A Short Guide to the Top 8 Things to See and Do in Bruges, Brugge, Belgium

Strolling through Burge’s unfamiliar streets and squares filled to the brim with small cafés and vintage shops, we stopped many times to gaze into the beautifully decorated shop windows, trying to imagine what the rooms looked like behind those pink-painted window frames, admiring its medieval architecture.

When I look back on the past two decades of our travels, I see lots of little city breaks scattered throughout the years. Instead of burning all the vacation days on one big, proper trip, we favoured spontaneous voyages around Europe and Ireland.

When it comes to pretty European getaways, Bruges is one of those places that we both eagerly desired to explore, and it was one of the very first trips that we personally curated with great enthusiasm.

The purpose of our visit to Bruges, which was founded in the 9th century by the Vikings, was to see its beautiful squares, hear folkloric tales and climb 366 steps to the very top of the Belfry.

Even though we arrived in Bruges hearing rain pound on the train window and even though we never made it to the medieval bell tower, we were swept away by its laid-back ambience, delectable foods and swans leisurely floating down the canals. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).