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Brugge/Bruges/Brugges
Or however you say it. The swearing thread has reminded me that I want to go there for a little break in June with the gf.
I'm gonna say 65% of you have been there.
What's it like? What should I do? How much does it cost? TELL ME HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE!
never been, wrote my dissertation on it though
How did you spell it?
A-N-D-E-R-L-E-C-H-T
:D
Bruges
because thats how it appears in Georges Rodenbach's 'Bruges-la-Morte' as he wrote in 1880's/90's when they still mostly spoke french (or at least the upper classes did)
Its now Brugge though because they speak dutch/flemish
apparently it ryhmes with bruise
B as in buy, long oo as in food, zh as in pleasure.
THANKS, WIKIPEDIA, YOU TART!
I'll be Bruggered if I know!
It's good.
Lots of lace shops. Lots of chocolate shops. Avoid these.
Also: avoid the two main streets full of coach loads of elderly/indie british tourists.
If you do that, you'll have a good time. Drink Belgian beer, obviously.
Go on the Eurostar - you get free onward train travel from Brussels to anywhere else in Belgium.
SURPRISE SURPRISE
What did you do about accomodation?
I don't know why but I'm imagining it'll be pricey there
We stayed at the Anselmus hotel coz it was discounted rates
through booking.com at the time. It was lovely, although a German woman did steal my coffee off me at breakfast time and I had to steal it back from her husband.
I'll have a wee look for deals nearer the time I guess
CHEERS EVERYONE
Been there for a daytrip, twice
It's a pleasant place to have lunch and go for a wander but I'm not sure how much there is to hold your attention for much longer, unless you're really into lace.
Good place to eat waffles and buy chocolate.
I was there for three days, which was just about perfect.
Beautiful place, I went in the winter and it was great
good beer and food too. I proposed there.
Cheers
my (now) wife thought I was going to propose when we were there,
but I didn't.
zing!
Love Brugge
It's the perfect size to walk around in a couple of days. Lots of really nice bars and pubs to drink Belgian beer in (de garre is a great example) and just generally a really pretty place. I've been twice and not been bored either time.
Dunno about hotel prices but hostels are nice and cheap. Snuffle is good and has a very cheap bar. Also stayed in a b&b but buggered if I can remember what its called.
I also went for three days...
...altho factored in half a day in Brussels on the journey back. A couple of days in Bruges is plenty to see most of the place on foot - if you watch In Bruges before you leave you should be able to spot pretty much every location.
We stayed on a converted barge which was pretty nice - think it is called De Barge Hotel.
Bruges Beertje has the best range of beer anywhere I have ever been ever. The nearby De Hobbit is also good for a booze.
It's lovely
looks lovely, but...
isn't it one of the standard places people go to and get rinsed because they can't be arsed using their imagination...like, say, Amsterdam?
you could find somewhere as nice and half the price, easily.
Been to Amsterdam twice in the last year so I can't dispute anything you're saying there
I don't drink though so the rinsed bit is WAY OFF. I've wanted to go since watching In Brugge, I can't pretend that this isn't hugely predictable but fuck it.
sorry, i meant...
Amsterdam was a bit like Brugges, in that loads of people go there and pay over the odds.
go to Krakow, or maybe Slovakia OR SUTIN, idk.
Possibly Antwerp?
That said, I didn't find Bruges particularly expensive but I was there off-season.
Antwerp is great,
but has a completely different feel to Bruges: much bigger city, many fewer tourists.
antwerp's lush
forget about bruges
Antwerp is great and quite pretty, but is also industrial (port) and a working city, it has more of a backbone, I lived there for about 1.5 years
Bruges is prettier, but also a bit sterile.
Ghent is really pretty but more 'real' than Bruges.
I think that If you want Bruges prettyness but with less UK tourists then Ghent.
Yeah def. go
It's great. Went for NYE last year. Can't remember what any of the places I went to were called. Top tips.
My Belgian friend has JUST sent me a message with her recommendations of things to do and see in Brugge.
I'll edit out all the crap and post it here...
Oh, wait. I meant Brussels.
Do you want to go there instead? I've got a great list of recommendations!
I've sat in the Brussels station for a few hours, that probably counts to be honest, it's off the list
I'm waiting for forza's mates' Zagreb equivalent as well please
Zagreb's supposed to be quite expensive now.
try Osijeck, Pula or Zadar.
:D
<3
working in belgium, they had a bank holiday on a wednesday
everything was closed in the town near where I was staying (Bornham) so went on long day trip to bruges, there was a festival
It was very very pretty (but somehow a little sterile compared with the beauty of ghent - maybe too many tourists)
All me and my mate/colleague had to consume all day long was bruges tripel (recommended) and orange peel and cherries that had been dipped in dark chocolate ( well that and the snack mix that you get with beer in belgium.....that is something that is much more civilised about belgium)
Go along the canals on a boat, take pictures, drink beer get drunk, eat chocolate dipped cherries when you are drunk so the cherry blood dribbles down your chin.
And raise a beer glass and toast my mate Geoff, who I drank a lot with in belgium but who (alas) died of a heart attack when he was back in england :( I couldn't talk to his mum and dad at the funeral in case they asked me how i knew him to which I would have replied 'well most evenings we drank lots and lots of beer and ate snacks and food and chocolate' I felt guilty given the way he died
brooj
I'm going tomorrow
Any other tips/recommendations folks?
There's a tiny bar just near the fishmarket that's very non-touristy.
Went there when Club Brugges were playing. Really good atmosphere (they lost).
Ooh that's a good point, if the Belgian season starts at the same time as the English one I might be in luck for a match
That'd be swell.
BINGO!
Club Brugge vs Beerschot here I come!
It's like a fairytale innit
http://collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/In_Bruges/in_bruges_movie_image_ralph_fiennes__1_.jpg
The Brugges tourist board
or somebody has produced a map of Brugges by day and Brugge by night. It gives you a good range of sightseeing, places to eat and drink and free stuff. Also lots of alternative things to do and locals tips. Some of the bars and pubs recommended are great. Try and pick it up.
Sounds brill, cheers
Always seem to have it in the tourist information centre
Or one of the hostels might have one.