I’m sure I will be stoned for some of this review, but here goes it…
I had very high expectations of Bruges and therefore planned a long stay of Monday through Friday in early September. If we had the trip to do again we would shorten our stay to 3 days and two nights.
My husband and I rented a little apartment with a small kitchen for our stay. We were just about 2 blocks from the Fish Market and found the location to be great. Our only wish was for a place with a little more comfortable furniture as we liked to hang out there in the afternoons to rest a bit before dinner.
We found ourselves frustrated with the mobs of tourists from about 11 am – 6 pm that clogged the canals and heart of the city every day. It seemed the locals who were outside of the touristy areas were fed up too and seemed to give us a little attitude because we were just more tourists.
We also found the loud traffic which seemed to drive around everywhere at top speed very annoying. To their credit, it was not always the fault of the car/scooter but really the stone acoustics of the city which make everything louder.
We arrived on Monday afternoon and took advantage of many museums being closed by walking the city to get our bearings. Being tired and frustrated at trying to find a place with reasonable prices we settled for a disappointing meal near Burg Square. It cost us nearly 80 euro for a sandwich, “hamburger” (meat patty covered in gravy), and two beers each. The food was not good but the beer was excellent. That’s what we get for going against our better judgment.
The second night we visited a little bar that is across from the park where scenes from In Bruges was filmed. I can’t recall the name of either but hopefully a local can help me out. The wait staff was some of the friendliest we had while in Bruges and their spaghetti was delicious! Only 8 euro for a HUGE portion, had to be the best deal in town.
Thanks to the trip report from SaintBa I knew to look for the roasted chicken at the Wed morning market. We headed out before breakfast and made quite a haul. We bought fresh pastries, cheese, fruit, a fresh waffle to snack on, and a huge assortment of chicken, sausages, potatoes, and mushrooms from the roasters. All of this cost us less than 30 euro and we ate like kings for every meal the rest of the week. The cheese and roasted chicken is the best I’ve ever had…mummm.
We found Dumon to have the best chocolates in town. We could have been swayed just by the fact that they were hands down the friendliest and really took time to talk us through each and every one of their chocolates. They were very proud of their connection to Rick Steves which we found cute since we’re fans too. We bought a box with around 20 chocolates for tasting and then went back later in the week for our massive purchase. We left with a Dumon zipper bag filled to the brim. I think we bought close to 10 pounds of chocolate in all. I was overwhelmed with the number of chocolate shops in town and just stuck with Dumon for the serious purchase for gifts but did pick up some from others throughout the week, again Dumon was still the best.
We loved walking around town in the evening and seeing the golden glow on the buildings. It’s pretty easy to walk down a side street and find a beautiful spot on a canal to sit and feel like you’re the only one in town. We also loved the cozy feel of the oldest bar in town from 1515. It was usually full of tourists but the large communal tables make it easy to make new friends and compare trip notes with. The bartenders are friendly and patient.
I hope this information is useful to making your trip to Bruges the best it can be! Please feel free to ask for further detail on anything I haven’t mentioned.
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I think the bar where you had the Spaghetti was Estaminet - and the lasagne is pretty good too for anyone else who finds themselves there. One useful thing with them is that if they are open, they are serving food which can be great if you arrive later than you planned, or jet lag means that at midnight you are just about ready for a snack but don%26#39;t want something fried from a booth in the square.
The also do very filling salads and a variety of crogues so there is generally something for every appetite.
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Thank you Nettle, that is the name of the Bar. They are closed on Monday nights as we tried to eat there our first night in town.
The pasta%26#39;s are both huge and served in their own dish so you end up with a personal pan of lasange or spaghetti topped with yummy browned cheese.
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