Brugge side trips by car
 

We just returned from a week-long visit to Brugge and Brussels. To those who might be interested in renting a car for the day, we had a fantastic time visiting the lovely village of Damme, the tiny village of Lillesweig, and then walking along the beach, dunes and boardwalk at de Haan.

ttt

Your post comes at a very good time for me, since I'm in the midst of putting our Netherlands Christmas/New Years trip together. I've just posted a request for advice on getting to Brugge from Amsterdam (we hope to spend New Years eve in Brugge), but first we must decide the best way of travel - car or train? I would love to hear about your impressions of Brugge and any places, restaurants, etc. that you think we should see. I haven't yet booked our hotel, but we were thinking of a little hotel called "Martin's Brugge". I would love to hear more about your Brugge experiences. The villages you visited sound wonderful... I will definitely make a note of Damme, Lillesweig and hope we can take them in while we're there.

We spent four nights in Brugge and stayed in an apartment which was right near the main square.
Day 1: We arrived around noon from our overnight flight from New York. We took the train from the Brussels airport to Brugge (55 minutes) and then a bus. We walked around the main area, ate and went to sleep at 7:30PM absolutely exhaused.
Day 2: We walked all over Brugge and saw the usual sights. It was wonderful. We used Lonely Planet and Rick Steve's as they had a good deal of information about the sights rather than restaurants and hotels.
Day 3: Flanders Field tour with Quasimodo Tours. A full day, informative and well-done. Look at their website. I was picked up at 8:45 and returned at 5:30.
Day 4: Rented Hertz car and drove to Damme, Lillesweig, de Haan on North Sea and Vieurne. We had a great day. Vieurne was not particularly special and was out of the way, but the other sites were just ideal. I don't know how the North Sea area would be in the winter. There is a long boardwalk in de Haan, but the places might be closed. The roads are well marked with very little traffic. Parking was easy, too.

We ate at very ordinary restaurants as our focus was not on food. There are many cafes and menus are posted.

You definitely do not need a car in Brugge, in fact it might be in the way as parking in the main area is limited. All the major sights are within walking distance to one another. The bus system is very reliable and goes all over the town and its outskirts. I can't imagine why you would want a car for your entire stay, especially with uncertain winter weather.

Have a great time.

evelyntrav & bowen:
You might find lots of things closed in De Haan in the winter. It's not like Oostende or Knokke-Heist, resorts that are alive year-round. I would suggest you make a walk on the beach and boardwalk in Knokke-Heist all the way north upto the Zwin, which is a nature reserve and a paradise for bird watchers. On your return you could take the main shopping street. If you're easily tempted you better leave your credit card at home ...
Knokke-Heist is a 15 min. drive from Brugge. Also within easy reach by train.

Evelyntrav, I can understand you weren't really impressed with Veurne. It's just a very small town amidst the polders. Cannot compare with Ieper (Ypres) for example.

Bowen, may I suggest a daytrip to Lille/France? It's not that far away from Brugge (1 hr drive or a train ride of 1 hr 25 min. to Lille Flandres) and Lille is a very pretty city. A very Flemish looking city in fact!

The appeal of de Haan was that it was not a high-rise resort type area but had beaches without any development, unlike Oostende and Knokke. We did no shopping and did not even go into the beach towns. It is a matter of taste. The nature preserve was very appealing to us, but we couldn't do it all. In retrospect, we would have skipped Veurne and gone to the preserve.

Ieper was part of the Flanders tour. It is amazing how they rebuilt the main church after it was destroyed in WWI. Other than that, I did not find it particularly interesting. Obviously, I prefer the small towns and villages to the more citified towns.

evelyntrav, of course it's all a matter of taste. We often go to Knokke for a day, shopping or just for having a nice meal.
If we want nature all around we prefer the beaches in the Netherlands (Zeeland province). Large part of the coastline is free from buildings. Especially in the off-season it's great for walking or cycling.