Bruges, Belgium

To be honest, I’m not sure of the spelling of this town – Bruges? Brugge? Anyway, you get my drift and apologies to any people from here that I might offend. We did a day trip from Ghent, 30 minutes by a very efficient train.

It is a wonderful medieval city in northwest Belgium known for its canals, cobbled streets, and Gothic architecture. The cobbled streets get a bit tough on the ankles, but I wore my hiking shoes, which helped a lot.

Before I start, I need to state that Bruges is a UNESCO heritage listed city and it’s easy to see why. It is one of the most pristine places I’ve ever visited. The level of maintenance of the buildings made me very happy and I totally enjoyed our visit.

I wasn’t sure how to organise this post. The city is known as “The Venice of the North” because of the 16 kms network of historic waterways, which is why I thought I’d start here. My note taking on this (and several other) days, was quite poor, so I’m relying on memory. Please feel free to correct me if I give the wrong information.

This is a common sight along the canals – beautiful white buildings, really well preserved, all fronting on to the water.

This is known as Groenerei, Widely considered the most picturesque and serene canal in the city, lined with ivy-draped facades, weeping willows, and historic bridges. This was a gorgeous walk.

This is “Langerei” which Google tells me translates literally to “long Reie” in English, referring to the long, straight stretch of an historic river canal.

The tourist boats were everywhere, both here and in Ghent, but I just didn’t fancy partaking. We saw a few signs complaining about the noise pollution, which would be incessant, both from the motors and from the commentary, and we felt we saw more from walking the canals.

I took many, many photos of the canals as I love the buildings which line them, but space precludes me from showing them all. But here’s a bonus one!

We espied this beautiful vaulted brick ceiling from the street and went for a look. No idea if we were trespassing (quite probably!), but it led to this building which I think was a civic building. What a lovely place to work!

This panoramic photo was taken as we entered the main square of Grand Place, the Grote Markt covering an area of 1 hectare. It is surrounded by the most wonderful architecture and we walked around the whole square, admiring the colourful, stepped-gable guild houses that line the square, which are now cafes, bars, and restaurants. The problem for me is that all the looking up made me dizzy!

A slightly narrower shot. I adore the different colours of the buildings.

This is a beer shop, which sells hundreds of different types. Even I was quite interested! Lovely presentation too.

Horse drawn carriages were popular with people in Bruges, whereas we didn’t see any in Ghent. The horses looked in good shape, so I stayed calm.

This is the Belfry of Bruges, which stands in the central market square. It is an 83m tall medieval bell tower which sits atop a rather splendid building.

Moving from the Market Square, described as the heart of Bruges, to the Burg Square, described as its soul. Burg square has been the centre of power in the city and it’s where the administration occupies this 14th century Gothic Town Hall. This very grand, historic square is lined with monumental landmark buildings.

This is another building in proximity to the Town Hall.

We went in here and enjoyed the stained glass windows.

This is the Basilica of the Holy Blood, still in Burgsplein. Look at that vaulted and decorated wooden ceiling! The pulpit is on the side wall and the decorations are exquisite. Another magnificent stained glass window.

We found a market in a square, which was quite small, but this man was weaving and selling scarves. I found it interesting that he obviously carts his loom around.

We spent quite a lot of time walking outside the city centre and found so many interesting details on the buildings.

This is clearly a traditional local style. These buildings were both a way out of the city centre.

And this is a rather beautiful hotel. Perhaps it had been someone’s mansion at one point.

The Begijnhofbuurt is another historically rich and visually striking neighbourhoods which is situated near the city centre. It is near the Lake of Love and has beautiful whitewashed houses, cobbled streets, courtyards, and, so I’m told, an 800-year legacy as a city of women.

It was lovely to see the leaves turning for autumn, but further away from the water, they seemed quite distressed, I assume from the unseasonably warm summer.

This building is on the banks on the Lake and looks so romantic. I assume that it is now a restaurant.