We landed in Brussels at 7:30am and by 10am we were unpacking in our hotel room in Bruges. Not too shabby!

It was very easy to take the train from the airport to Brussels Nord, then switch trains for the hour-or-so train ride to Bruges. Upon arriving, we decided to take the bus to Markt Square in the center of old town, but found that for the price, it wasn’t worth the time it saved. We found the hotel with no trouble (not bad after less than 4 hours sleep between the two of us) and after freshening up we hit the pavement.

The main thing we did in Bruges was wander around enjoying all the canals and narrow streets. When our legs got tired, we found a place to stop and have a beer, croque monsieur and/or a waffle.

Before we left, I had read about the city trying to reduce the number of cars inside the walls, thereby explaining the sheer number of buses that loop into Markt Square, but there were cars everywhere! Even down streets that you would think couldn’t possibly be passable. So, between the lories, cars and folks on bikes, you really had to watch where you were going as a pedestrian lest you be run over by something.

one of the wider streets in Bruges

loved these canal views; the tourist boats were going non-stop

Markt Square highlighted by a brief few hours of sunshine

residences on the canal