Brugge

Getting Here & Around

Cycling is certainly easier than driving around Brugge's winding streets, as cyclists can go in both directions along more than 50 one-way streets. These streets are marked on the tarmac with an image of a bicycle circled in blue. The Brugge tourist office sells a cycling brochure outlining five different routes around the city; it's available in English and costs EUR 1.50. Flemish-language cycle maps aren't hard to figure out, though, as the routes are well-marked. There are plenty of places to rent bikes and you can get an inexpensive rental at the train station; if you have a valid train ticket for that day, you get a discount.

Most buses run every five minutes (less often on Sundays); minibuses are designed to navigate the narrow streets. Bus stops are clearly marked and dotted frequently around the town; the railway station is the main terminus. Several buslines take you from the station to the city center. Buy your tickets on board (EUR 1.60) or from ticket machines (EUR 1.20) at the terminus. Buses to surrounding towns and the coast also leave from the railway station.

Brugge is 5 km (3 mi) north of the E40 motorway, which links Brussels with Gent and Oostende. It is 126 km (76 mi) from the Le Shuttle terminus at Calais. Access for cars and coaches into Brugge's center is severely restricted. The historic streets are narrow and often one way. There are huge parking lots at the railway station and near the exits from the ring road, plus underground parking at 't Zand. For those brave enough to face tackling the center's tricky one-way system, there is also underground parking at the Biekorf (behind the public library), Zilverpand, and Pandreitje, as well as parking at the Begijnhof.

Brugge has large taxi stands at the railway station and at the Markt. Taxis are metered and the rates are reasonable, but public transport, only EUR 1.20, is always a cheaper way of getting around.