A Deliciously Delightful Day Trip to Bruges, Belgium at Christmastime
- Brooke
- Jan 3, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 24, 2024
Bruges is always a magical place to be. Add in some festive holiday markets, lots of twinkle lights, convivial revelers, and the small medieval Belgian city becomes even more charming in the dark, cold month of December.
Arguably Belgium's most picturesque city, I wanted to add a trip to Bruges (pronounced Broozh) to our 2022 Rhine River Christmas Market cruise with our friends who had never been to continental Europe. Ben and I had visited Bruges in 2014 for a few days, and loved how utterly charming the city was, even in the cloudy month of October. We figured the weather would be much the same in December, but the colder month included the added appeal of seeing the city decorated for Christmas. Therefore, after doing a gentle selling on adding Bruges as a day trip from Amsterdam to our friends, we decided to make the journey.
And while Bruges is not a hard day trip from Amsterdam, it's also not super easy either. The train ride is 3 hours each way (so 6 hours of the day will be spent simply in transit), and requires navigating 2 train systems (fortunately, I had used Thalys when I did an overnight trip from Amsterdam to Paris in 2018, so was already familiar with the process, but didn't have any experience with the line in Belgium). Ben and I also came to the conclusion, that though we had navigated Bruges relatively successfully on our own last time, having a local guide show us around and provide some historical context would be even better.
But what is a trip to Belgium if you're not enjoying the local delicacies? And by "delicacies," I mean beer, waffles, chocolate, and fries (frites). Therefore, it was decided - we'd hire a guide to show us around, teach us about the city, but also add in some tasty morsels along the way. And so, this little diversion, part of a larger 18 day trip, became our friends' favorite part of the entire vacation. Let's explore why.
Arriving in Bruges
As I detail at the end of this posting, we hopped a train in Amsterdam and were magically whisked away to Bruges. Upon arrival at the train station, we took a taxi to the center of the city, right in front of the Bruges Belfry, or Bell tower. Truly, there is really no more imposing and impressive building in the whole city, so why not make as grand an impression as possible?
Our goal before meeting up with our tour guide in a few hours was to quickly wander the city, grab a gluten free waffle for me (since I knew our tour would not include one), and then visit the Christmas market.
And so, we were off!
We walked over to the Mariabrug (Maria's Bridge), which is where we found my waffle. This was our first crossing of a canal, so we had to take a moment to enjoy the scenery.
Next, we popped over to Otto Waffle Atelier, which makes all of their waffles using oat flour. Their waffles are all dairy and gluten free (though you can add on toppings that have those ingredients if you want), so this was perfect. I knew I'd be giving up a few goodies on this trip that I had the pleasure of consuming on my last trip to Bruges in 2014, but I was glad to know a waffle in Belgium was not one of them.
I mean, look at it. Who would even miss the gluten and dairy? It was super yummy - highly recommend!
After the waffle, it was time to go back wandering the streets of Bruges.
We next found ourselves over near Bonifaciusbrug, or Boniface Bridge. This bridge is probably one of the more famous ones, with its charming views over the canal and it's adorable surroundings.
Looking up towards Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, or Church of Our Lady.
After taking a million pictures, I finally crossed Boniface Bridge.
Next, we found ourselves along Dijver Street, one of the city's main thoroughfares that also fronts a canal.
We found ourselves at the Nepomucenusbrug, or Nepomucenus Bridge. Here, there is a statue of the patron saint of bridges, who helps protect against possible collapses, flooding and drownings.
Admiring the Church of Our Lady in the background.
The statue of Nepomucenus once found itself at the bottom of the canal, but he was eventually rescued and placed back on his home.
Next, we made it to what I consider to be one of the most striking viewpoints in all of Bruges, the Rozenhoedkaai, or Rosary Quay. This small corner provides a really great view of some of the city's more interesting structures, while also providing a great vantage point to watch canal cruisers come and go. You can also board one of the boats here to embark upon a canal cruise, but due to our limited time, we decided to forgo it. However, if you want to read more about our Bruges cruise in 2014, check it out here.
We continued our stroll, and wandered back over towards the Blinde-Ezelbrug, and headed towards the City Hall.
Bruge's City Hall (below) was built in the late 1300s, and has a very striking façade. We have not seen the interior on either of our two trips to Bruges, but perhaps on another visit.
The next thing we knew, we were back where we started. Ben and I opted to visit the Christmas market, while Paul and Charlotte wanted to do some exploring on their own. We agreed to meet up once again at the meeting point for our guided tour, and we split up.
For being the middle of the day, the market was decently busy. It also has an enviable location right in the Grote Markt, the most beautiful square in the city. I love the step gable buildings that line the square, as well as other grand Gothic structures.
Behind the raclette stall is the Provinciaal Hof, or Provincial Court.
Enjoying some mulled wine.
Sadly, we wouldn't have time to visit the market in the evening hours, but I imagine it's even more charming all lit up in the dark. Still, it was interesting to see a Christmas market in Belgium, the first for us ever, and the first Christmas market of our Christmas market cruise.
Even though we were about to embark upon a food tour, we had to grab these fried potatoes as a quick snack. They reminded me of home fries and were a quick tasty treat.
After our stroll through the Christmas market, it was time to head over to our meeting place. Since we were still a bit early, we decided to pop into a bistro to grab a quick drink - mint tea for me (which I loved that they used free tea leaves!) and a Belgian beer for Ben.
Food Tour
After our walk around town, as well as a stop at the Christmas market, Paul, Charlotte, and Ben and I met up with our guide at Jan van Eyckplein (or Square) for our food tour. We didn't book it to be a private one, but seeing as a random day in the middle of December is not exactly peek tourist season for Bruges, we wound up with a private tour anyway.
Our guide, who told us to call him JK since his real name is a challenge for English speakers/Americans to pronounce, would be our guide to sampling some of Belgium's most famous treats. (We used this tour from Viator). Ben and I had sampled some of these things before on our past trip, so we knew what to expect. I was excited, though, that the food tour would also include historical information of the city, as there is so much to know, and so little time to master it all.
After meeting up with JK, he gave us a quick tour of the famous square, named after one of Bruges' most well-known artists, Jan van Eyck, who, along with his brother, famously painted the Ghent Altarpiece (which we also visited in 2014...and hope to write about someday). The square has lots of famous buildings, due to it being the center of international trade during its heyday. One of those buildings includes the Tolhuis (Toll House), seen above. This building, dating back to the Middle Ages, collected tolls for all of the visiting ships traveling to and through Bruges for trade.
Next door (above) is the Pijndershuisje (Porter's or Dockworker's House), which is where all of the dockworkers gathered.
Across the street (above) is the Poortersloge, or Burghers’ Lodge. Finished in 1417, this building was where the Burgesses of Bruges (the merchants and well heeled) could host and receive their trading partners. Later, the building became an art school, and is now a place to view contemporary art exhibits.
We then left the square and headed back into the city. We passed by the Fritesmuseum (above) before entering the Grote Markt area once more.
Our first food stop was at Olivier's Chocolate Shop & Bar. Belgium is known for its chocolate, so why not stop in and try a few out?
The nice part of having a guide is having someone help you navigate situations where you have to be mindful of food sensitivities. Here, JK was able to help me get chocolates without gluten in them.
A year later, our friend's Paul and Charlotte still talk about this place, and it remains Charlotte's favorite hot chocolate of all time (and she loves a hot chocolate).
The boys couldn't turn down a chance to have a Belgian beer...
After our chocolate tasting, we went back out onto the streets of Bruges and passed another quick little Christmas market.
Then, we visited The Chocolate Line and inspected the products, but because we had been satisfied with our previous chocolate stop, we didn't buy anything. However, the displays there were very interesting and eye catching, though after going through my pictures, are not worth displaying. Check out the website to get a sense of what we experienced, and learn more about their chocolates.
Next, JK took us to a little stall for some quick drink tasting, which the boys enjoyed.
We continued strolling through the city, learning more of its stories and history as we went.
Our next stop was a famous Belgian brewery, Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, where they serve Brugse Zot, a drink you see all around the country.
This brewery offers tours, though we were only there for a tasting.
After our beer sampling, it was time to hit up another one of Belgium's famous exports - fries! Though we call them "French" fries, Belgium claims to be the inventor of the famous side dish, though that's a claim that's certainly up for debate (keep in mind that half of Belgium speaks French, so the "French" part isn't too much of a stretch). For a quick read about them, check out this page.
Located immediately beside Otto Waffle Atelier, which we had visited earlier in the day, JK took us to Fritbar, a place to try out a bunch of delicious fried foods, including the aforementioned fries.
We were treated to some fries, as well as some bitterballen, or balls made from beef stock, roux and meat and then fried into a tiny delicious ball. It was a nice tasty diversion.
Afterwards, we visited Rosary Quay once again, this time seeing it lit up with Christmas lights now that the sun was beginning to set.
JK took us back to the City Hall, and this time, with the tree illuminated, it looked even more like a fairy tale.
But we still had 2 more stops to go - one of which was for a waffle (non gluten free, sadly, but I survived due to having had one earlier in the day), and another round of drinks and more snacks (which I somehow managed to take zero pictures of?).
After our last bites, it was time to bid adieu to JK and the city of Bruges. It was a long day, but definitely a delicious and charming one. I had been apprehensive about taking our friends on this trip, but seeing that it is still spoken of so highly a year later, it seems it was definitely worth the effort.
I mean, it's Bruges after all.
Amsterdam to Bruges via Train
As mentioned above, we opted to take the train from Amsterdam to Bruges. To do so, we had to take separate trains from Amsterdam to Antwerp, and then Antwerp to Bruges. This required buying tickets from two separate companies - the first, Thalys on their Amsterdam to Paris Nord bullet train (it appears Thalys is now going by the name of Eurostar). We sprung for first class seats, since we knew we'd be tired on the way home, and they would be the most comfy (I also had these seats on my overnight to Paris a few years back, and knew they were just right).
Photo credit: Harry Beugelink/Shutterstock (found here)
Photo credit: Seat61.com
We arrived in Antwerp, and had very little time to catch our InterCity (IC) train to Bruges. We managed to catch a train that required us to switch in Ghent, but did not require this switch on the way home. Whereas the Thalys train required advanced reservations (and I strongly recommend making them as soon as they become available, if possible), the IC train does not require reservations.
We went with the second class seats in Belgium, and they were fine. If you want more information on trains between Amsterdam, Bruges, and other cities in this area, the Seat61 website is a great resource. Be sure to check it out!
Photo credit: Seat61.com
As you can see from our small group above, we were pretty tired after our long day. But a year later, we all still talk about what a great time we had that day. If you find yourself in Amsterdam and are in need of a little adventure, the day trip to Bruges, whether in the height of winter, or a warmer time of the year, can't be beat.
Bruges Details
Bruges is located about 3 hours south of Amsterdam, or a little more than an hour away from Brussels. Known for it's rare in-tact Medieval city center, Bruges is one of the more charming cities in all of Europe.
Keep in mind that Ben and I have only visited Bruges during off seasons, so warmer times may include a larger swarm of tourists joining you. If you don't mind some cloudy skies, October and December were fine times to visit.
Day of travel: December 5th, 2022
Comments