<And the evenings are magical, at least when I've been there: the tour buses clear out and the place really becomes quiet. The lighting is amazing on the old buildings.>

The photo ops are incredible, especially at night. We've experienced quiet nights in Bruges in summer & early September. By quiet, I mean peaceful and relaxing, with numerous opportunities to soak up the atmosphere and beauty of the place.

For us, visiting Bruges has been the perfect last few days of 3 great trips when we were flying home from Brussels.

I was in Brugge just this spring and could not agree more!

Someone asked why I bothered learning some Vlaams? Well, I grew up in a multilingual family, but I only speak French and German aside from my native English, which is far fewer languages than my parents did between them. They spoke around ten.

When I travel, I feel it's polite to make an effort to communicate in the local language. I've found it changes people's attitudes, but I also like learning a new language, or enough of it to order meals, deal with transportation and directions, go shopping. Speaking and understand Vlaams in Bruges made me feel more *there.* Studying it also helped get me focused on the trip in a different way than reading guide books or web sites. And it was fun surprising people, who don't expect Americans to try.

I know it's not for everyone, of course, both because not everyone has the time or inclination, or the ear.

We were in Bruges sometime in the late 80's and I loved it. I can still see the stone bridges and hear the sound of horses clopping along early in the morning. It is such a treat each year for me to hang my handmade lace Christmas ornament on our tree. Thanks for bringing back good memories.

You're welcome, cd! I will have images of those bridges and canals in my mind for a long time, as well as memories of the aroma of chocolate from the dozens of chocolatiers, and the sound of horse hooves on the cobblestones....

I actually saw lace being made when I stopped into the lace museum next to the fascinating Jeruzalemkirk: http://tinyurl.com/ahoxw84 I hadn't intended to go, but the demonstration started just after I got to the church.

Your images will fade, like I forgot about the chocolates until you just now reminded me, but they will never go away. We stayed in a B&B there that had huge shuttered windows. We kept them open so we could hear the life below. I remember the first night we had them opened at dusk and had to run to close them as we started to hear bats...:-) That's what's so great about travel, you keep reliving your experiences years later.

cd, one night when I got back from dinner and it was still light, I opened the enormous windows on to the garden and suddenly the city was filled with church bells tolling, pealing, carilloning, you name it. It was glorious sound filling the sky, my room, myself. As the Dutch say, verbazingdwekkend: amazing.

Sorry, badly typed, it's actually verbazingwekkend.

Wow! You will never forget that! Beautiful! verbazingwekkend! (I would never of known :-)

Our style is to wander (and my wife has to go into the stores) and not really to stop in every church and museum.

Bruges is made for wandering.

I'm a hobbyist photographer and Bruges is made for that.

We were there in 2006. Maybe things have changed. I really hope not.

Maybe we'll get to Bruges again as part of another trip. I hope so. We still ride our bikes so I would do the same again.

I hope you haven't misread my travel report the way other people seem to have done? I didn't go to "every church and museum" and never would suggest it. I spent lots of time wandering, as my report describes. Sitting, savoring, photographing. When I got home, I realized how many of the "major sites" at Bruges I never experienced, including churches and museums and famous buildings.

I enjoyed your trip report Thomas1836. You like to travel the same way I do; I spent a week in Haarlem and enjoyed similarly just soaking in the differences and feeling a part of the community. Ik ben blij dat je vlaams probeerde te leren net zo als ik deed toen ik in Haarlem was. Vond je de mensen in Brugge gemakkelijk om te begrepen?

Best wishes, Daniel

Daniel, thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

In Brugge, ik vond de mensen heel makkelijk om te begrijpen. Ik weet niet waarom. Ik had geluk!

Geweldig! En jij hebt "begrijpen" goed gespelt als ik een vergissing maakte :)

Volgens mij, de uitspraak in België is meer precies inderdaad is het altijd makkelijker te begrijpen.
Ik vind het eigelijk jammer dat je de woord "hilarious" gebruik heeft want danon had gelijk hoor...je zult nooit op Fodorites neerkijken! 

Grammatical typo: ... jammer dat je de woord "hilarious" gebruik HEBT want danon...
A common mistake for me as I learned it only through pure brain memory from hearing dutch daily while growing up.

Heen problem.

bookmarking

We have pleasant memories of Brugge and several days of just enjoying the ambiance. This came at the end of a tour in the Netherlands and Belgium. Yes, quoting Myer, "Bruges is made for wandering."

Hi! Your comments and writing has only made me anticipate my trip to Bruges even more. I am a solo traveler, and have the same mindset as you; I slow it down, enjoy it. Having grown up with an Austrian mother, I've learned that taking the time to savor a cup of coffee at a street café is much more satisfying than hitting as many sites as I can in a limited amount of time.

I am very well traveled; Paris, Munich, All over Austria, Prague, and my favorite is anything in the UK. Traveling alone allows the opportunity to learn more and enjoy one's vacation as leisurely as one desires.

My plan is to fly into Amsterdam, and after a day or two, I will take a train to Bruges for the rest of my trip. I love castles, and I will probably day trip to a few of them. But mostly, just chilling, enjoying the atmosphere that cannot be found in America, and writing:) Thank you for your insight.

S