Explore Bruges: One Day of Cycling and Sightseeing

The Belgian city of Bruges is an absolute beauty.

It’s also the perfect city for a short visit, as the UNESCO World Heritage site centre is compact and walkable, while the old ramparts have been turned into a family friendly cycling route.

Come with me and explore Bruges for one day, on foot and by bike.

We arrived in Bruges by train from the cruise terminal at Zeebrugge. This is a really easy connection: a 15/20 minute walk from the port to ‘Zeebrugge Dorp’ station, from where you board a direct train into Bruges. Expect to pay around €10 return per adult.

Bicycle Hire in Bruges

Bruges station is the perfect place to start a day of cycling in Bruges as bikes are available to hire from Fietspunt Brugge, located within the bike park facility behind the station.

With friendly, English-speaking staff they offer rentals from a few hours to a full week. You will need ID.

Three bikes for a half day hire came in at a reasonable € 38.

Note: When arriving at Bruges Station you will see the ‘Blue-bike’ stand. This is a subscription based bicycle sharing system , so not the best choice for a short term visitor. For 1 or 2 day hire, rental through a Visit Bruges recommended location is the best option.

Your rental bike will come with a lock and there are many designated bike park areas in Bruges. You’ll see bike racks for public use across the city, plus there are two large bicycle garages; one at the station and one just off the main market square at Sint-Amandsstraat.

Cycling in Bruges

Bruges is a walkable city, but having wheels is a great way to maximise your time and venture into some of the quieter areas.

The Ramparts Route

We started our day of cycling in Bruges on the City Ramparts route. This dedicated cycling route is set in a green belt that surrounds the city, making it a very safe and scenic option for a family ride.

The 7km circular tour includes pretty canal side cycling, old city gates and changing views of the historic heart of Bruges. It really is a fairytale of a city.

Cycling this route, you can’t miss the Bruges windmills. Several mills were built into the city ramparts and were in use until the 19th century. There’s only four left now and just one- the Sint-Janshuis Mill- still working and open to visitors.

Along this route you’ll also pass the Lake of Love and Lovers Bridge. There’s a tragic love story associated with this corner of Bruges, but legend has it that if you cross the bridge with your beloved you’ll be together forever.

Guess that seals the deal for Mr THL and I.

Jan Van Eyck Plein

Having cycled the City Ramparts, if you circle back to the windmills,then it’s easy to turn off past and head into the city via Jan Van Eyck Plein.

This square was named for painter Jan Van Eyck and is now home to a statue of the man himself, paint brush in hand.

Jan Van Eyck Plein is a quiet place now, but it wasn’t always so. Back in the day this was a bustling and fashionable neighbourhood at the heart of the old port of Bruges. Now A lovely spot to pause and enjoy those Bruges street scenes.

From Jan Van Eyck Plein, it’s a short cycle along the canal and through pretty streets to the Market Square (Markt). This is where we dismounted to walk a while; the square and surrounding streets get very busy.

Oh, and many of the pretty Bruges streets are cobbled. Lovely to look at, a little hard on the bottom!

Exploring Bruges on Foot

The nice thing about Bruges is that it’s all so pretty, just wandering is a pleasure. That’s exactly what we did. Starting from the Market Square, you can meander around historic streets that almost always seem to being you back to the centre.

Flandria Nostra: Mary of Burgundy Statue

During one of these wanders through the streets of Bruges that I came across this statue: Flandria Nostra. Isn’t she a beauty?

Introducing Mary of Burgundy. She was the only child of Charles The Bold, Duke of Burgundy in a time when it was very dangerous to be the sole heir and even more so to be a woman. She inherited the Burgundian lands at just 19, and went on to be a force of a woman.

When she wasn’t fighting for her lands or her life, she indulged in music, dance and hunting. Sadly, she died after being thrown from a horse on a hunting trip. The story goes that her husband was so overcome with grief, she had him removed from her chamber so she could speak with her nobles about safeguarding the future of her children.

A fascinating figure, her own woman until the very end.

The Burg & The Basilica of the Holy Blood, Bruges

The Burg is really what historic Bruges is all about. The grand old square is filled with landmark buildings, but I was there to see one in particular: The Basilica of the Holy Blood.

The Basilica is a place of two parts. The upper chapel is a an ornate beauty of jewel tones, the lower a simple and peaceful chapel. The upper chapel wasn’t always such an ornate place, it’s been added to and given a glow up every few hundred years or so.

If you like places that can be called, ‘a bit extra’, this is one for you. She is a beauty. There are strictly enforced ‘ No Photography’ signs about the place so the pictures here are just a taster; it’s really a place to see for yourself.

The Stadhuis (City Hall)

The City Hall is one of the oldest in the Low Countries and is definitely worth a look. There is a historic Gothic Hall and a display about ‘Bruges and the sea’. If you don’t have time to tour the whole building, do just pop in. There’s some big old portraits of the great and good of Bruges; they are really quite impressive.

Back on the Bikes

After a quick stop stop on the Market square for hot chocolate and waffles ( We went to Cafe Central: lovely food, definitely paid over the odds being on the Market square but great for people watching) and a bit of chocolate shopping, it was back on the bikes to return them to the station.

We cycled back onto the Ramparts Route, enjoying a few last views of the old city and the bridges over the canals before leaving to catch the train back to the port of Zeebrugge. Before we handed the bicycles back and headed off, we did have one last thing to do.

Hotel Navarra, Bruges.

Although we weren’t staying the night in Bruges, I was keen to see if a certain hotel was still about. Hotel Navarra.

Once the office of the Consul of the Spanish province of Navarra, the elegant building has seen use as a hotel, student lodgings and a government building. In the 1980’s it was taken on by the Maertens family and given new life as a hotel.

This was also the first place Mr THL took me on a weekend away. We celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary this year, so it was a while ago! I have good memories of that time, so it was great to see the old place thriving.

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Hopefully we’ll get back one day. If you’d like a glimpse at the Hotel Navarra , find all the details here.

If you liked this post, maybe you’ll enjoy reading about one of my other adventures in Belgium : Pairi Daiza, Belgium: The Best Zoo in Europe

Helen x