With the population of over 110.000, Bruges is one of the biggest cities in Belgium, smaller then Antwerp, Ghent or capital city of Brussels but larger then Ostend or Namur. This city is full of beautiful details, waiting to take you to the history lessons of architecture.
The amazing architecture of Bruges
Bruges is often compared to Amsterdam or Venice because of its numerous canals. Take a boat tour for a great experience and to learn how a medieval city functioned. Most of the top attractions are in the old town center. And what an amazing town center that is! It is being put on the UNESCO World Heritage list for a reason. While exploring it, you will discover many interesting facts. But it is still a small place and you can simply explore it in a pretty short time.
The city of Bruges lies far to the northwest of the Belgium, close to the border with neighboring Holland and less then 15 kilometers from the Atlantic ocean. In fact it is so close, that ships can reach city port via wide channel directly from the ocean. The position is a bit off road from the main highway connections going from the north towards the south European capitals. But still Bruges remains to be one of the most important parts of Belgian tourist offer.
Bruges famous historic part of town
Checking back the history of Bruges, it looks like the city already had its best times and those time should be back from the 12th to the 15th century. This was a very rich and important city back then. The remains of the medieval architecture are still the most important magnet of what the city has to offer, especially the main Burg square with it’s famous town hall, Provinciaal Hof, Kruispoort and the Church of Our Lady.
Every street tells a story
There are many events being held in Bruges each year and the festivals and fairs are well visited also. Most of them are musical festivals but there are also many other interesting, especially food festivals, the circus festival Cirque Plus and the festival of ice sculptures called the Ice Magic. If you have enough time, it is worth to visit one of the many museums. They’re scattered all around the city, even in town hall and Church of Our Lady. It depends what you’re interested for but you can choose between many different stories they have to tell. You can visit Museum of Chocolate, Brewery Museum, Diamond museum or even museum of Belgian fries.
The old part of Bruges features medieval architecture
Bruges is truly the jewel of Belgium and worth visiting just as much as the Brussels, even if it is much smaller. There are many different hotels in the city and near it, so you can always find a nice place to stay, no matter if you have arrived for longer or just for a short visit.
Best Bruges attractions:
Town Hall, Provinciaal Hof, city canals, Kruispoort, Church of Our Lady, Saint Salvator’s Cathedral, Archaeological Museum, Museum of Folklore, Brewery museum
