Away with Words
  • Travel Tips & Hacks
  • Travel Musings
    • Life
    • Travel Quotes
    • Travel Poetry
  • Contribute
Home  >  Away with Words • Destinations • Europe  >  Bruges: Inside the Fairytale City
Away with WordsDestinationsEurope

Bruges: Inside the Fairytale City

Siobháin Spear September 1, 2019
Reflections of gothic buildings in Bruges canals at night

Bruges is a city that smells like chocolate waffles and tastes like locally-brewed beer. It’s your quintessential fairytale town with gothic architecture and cobbled streets that are frequented by horse-drawn carriages. The local tipple is a sip of bourgeois for breakfast and steins of beer thereafter, so you can expect a warm, friendly welcome for the most part.

Hotel Die Swaene

Bruges was the first-stop on my four-day getaway to Belgium, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I caught the train from BRU airport to Bruges Train Station and, from there, I walked for 24 minutes to get to Hotel Die Swaene in Centrum – the heart of Bruges – where I based myself for the next two nights.

Hotel Die Swaene is deceiving; the modest entrance sits along the canal edge masking the regal elegance of its restored interior. It has the features of a stately home, but remains intimate in its size and its helpful approach to guests. One of the biggest draws is its location; I was able to wander through the city and stop-off in my room at various points of the day, but I can see how others would be more drawn to the hidden indoor pool – just right of the main staircase.

Bruges by day

Bruges is all about getting wanderfully lost but never having to worry about where you’ll end up. Although it’s technically a city, Bruges has more of a small-town feel; it’s mostly pedestrianised, very compact and a safe city to walk around for solo travellers. I spent the majority of the two days walking the cobbled streets and canal pathways to discover some of the best things to do in Bruges.

Bruges by night

Bruges oozes romance and charm. At night, the streets around Market Square still emanate a lively buzz of activity but for the most part, the city sleeps relatively early. I’m a night owl, so I roamed central Bruges so see what was going on around the city towards midnight, and I stumbled upon ‘t Klein Venetie Cafe – just as it closed. This cosy hangout (it looked cosy – didn’t get the chance to experience it) has the most incredible view of the city lit up at night, so I was fortunate enough to capture the cityscape and its reflection in the canal before wandering back to the hotel via a few photography stop-offs.

Waffling on about Bruges

I would never label myself a foodie; after all, my go-to food is a Tayto sandwich. However, Bruges could, quite possibly, be my favourite city to eat – in the world.

I can categorically say that if you visit The House of Waffles in Bruges and you don’t discover the tastiest waffle you have ever eaten in your life then there is something wrong with you. This place is worth talking about all day, err’day. Other places that I would highly recommend to friends would be:

  • Gingerbread Café for a European brunch; this was breakfast upon my arrival in Bruges.
  • A delicious dip-and-go waffle stick from a place called Go-Fre; this was my reward to myself for climbing the stairs of Belfort.
  • Cambrinus for the drool-worthy Hot Dog Cambrinus and frites inside a 17th-century brasserie.
  • Blackbird for a breakfast brunch inside, what feels like, a giant bird cage.

Breweries in Bruges

I was never much of a beer connoisseur before my self-guided beer tour through three Belgian cities. Once again, Bruges changed me. You could quite easily spend days sipping your way around the city, but – purely for the sake of time – head straight to Brouwrij De Halve Maan brewery to sample beers (I liked the Straffe Hendrik Tripel) in the last family-run brew house in Bruges, which first opened its doors in 1856. After that, take a walk to Bourgongne des Flanders, a canal-side brewery house and order their own brew.

Bars in Bruges

T’ Brugs Beertje is, without any hesitation, one of the best bars you’ll stumble across in Bruges. It’s the type of old-school public house where you sit on a wooden stool at the bar and get chatting to an eccentric local Belgian with a grey-haired ponytail called ‘Black Beastie’, who jest-fully abuses the barmen and collects notes from people from inside his stein that hangs over the bar. I sat there for hours, talking to ‘Black Beastie’ and sipping my way through a handful of beers that were recommend by the bar man (from a selection of hundreds) while the rain hammered down outside. Two of my other favourite pubs in Bruges were:

  • Cambrinus (which I mentioned previously for food); it’s hard to get a seat in this popular hangout, but they managed to squeeze my solo-self onto a high-top table that looked out at the street – great for people watching.
  • De Windmolen – this is a leafy, green corner-street pub in the St. Anna area of Bruges. I stopped off here after checking out Bruges’ windmills.

Climbing the Belfort

My first attempt at climbing Belfort was a total fail; I arrived just as it closed, which was a shame because the weather was much better. When I did get around to climbing the 366 steps to the top of the 83-metre high bell tower, I had to pay 12 euro and queue for 15 minutes for the privilege. In fairness, the steep, narrow stairs are an effective workout and you get that view from atop the city, but if you’re into photography, it’s good to be aware that you’ll have to snap your shots between the chicken wire, unlike the bell tower in Ghent.

Canal Cruising

While wandering though Bruges, it quickly becomes apparent that canal cruises are just something that you should tick off your list. I was going to skip it because (1) I was on my own and the idea of heading off on a canal cruise with myself just felt a bit awkward and (2) the idea of squeezing onto a small boat with about 15 others was just not appealing to me… until my best friend pinged me a WhatsApp saying it was totally worth it. So, I went ahead and did it; it was the last thing I did before rushing back to Hotel Die Swaene to collect my backppack and head for the train station. I somehow managed to be the first in the queue for this particular canal cruise, so I bagged myself a seat next to the driver, which made the journey enjoyable because I had front-seat views and plenty of personal space – unlike those who were sandwiched in a vertical row of seats that ran through the middle of the boat. You really do get to see the city from a different perspective and the captains have plenty of interesting facts to share along the way.

After my two nights in Bruges, I took a train to Ghent for a night; you can check out this guide to Ghent if you want to explore it for yourself.

Previous Article A Glimpse at Life in Land-locked Lesotho
Next Article A (Very) Quick Trip to Brussels

About Author

Siobháin Spear

Related Posts

  • Golden sand dunes and Qasr Al Sarab resort in the Empty Quarter of Abu Dhabi

    Inside Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort

    January 22, 2020
  • The Qingshui Cliffs plunging into the blue and turqoise waters of the Pacific Ocean on Taiwan's East Coast

    East Coast Taiwan: Your Ultimate Guide to Taroko National Park

    December 11, 2019
  • The skyscrapers and cityscape from the Peak in Hong Kong

    15 Things to Do in Hong Kong

    November 20, 2019

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • Inside Anantara Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort
  • East Coast Taiwan: Your Ultimate Guide to Taroko National Park
  • 15 Things to Do in Hong Kong
  • How Not to Fail a 30-Day Challenge
  • Paris is…

Categories

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Away with Photos
  • Away with Words
  • Destinations
  • Europe
  • Life
  • Middle East
  • North & South America
  • Travel Musings
  • Travel Poetry
  • Travel Tips & Hacks
  • Travel Your Way

Travel Tags

Best things to do in Taiwan Dubai to Oman India Travel travel poetry Visit India

Fly Back in Time

  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • January 2019
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018

Subscribe to Away with Words!

Enter your email address to subscribe to the Away With Words travel community! You'll receive notifications of new posts by email.

Facebook Twitter Instagram

About Away With Words

Fusing a love for travel with a passion for storytelling, Away With Words was brought to life by Siobháin Spear in 2018. Siobháin is the Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder of insydo, a regional lifestyle publisher; she is also a Co-Founder of Brand Ripplr, the region’s largest influencer platform.

Having met many talented globetrotters while clocking up her 56 countries, Siobháin opened up Away With Words to the digital nomads of the Middle East – those worldwide wanderers who take full advantage of living in one of the fastest-growing travel hubs on the map. Born out of a passion for exploring the globe and creating infectious content, Away With Words is a meeting of creative minds from across the World (Wide Web).

Expect a regional community of travel storytellers who venture away with words, photos and videos to bring you travel tales, itineraries and worldly reminders that will only ever inspire you to book your next plane ticket.

Away With Words is your online runway to the world! Get going.

Categories

  • Africa6
  • Asia14
  • Away with Photos6
  • Away with Words30
  • Destinations30
  • Europe5
  • Life3
  • Middle East3
  • North & South America3
  • Travel Musings10
  • Travel Poetry5
  • Travel Tips & Hacks2
  • Travel Your Way4

Archives

  • January 20201
  • December 20191
  • November 20191
  • October 20195
  • September 201916
  • August 20196
  • July 20191
  • June 20191
  • January 20191
  • September 20181
  • August 20185
  • July 20181
  • March 20181
  • January 20181
Away With Words | Travel Blog from Dubai to the World
© Copyright January 2018.