Bruges is a trendy tourist destination at the moment, famous worldwide for it’s walkable city center and Old Europe charm.

My friend Bethany and I visited Bruges in March of 2015 and really enjoyed ourselves.  Here’s an assortment of pictures from our brief visit.

Grand Hotel Casselbergh

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Casselbergh, which was well-appointed and felt very much on “theme” with the rest of the town.  It was a reasonable value as well, only EUR129 with parking included (we drove down from Amsterdam)

Entryway, Grand Hotel Casselbergh

Floral decoration, Grand Hotel Casselbergh

As you can imagine with a name like “Casselbergh” it felt like a castle.

Stairway, Grand Hotel Casselbergh

Our bed, Grand Hotel Casselbergh

The location of the hotel was the best part, as it was located very close to the city center (most of Bruges is the city center) so we went out for a walk.

Bruges

Bruges is very walkable, but they also have horse-drawn carriages should you find yourself a bit lazy.

Horses for the carriages

It seems like every building in the town is hundreds and hundreds of years old, so I pulled out the camera and got to shooting.

Bruges

Bruges

Bruges

We walked (without a map, mind you) closer to the actual main square.  We were not the only ones with this idea.  March is pre-tourist season in Europe, but not in Bruges, it seems like every day is high tourist season there.  We arrived at the Markt, Bruges’s main square.

All the tourists

Main square

The Markt is buttressed by the 12th-century Belfry, which you can climb for a fee (we passed).  If it looks like it’s leaning to the left, you are correct, it leans about 1m to the left in this picture

The Belfry

It was cold and cloudy so I thought it was a good time for some black and white shots.

Markt and the Belfry

We ambled around some more, trying to beat the jetlag of arriving that day from the states.  It really did seem like everywhere you went you found Old Europe, it was just lovely!

In Bruges

We found a cool bridge I had read about and got some more black and white pictures.

Bruges Bridge

aaaand from the other side

As it started getting darker, we made our way back to the Markt to dine at one of the famous fritte shops!  Frittes are what Americans would call French Fries and the Brits would call chips.  For whatever reason Bruges is known for them and with good reason, they were delicious.  The walk back to the Markt was especially good, the blueness of the evening cast a lovely light on the town.

Bruges, with the Belfry in the background

You know what they say about never going to the heart of the touristy part of town to get food?  Welllll that’s exactly what we did.  We were jetlagged!

Bruges touristy fritte shop area

Our frittes over, we head back to the hotel, our short stay in Bruges almost over (the next day we would head to Bastogne and then back to Ghent, which I realize makes no sense if you know the area).  We enjoyed our brief stay in Bruges and recommend it if you’re looking for a quaint tourist town.  If you’re looking for a touch more modern environment with plenty of old-world charm, though, I recommend a little college town just east of Bruges called Ghent.