The last stop on our Christmas Market tour was Bruges, Belgium. This was an add-on stop, since we didn’t make it to Bruges when we were in Brussels. We were at the Belgium/Sweden match the night there was a shooting in Brussels, and we ended up locked in the stadium for hours, then had to walk almost 4 miles back to our Airbnb in the middle of the night, while the gunman was still at large. Needless to say, we didn’t have the energy to go to Bruges the next day as planned.
While I’m not glad we experienced that, I am glad we went to Bruges at Christmas time instead because it was gorgeous! The already charming and extremely photogenic little city is positively enchanting when decorated for the holidays.
We stayed at the Hotel Dukes’ Palace in the city center, close to the markets but where our taxi could drive and drop us off. The hotel was fully dressed for the holidays and set the tone for our two nights in Bruges.
We checked in, dropped our stuff of in our room, and headed out to the markets. The main market was just down the street and it started snowing as we got there! It was fluffy and beautiful but also very wet. We headed straight for the vin chaud stand to get our cups, in case the weather got worse.
We walked around, enjoying the snow and the sights, until the snow turned into rain.
It rained through the night and into the next morning. When the rain finally stopped we headed out to see the famous canals that make Bruges so picturesque. Even in the gray, cold weather, it was beautiful.
It started to rain again, so we headed over to the smaller market to get vin chaud and the nutcracker mug they had.
Despite the weather, which was generally so wet that I couldn’t get many good photos, we loved Bruges! It was our second favorite market, after Strasbourg. It was easy to navigate and everyone was so nice. Bruges is another place I’d love to go back to when the weather is warm.
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