Day Trip from Amsterdam to Bruges
 

We will be doing a short trip in April to London to visit friends and then on to Amsterdam..We have been to Amsterdam a whole bunch of times, but always like to do a side trip...This trip, we don't have time to go very far , so I was wondering if anyone has done a day trip by train to Bruges (and by the way, what is the correct pronounciation and spelling)..It looks like a charming place to visit and about a 3 hour train ride from Amsterdam..Any suggestions or has anyone done this before?Thanks.

Roughly, the French version is Bruges (broojs) and the Flemish version is Brugge (brooge).
I'm sure if you search the forum for
"Bruges and daytrip" or "Amsterdam and Bruges" you will find some posts.

Roughly, the French version is Bruges (broojz) and the Flemish version is Brugge (brooge).
I'm sure if you search the forum for
"Bruges and daytrip" or "Amsterdam and Bruges" you will find some posts.

Yes Brugge is exceptional - ancient city laced by canals with a mind-boggling number of old churches and gads of famous old Master Flemish art in them. Take the canal boat tour if possible. Practicalities: Rail Amsterdam-Antwerp, change trains for Brugge. Brugge station about 3/4 mile walk from old town center. Great shopping on streets to/from station. Go for it. Trains at least hourly on all portions. If indefatigable travelers take a peek at Antwerp on your way back as the Antwerp Centraal Station, one of the most impressive train stations in Europe, is right in the midst of things. In Belgian the national food seems to be, along with beer, frites, french fried served in paper cones and topped with a variety of concoctions. Outdoor frites wagons are ubiquitous, including on the main square in Brugge, one of Europe's swellest squares. Some folk will say Brugge is too touristed, like Disneyland, but these types much never get away from the mobbed main square as outer lying inner city areas are untouristed and dreamy in an Amsterdam kind of way - old canals lined by old Flemish facades.

Tell me more!!

Hi Tracy,

It takes about 3:30 hr to get there.

I suggest an overnight visit.

((I))

Tracy, we went to Amsterdam in the spring of 2003 and took the train to Bruges. We spent a couple of days there and returned to Amsterdam.

You could certainly make a day trip to Bruges, but I'm with Ira ... the travel time would eat up a lot of your day.

I loved PalQ's thumbnail sketch of Bruges. We enjoyed every hour we were there and, like PalQ, we found the areas away from the Markt to be beautiful and tranquil.

Highlights for us: an excellent dinner at Den Dyver (traditional Flemish dishes cooked in beer), the Groeninge Museum (the van Eycks!), and the Jeruzalemkerk, built by the Adorne family in the 15th century. It's a quirky replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and is the resting place of Anselm Adorne (from whom I took my screen name) and his wife Magaretha.

We stayed at the Hotel Adornes (how could we not) at St.-Annarei 26, a street sightly to the north-east of the Markt. Our room overlooked the quiet canal.

It's a perfect city for walking. It is leafy and gardened, the architecture is striking, and there is something catching about the city's swans cruising majestically along the canals.

Anselm

While a day trip is doable, I think you would regret not spending more time - stay overnight.

Check this website:
http://www.brugge.be/toerisme/en/index.htm

By all means visit the Church of Our Lady for Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, the Beguinage, the Memling Museum and have a bowl of mussels away from the market square.