Hi! New to this. My wife and I are thinking of going to Belgium from 12 to 15 December (long weekend). We were thinking of spending 2 days in Brussels and 1 in Bruges, but the more I read about Bruges, I think that might be a better destination for the full 3 days. What's the best method of train travel from London to Bruges?

very interested in the answers to this question... want to do the same trip closer to christmas (3 days in bruge i mean)

good luck with the responses

Personally I'd spend the whole time in Brussels, maybe with a half-day trip to Bruges if you want. To me there is much more to see and do in Brussels whereas the 'prettiness' of Bruges can be seen in a couple of hours.

My husband and I spent 4 days in Brugge and loved it. We like Brussels too but Brugge is more compact and much prettier. If it were me, I'd spend the whole time in Brugge and do a day trip to Brussels.

I think most people spend a lot less time in Brugge than we did, but we really enjoyed exploring, spending times in cafes people watching and we had some great food. Stayed in a fantastic B&B which really made the trip for us.

From London you can catch the Eurostar to Brussels then catch a different train onward to Brugge. Brussels to Brugge takes about one hour. The Eurostar ticket to Brussels includes onward transport to any Belgian station, for no extra charge, as long as it is within 24 hours.

A really good site for train info is www.seat61.com

By the way, the earlier you book the Eurostar train, the cheaper it will be. The cheap seats always go first.

Kay

My husband, son, daughter-in-law and I did a day trip to Bruges from Antwerp last year. We loved Bruges and felt like we really did not have enough time there. we plan to go back, hopefully soon. We walked to the old center of the city from the train station stopping at many stores. We found a Chocolate store that we spent a lot of time in. Even though we were told that the lace is not made in Bruges anymore, I loved the lace stores. When we got to the main square, we found a wonderful Italian restaurant and ate outside. Belgium beer cannot be beat. Then we took a boat ride on the canal. Then we headed for Our Lady's Church to see Michelangelo's Madonna, the only Michelangelo outside of Italy. When we arrived, it was just closing. This was the original reason for us going to Bruges, so we were really disappointed. We were enjoying ourselves so much we just weren't paying attention to the time. If we had been staying in Bruges we could have easily spent another day there. I have also noticed in my research that you can rent bikes and bike to Zeebrugge. I have not really researched that, but for our next trip I was going to look into that. We really like to ride bikes, we mountain bike all the time at home. I was thinking of asking if any fodorites had done this and how hard is it. If you are like my family and like to do things on the spur of the moment and not rush through everything, I think staying in Bruges and really seeing it would be nice.

I've been to Brugge twice for 3 days each time. I love the town and there is enough to do for 2 days with a day trip to Brussels or Ghent.

You can see a lace demonstration at the lace center. The Beguinage was wonderful to walk through. There are several interesting museums and churches and exploring the small cobbled streets is great. Be sure to take the canal boat ride which takes about an hour.

The two places I stayed were Hotel Jacobs

http://www.hotels-belgium.com/brugge/jacobs.htm

and Hotel Adornes

http://www.hotels-belgium.com/brugge/adornes.htm

We did a long weekend in Bruges from London and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth the time IMO. It's especially pleasant in early morning and evening when the day crowds are gone.

As mentioned, we also took the Eurostar from London to Brussels, then connected with regional train to Bruges. Our ticket included the ABS (All Belgian Stations), which means your connection to/from Bruges is covered in the price. ABS allows travel on local trains within 24 hrs of arrival (or departure).

Connection in Brussels was very easy and took maybe 10 min. to walk to platform for Bruges train.

We also spent 3 nights/4 days in Bruges between xmas and new years and loved it. It is very compact, beautifully decorated for xmas, with great xmas markets.

I havent been to Brussels but friends that have been have been underwhelmed.

Enjoy!

"the only Michelangelo outside of Italy" - eh ? We were looking at Michelangelo drawings here in Edinburgh only last week. And if you just mean paintings, there are at least 2 in the National Gallery in London.

This is a sculpture, if you are really interested in it you can google it or look in any guidebook including Fodors. http://www.trabel.com/brugge/bruges-ourlady.htm. The story of how it got to Bruge is very interesting.

Another vote for spending the entire 3 days in Bruges...maybe with an afternoon in Brussels, if you absolutely have to go there.

Once you see Bruges, you won't want to leave. I can only imagine that it would be even more magical before Xmas.

Have fun.

Have been going to Brugges since the 70s and it's a great place. Some do it in a day, and others stay longer. I had friends, with a house there, so I stayed longer than most and had a great time. The food in Flanders is so delicious until one could spend the whole time eating. Smiles. Take an umbrella. I've never been to Belgium when there wasn't rain or overcast. Happy Travels!

Thanks for all these great tips! I think we've decided to stay 1 night in Brussels as well. Any B&B suggestions or things we simply must see while we're there?

I can recommend this B&B
http://www.bonifacius.be/

It is located in a quiet street in the historical centre.

And I think Bruges is much nicer to stay than Brussels...

I too think Bruges is much nicer than Brussels. Brussels is big and busy.

A nice hotel is The Prinsenhof, owned and operated by a nice young family and well located in the old part of town.

Highly recommend it.

<Our ticket included the ABS (All Belgian Stations), which means your connection to/from Bruges is covered in the price. ABS allows travel on local trains within 24 hrs of arrival (or departure). >

How does that work, exactly? Do you have to show a paper Eurostar ticket at the connection station? Do you need a reservation or can you just get on? Planning a Bruges-Brussels trip, then onward on Eurostar myself, and I haven't been able to find info on exactly how you do this.

I'd vote for Brugge, too. Just loved that little town. On the other hand, I hated Brussels - so, personally, would never recommend it to anyone.

You can try this B&B in Brugge - the hosts are the warmest people I've ever met.

www.brugesbynight.be

Also, once you are done with Brugge - get a bike & cycle across to Damme - another quaint little village about an hr away from Brugge.

I would spend the whole three days in Bruges. We were just there in September. We intended to stay only one day and go on to Amsterdam via Ghent/Brussels. We found ourselves just wandering around and enjoying it, so we stayed another day - and another, etc. until six days passed. We took one day trip to Ghent and one to the sea. We have been to Holland already - many years ago. We might have been more inclined to hurry along had that not been the case.

There was plenty to do. Bruges has gorgeous architecture, some real art treasures, wonderful food, a fabulous market in the square a couple of days a week, canals, windmills and ice-cream and chocolates. We hiked to the windmills and rented bikes to ride along the canals. The short canal boat ride was also fun. One night there was an organ concert in the square. The people are so nice. Bruges was just so darn charming, it was hard to leave, even after six days.

Grace, the bikes had skinny tires and were a bit difficult on the cobblestones, but we managed. It would be nicer to have fatter tires, but it was fun anyway, a lot faster than walking and we could stop anytime we wanted to see things.

I would definitely spend more of the time in Bruges! Especially if you'd like to get some relaxing in your trip.

If you want to see pictures of both cities, go to page 2 of my website to see my pictures from my trip in 2005.

http://www.lynnsview.com/Gallery/

Sassafrass, thanks for the information. We are really looking forward to our next trip to Bruges. I would not have thought of cobblestones. Hiking to the windmills sounds like something my family would enjoy. I noticed in my research of lodging, some of the self catering flats have the use of bikes. Maybe if we are lucky with fatter tires.