Attractions

The heart of ancient Bruges, the old market square is lined with pavement cafes beneath step-gabled facades. The buildings aren't always quite as medieval as they look, but together they create a fabulous scene; eve…

Bruges’ most celebrated art gallery boasts an astonishingly rich collection that's strong in superb Flemish Primitive and Renaissance works, depicting the conspicuous wealth of the city with glittering realistic art…

In the restored chapel of a 12th-century hospital building with superb timber beamwork, this museum shows various torturous-looking medical implements, hospital sedan chairs and a gruesome 1679 painting of an anatom…

Towering 83m above the square like a gigantic medieval rocket is this fabulous 13th-century belfry. There’s relatively little to see inside, but it’s worth the mildly claustrophobic 366-step climb for the fine views…

Just east of the Markt, the less theatrical but still enchanting Burg has been Bruges' administrative centre for centuries. It's in this area you'll find the city's stadhuis, the Gotische Zaal, Brugse Vrije and Basi…

Around 10km south of Bruges, Kasteel van Loppem is a mid-19th-century brick castle-mansion which had its moment of fame at the end of WWI when it was briefly home to the Belgian king and was the command centre for t…

Bruges’ delightful begijnhof dates from the 13th century. Despite the hordes of summer tourists, remains a remarkably tranquil haven. Outside the 1776 gateway bridge lies a tempting (if predictably tourist-priced) a…

The western end of the stadhuis morphs into the Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed. The basilica takes its name from a phial supposedly containing a few drops of Christ’s blood that was brought here after the 12th-centur…

Within the so-caled Adornesdomein estate is one of Bruges’ oddest churches, the 15th-century Jeruzalemkerk, built by the Adornes family. Supposedly based upon Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it’s a macabre…

The beautiful 1420 stadhuis features a fanciful facade that’s second only to Leuven’s for exquisitely turreted Gothic excess. Inside, an audioguide explains numerous portraits in somewhat excessive detail before lea…