Bruges is one of my favourite places I’ve visited. Despite being a small place in the middle of August, it wasn’t jam-packed with tourists. Just pottering around and taking in some of the breath-taking architecture could satisfy your entire visit. The dainty brick bridges, carrying you over the city’s famous canals, and stunning streets were a pleasure to wander down. Due to my mother’s fear of heights, we dodged climbing the famous Bell Tower and instead visited a range of historical churches.
There were a range of things to do in the city. The range of chocolate museums scattered all over should satisfy your sweet tooth, with a range of beautiful chocolatey creations available at them all. Additionally, there are a couple of crime and punishment museums, one of which was in a strange basement displaying all sorts of horrific torture relics used in the past. Of course, health and safety does not exist here and there were no barriers or ropes to stop you from taking a closer look at the sharp and pointy objects.
Of course, Belgium is famous for its incredible beers, so our first point of call was a tour of De Halve Maan brewery. For ten euros, you get a tour of the brewery and how they make their specialist “Zot” beer amongst others, you can stand at the top of the brewery and get a birdseye view of the entire city as well as discovering the underground beer pipeline, which transports the beer outside of the city to dispatchers due to small roads being unable to fit lorries. Included in the price is a pint of blonde Bruges Zot, which is gorgeous stuff. This was one of my highlights of the trip, due to the depth of information given about beer!
Belgium is also famous for its food and littered in the streets are chocolate shops, chip stands and waffle bars. One of my favourite meals of the trip was a taste of some Flemish stew in Bistro Pro Deo, owned by a married couple where the restaurant doubled as their front room! Paired with a bottle of Verdett beer, it was a lovely night chomping the stew and gazing at the street and windmills a bit further up.
If you’re looking for places to go when lockdown is over, Bruges is well worth your time to pop over and have a gander.
