Last January, Jill and I took 2/3 of our kids to Belgium, The Netherlands, and France for a vacation. I’ll skip the long story about United losing Jen’s luggage and then sending it all over Europe to places where we weren’t. Trust me that it was funny, even in the moment when we were in Paris and United was thrilled to share that her suitcase was finally in Brussels. Where we never were.
I’m burying the lede, but Brugge (or Bruges, depending on your language preferences) was a delight. If you want a city that is human scale, Brugge is it. Walkable? Yes. Historic? Very. Picturesque? Oh yeah.
We arrived and parked the car, because there’s no need for a car in Brugge. The streets are cobbled and narrow, and you can walk almost anywhere in the city. So we walked. And walked. And walked some more. If I lived there, I would go everywhere by bicycle. As one does in Brugge.
We also climbed the Belfort in the city square, ate at some delicious restaurants, including the oldest continually operating pub in Europe, and sampled beer. You should know that Belgium is famous for its beer. It’s a well deserved reputation.
You can see where we went on this Google map, which includes my notes. Bonus, my Paris notes are included.
