Sue

Hit me with your top 5 (or more!) We'll be there 2 days and have our list made. Hoping you can give me more ideas if time allows. And I'd like see how my list compares w/ those who have been there and done that! <BR>As always...thanks...Sue

justtrying

My five aren't very specific: walk, eat (particularly French/Belgium fries with mayonaise beneath the bell tower), drink beer, walk, take a canal ride. Actually, there is the church w/the Michelangelo (sp?) (names are escaping me) and the bell tower. We really enjoyed walking up the stairs in the bell tower to see the bell mechanism and the vista (and work off those french fries).

Diane

Just returned from Brugge last week.<BR>1. Climb the belfry.<BR>2. Take a canal boat ride<BR>3. Visit the Church of My Lady to see Michaelango statue. The church is amazing, not only the statue.<BR>4. Wander some of the back streets,not just the busy tourist areas.<BR>5. Be careful eating lunch out. The menus are the same for lunch and dinner, so lunch prices are high.<BR>6. Eat lots of pastries and chocolates.<BR>7. Have a great time.

Pedro

1) Wandering about the cobblestone alleys.<BR>2) Do the same at dusk/night<BR>3) Do not miss Our Lady Church area. <BR>4) Visit the area around Market Square/Boat tour<BR>5) Chocolates and pastries are delicious in Belgium.

Heather

Have a wonderful trip, Sue. In addition to the other suggestions, I would add: a tour of one of the breweries, a walk to see the windmills and a walk around the Minnewater area.<BR><BR>p.s. Don't forget to stop by the TI and pick up a Bruges guide for 25f. It has several nicely laid out walking tour suggestions. It was very handy since I had to ask directions a lot the first day (took me longer than usual to get my bearings).

wes fowler

Sue,<BR>In no particular order:<BR>Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, the Church of Our Lady with its lovely Michelangelo Madonna and Child and the tombs of Charles the Bold and his wife.<BR><BR>Begijnhof Ten Wijngaarde, the 13th century Beguinage of the Vineyard, one of the most peaceful spots in Bruges<BR><BR>The Gotische Zaal, Gothic Room, on the first floor of the 14th century town hall A stunning room with equally stunning vaulting.<BR><BR>The Gruuthuse Museum, a mansion now devoted to the city's history.<BR><BR>The Groeninge Museum with its collection of Flemish paintings from the 15th century to the present.<BR><BR>And as a bonus, the Lace Centre and its demonstrations of lace making.<BR><BR>For an excellent, reasonably priced Belgian meal, avoid the over priced, tourist oriented restaurants surrounding the bell tower square. Look for Brugse Bisro at 58 Noordzandstraat for traditional Belgian cuisine in a quiet setting.

Sue

Thanks for both general and specific recommendations. Chocolate was tops on my list while brewery tour was tops on my husband's! We will try to do something there that doesn't involve food!! Thanks a lot....Sue

wes fowler

In Brugge, visit the café ‘tBrugs Beertje at 5 Kemelstraat just off Simon Stevinplein. It offers over 300 of Belgium’s beers. Brugge has a brewery, the “Straffe Hendrick”, that’s been in operation for over 450 years and offers tours.Now, for some background: there are four basic types of beers in Belgium, many of them regional in nature.<BR><BR>Lambic or Lembec is a naturally fermented beer with delicate carbonation to which fruit flavors ( cherry, raspberry, peach, apple cider) have been added. Faro is a low alcohol content Lambic. These are popularly known as “ladies beers”.<BR><BR>Gueuze blends young and aged Lambic to create a sweeter beer. You could equate the difference to that of a single malt whisky to a blend.<BR><BR>Wheat beers are made with a concentration of wheat as well as barley malts. They’re tart and frothy.<BR><BR>Finally, the premier beers of Belgium are the Trappist beers, rich dark ales produced by monasteries, Chimay and Orval being the best known. The Westmalle monastery produces a “Triple” beer that is a truly fine Pilsner type.<BR><BR>With over 400 varieties of beer in Belgium, it’s almost impossible to make recommendations. It’s easier to tell you which beers to stay away from, namely “Jupiler”, “Leffe” and “Stella Artois”, three mass-market beers with all the character of Bud Lite.<BR><BR>Look instead for a Chimay, either Chimay Red, Chimay White or Chimay Blue. These are all Trappist monastery beers and excellent. The colors refer to the color of the crown cork on the bottle. (Yes, many of the Belgian beers are corked in the bottle!)<BR><BR>For Lambic beers, try Timmermans’ Lambic, Gueuze and Kriek. All are fruity and truly distinctive. You can encounter cherry, raspberry, peach flavors in the lambics. It’s a bit disconcerting to drink a ruby colored beer with a thick pink head and carbonation as delicate as that of a fine champagne.<BR><BR>For something truly distinctive, look for Gueuze Girardin, a complex beer with hints of apples, sherry and cedar.<BR><BR>The “Triple” beer of the Westmalle monastery is a fine Pilsner type beer but may be difficult to find. <BR><BR>Just a cautionary note. Many of the Belgian beers have a much higher alcohol content than those of America. Be guided accordingly!<BR><BR><BR>

Tracy

Hi Sue -<BR><BR>Rent a bike. My husband &amp; I enjoyed clattering around the cobbled streets! It was March, and the weather was changeable, but we just did like the locals and put our rainjacket hoods up...<BR><BR>We went all around the city walls &amp; saw much more than if we were just on foot.<BR><BR>There's also an outfit that leads bicycle tours of the city in English - but we had no problems with an open map in my basket. Great for finding new cafes and trying new beers!<BR>Have fun!<BR>= )

Jerry

Sue, <BR> <BR>Also consider the windmills on the eastern side of town. If you do not have the time to make it to the Netherlands, these windmills can give you a taste of that. <BR> <BR>You can climb up and take a brief tour of one. <BR> <BR>Bon voyage, <BR>Jerry

xxx

More ideas?

pete

Just got back two weeks ago. I second the recommendation for Bruges Beertje! Great beer bar with a HUGE selection of Belgian Beers, most for $2 or less. My favorites: Orval (brewed by the monks of Orval abbey), DeKoeninck (sp?), Kwak (served in a 1/4 yard glass), Westmalle Double. <BR> <BR>Otherwise, inexpensive restaurants: the Hobbit (all you can eat ribs--prepared with a spicy dry rub, so not gooey like the ribs we get in the U.S.) it's a more informal place too, popular with backpackers and across the street from the Bruges Beertje. Also ate at the Erasmus hotel bistro (on Wollestraadt) on the recommendation of Frommers, delicious lamb dinner, companion had mussels, with beer, desserts total was approx. $50. There are many nice restaurants in Brugge too, that are more formal, although we stuck to the less expensive, casual places. If we went again, I'll try Den Dyver (on street of the same name, next to Tuilereen hotel), have heard good things from friends who have eaten there. Also read a lot of recommendations for Bourgoensch-Cruyce restaurant. It was packed on the Saturday night we were in Brugge, looked very nice, had a fixed price menu for approx. $60 per person that looked good. <BR> <BR>Brugge is great to just walk around, and definitely take a canal boat, the tour is only 30 minutes long for about $4 per person, but is worth it to see the canal side of all the houses & buildings. Walk from the Markt & Burg areas along the canal to the Minnewater. <BR> <BR>FYI--there is no ATM or exchange at the Brugge train station. Get Belgian Francs before you get there otherwise you will have to walk (with your luggage) into the center of town before finding an ATM. It's not far, but does take about 20 minutes and is not fun with all your bags (you can tell we did it.) <BR> <BR>Have fun! <BR>

Patrick

Interesting point about no ATM at the station. It's been a few years since we were there, but I do recall walking with our luggage from the station. I wasn't sure why we did that, but the lack of the ATM may explain that. However, isn't Belgium going on the Euro in January? After that, I assume we will be OK arriving with Euros.

ann

Two questions for you Bruges experts - what is the weather like in mid March? Will we be able to take a canal ride at that time of year? Also, where exactly are the windmill? It sounds like you can walk there but the guide books I have don't have any specific information on them and they don't show up on the maps. Thanks

BillJ

Well, with all due respects to you connesouir(?) beer lovers out there, we found Jupiter and Maes, the "mass-produced" beers, to be quite satisfactory. So if you are not into the heavier stuff, they're ok.<BR>All of whhat would be my top 5 have been mentioned, but I would add the Connick restaurant for dinner of mussels in white wine sauce. This place is in the little walk way between the two squares, you might miss it. It is very informal, and quite fun.<BR>The weather in March? Well, we were in Gent and Brugge in April of this year. One day it snowed, the other two it rained sideways intermittently accompanied by a frightfully cold wind off the North Sea. I wished for my ski parka. We finally got in a canal ride in the dry. We had noticed, though, that the boats issue umbrellas to the passengers.<BR><BR>Oh yeah, if your into tapestries, this is THE place. We really loved Brugge!

wes fowler

Ann,<BR>The windmills are on the outer ring canal in the northeast section of Brugge (that would be in the upper right hand corner of your map). From the Markt, take the street leading to the information office (it's to the left of the bell tower as you face it) The street becomes Hoogstraat and once over the canal changes to Langestraat. Take the first left, Molenmeers and continue to Carmers-straat. Turn right and continue to Peterselliestraat. There you'll find Brugge's three windmills, one of which is frequently working.

ann

Thanks for the windmill directions. Any idea how long a walk it might be?

wes fowler

Ann,<BR>One of the charms of Brugge is its compact size making it an extremely "walkable" small city. Assuming you're not distracted by some of the delightful sights in Brugge on your way to the windmills, it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes from the Markt.<BR><BR>If you've already booked a hotel, drop me an Email and I can provide more specific directions from the hotel to the mills. If you're interested, I've also got a file of restaurants and some pertinent information on Belgian beer (there are over 400!) and food. <BR><BR>If you stop in the tourist office just off the Markt, you can pick up a magazine sized brochure which has detailed maps and five or six recommended walks that cover all of Brugge's major sights.<BR><BR>

Kelly

1. Chocolate<BR>2. Beligian waffles<BR>3. Beer on the square<BR>4. Climbing the Belfry<BR>5. Bike ride around town, the windmills and to the begiunage (sp?)<BR>6. Getting lost on the crazy street layout<BR>7. Great cheap shopping (had to take a picture of a shop called "The Long Island Collection"<BR>8. Canal ride (which I took in March - was quite cold but worth it)<BR>9. Mass at Our Lady <BR>10. More chocolate<BR><BR>It is true that the beer is more potent. I had a few and then headed to the bathroom. I thought I was being so European because I didn't flinch when I saw a man using a urinal in the bathroom right in front of me. I used the stall. When my friend went to use the bathroom, I warned her that the bathrooms are unisex. She must have been more sober than me, because she was hysterical laughing when she came back from the bathroom - I had apparently walked into the men's room!

kelly

(meant Belgian waffles of course)