aamclean

Hi all,

Wanting some advice and recommendations for the flowing rough itinerary I have made. We have two nights in Bruges, meaning one full day (here's to hoping the weather is great!). We are staying 200m south of Markt. We will do a lot of strolling at night to soak up the gorgeous city once its a little quieter.

I think the day looks busy, but want to know whether it is over packed or not.

Saturday - 28 September
-Arrive at Brussels at 2:15PM from Berlin.
**Contemplating whether to get a car service from Brussels airport straight to hotel or to catch the train from Brussels airport to central, then to Bruges, then taxi to hotel. We have two suitcases and don’t want the stress of having to train swap. Can anyone recommend from their experiences?
-Check in to hotel and then walk to Markt and explore area.
-Dinner.

Sunday - 29 September
-Climb all 366 steps to the top of the Belfry (8E each) (opens at 9:30am)
-Basilica of the holy blood (free, museum 2E each)
-Koningin Astridpark
-Gentpoort gate
-Minnewater Lake
-Begijnhof Museum (2E each)
- Church of Our Lady (under construction – discounted entry 2E each)
-Canal boat tour
-Refresh at hotel
-Dinner.

Google map of the day: http://goo.gl/maps/Re0aq

Monday - 30 September
-Take a horse & carriage ride from the Markt.
-Head to train station to leave at 12:36pm for Amsterdam.
**On the T&C's I have received with the tickets, it doesn't mention whether we have to be there earlier or not. The train is Bruges to Brussels, then Thalys to Amsterdam. There is an 18 minute stop over which I'm assuming is enough time to swap trains. Will I have to arrive to the Bruges station early?

Thank you in advance for all your help!!

Myer

We rented bikes and rode on the rim around the outside of the town. We passed several windmills and actually went inside one of them.

adrienne

You might want to add the small Memling Museum, inside the Sint-Janshospitaal and the Brangwyn Museum. I loved the Beguinage but didn't realize there was a museum there. That must be new.

You should arrive at the station about 10 minutes before your train time to ensure you don't miss the train; I always like to arrive early since you never know if there will be traffic or an accident en route. No need to arrive extra early unless you want to pick up some food/drink for the trip.

leuk2

Take the train from Brussels, and the taxi to hotel. as for what to do, just walk around, but do try the hot chocolate.

aamclean

It is going to be a big day of travel, hence why I am thinking of taking a car service.

Can someone advise getting from Brussels airport to Bruges hotel. I believe its train from airport to main station, then another train to Bruges then a taxi. After all that, I wonder what the price difference is to get a car service??

Thanks Adrienne, will check out those Museums!

amy_torres_sd

We recently took the train from Bruges to Amsterdam. There's no reason to get there exceptionally early. We changed trains in Antwerpen; our train was an hour late but the Fyra was held for us when we changed in Rotterdam.

beergirl

The train Station is the lower level of the Brussels airport!
Even with luggage this is sooo simple... just buy your ticket and that's it! There are direct trains all the way out to the shore so there is no need to change trains from the Airport to Bruges. This should be about an hour ride. Once you arrive in Bruges then you can certainly take a taxi to your hotel.
Don't know about "car services" but a taxi from the airport to Bruges will be over 200 euros!... better to spend that money on beer and chocolate!

You may want to look into the tour at Halve Maan Brewery, fun, informative and you get a glass of beer!
If you have a sweet tooth I highly recommend a stop at Juliettes - Wollestraat 31 ... she's a delightful gal, has yummy treats and a cookbook in English!

On your way out of town I would definetly get to the train station early, sometimes there are lines for tickets, and your track is always the farthest... do you really want to be running down the corridor with suitcases???? Besides you can always grab a coffee and treat at Panos!

aamclean

Hi beergirl, No where have I read that the train from the airport goes straight to Bruges? Per the website: http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/pas...airport/train/

Can you please show me where this is?

aamclean

Is anyone able to advise me of train travel between Brussels airport and Bruges??

Much appreciated.

adrienne

There's a train every hour that goes from the Brussels airport to Bruges without changing. The other trains require a change, usually at Brussels Midi. Changing trains is not a big deal. If your schedule doesn't correspond with the direct train then take the next train to Bruges; there's one every 20 minutes.

adrienne

I forgot to add that the direct train takes longer then the others; 2.25 hours vs 1.5 hours for the train where you change.

If you want to see the schedule then go to:

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml
http://www.belgianrail.be/en/Default.aspx

The first one is easier to use. I think it's better to use a train site rather than the airport site.

adrienne

From the link that you gave click on "Belgium Railways Website" and play around with it but as I said, above, the first link is easier to use.

beergirl

I stand corrected, sorry... but as mentioned above, the change of trains at Midi/Zuid is easy... you many however want to ask the conductor- or the guy who is checking tickets the easiest way to get into the main hall. there are many stairways down and some are confusing, but again id you miss one there is a train every 20 minutes or so....also be aware that many of the train stations do not have escalators that go down, but stairs!
Just double check the schedule as there is a train that stops in Ghent and then Bruges.. or there is the local train tat stops in every small town and tales twice as long.