Walking through Bruges makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. It is someplace you have to see and experience for yourself, as pictures just don’t do it justice. This was stop number 3 on my mom’s 60th birthday trip.  I was very excited to eat and drink our way through this city!

We took the 6am train from Paris and after a very quick transfer in Brussels, we made our way into Bruges around 9am. Because we only were staying one night, we decided to stay at the Hotel ibis Brugge Centrum Station, which is located right next to the train station. It is a budget hotel, but clean and comfortable, which was all we needed. Thankfully the hotel was able to give us a room early in the morning so we could quickly drop our stuff and head out for the day. It was a scenic 10ish minute walk into the center of town from the hotel.  The buildings in Bruges are so charming.  An interesting part of the architecture is that the year each building or home was built is engraved or marked in some way on the outside, many of them dating back hundreds of years.

Breakfast obviously had to be an authentic Belgian waffle (with Nutella and banana) and it was everything I ever hoped it would be! They sell them all over and honestly they all looked great. I don’t think it matters where you go, but just make sure you have one while you are there.

We then made our way into The Markt, the main square located in the middle of the city to take some photos of the amazing Flemish architecture and the gorgeous Belfry.  The Belfry is a medieval bell tower, which houses 47 bells that chime on the hour and important events.  I decided that walking up the 366 stairs was a must (Had to make room for the calories to come later in the day!) to see the views of the city and canals below…and they were spectacular.  Admission was €10 and there was quite a line as it is literally one up, one down. I’d suggest going first thing in the morning if you are able to avoid a long line and allow more time in the day. Also something to consider is that the stair case is very narrow in areas, so if you have any issues with claustrophobia it could be problematic. The climb is broken up by 3 separate floors and viewing areas, which is allows you as much time as you need for a rest break between climbs.

After the decent back down, we made our way to the canal for a boat ride through the city for only €8.  The tour guide provided great commentary on the history of Bruges and it was a such fun way to see the city, as the canals go by many places you can’t see from the streets. Since Bruges is often referred to as the Venice of the North due to the canals, a ride along them is a must.  When we finished the canal ride, we took a 5-10 minute walk to the Rozenhoedkaai view point.  This is the spot from where many of the iconic Bruges pictures are taken; had to get my perfect Instagram post for the day!

By this time we were getting hungry and decided to grab lunch and a drink.  We stopped at a restaurant called Caramel for a quick lunch, which was on a street just off Markt Square.  We ordered some Flemish beef stew and a couple pints of Kriek Belgian Beer, which is cherry flavored beer. Now I am NOT a beer drinker, but this stuff I loved! I think over the course of the day I had 4-5 pints, it was fantastic.  It doesn’t taste anything like regular beer, which is obviously why I like it….but it is beer.  Finally being able to drink an entire beer, while in one of beer capitals of the world was so much fun for me.