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    Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook)
    Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook)
    Ebook526 pages2 hours

    Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook)

    By Insight Guides

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    About this ebook

    Insight Guides Explore Bruges

    Travel made easy. Ask local experts.  
    Focused travel guide featuring the very best routes and itineraries.

    Discover the best of Bruges with this unique travel guide, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see, top attractions like De Halve Maan, Flanders Fields Museum and Astrid Park to discovering cultural gems, including seeing the work of the Flemish Primitives, cruising along the canal network or taking a tour in one of Bruges' iconic fiacres, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, and help you plan and enhance your visit to Bruges.

    Features of this travel guide to Bruges:
    - 15 walks and tours: detailed itineraries feature all the best places to visit, including where to eat and drink along the way
    - Local highlights: discover the area's top attractions and unique sights, and be inspired by stunning imagery
    - Historical and cultural insights: immerse yourself in Bruges's rich history and culture, and learn all about its people, art and traditions
    - Insider recommendations: discover the best hotels, restaurants and nightlife using our comprehensive listings
    - Practical full-colour map: with every major sight and listing highlighted, the full-colour maps make on-the-ground navigation easy
    - Key tips and essential information: packed full of important travel information, from transport and tipping to etiquette and hours of operation
    - Covers: City highlights; The Three Towers; Around the Burg; Markt to the Museums; Memling to the Beguinage; Sint-Anna; Fish market to Astrid Park; Merchants' Quarter; Langerei and St Giles; Princes' Court and Donkey Gate; Around 't Zand; Damme; Ostend; Ypres; Ghent 

    Looking for a comprehensive guide to Belgium? Check out Insight Guides Belgium for a detailed and entertaining look at all the country has to offer.

    About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInsight Guides
    Release dateApr 1, 2020
    ISBN9781839052385
    Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook)
    Author

    Insight Guides

    Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

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      Book preview

      Insight Guides Explore Bruges (Travel Guide eBook) - Insight Guides

      How To Use This E-Book

      This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

      Best Routes

      The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destination’s many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also ex­cursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

      We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Food and Drink’ box at the end of each tour.

      Introduction

      The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

      Directory

      Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafés and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

      Getting around the e-book

      In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

      Maps

      All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

      Images

      You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

      © 2020 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

      Table of Contents

      Recommended Routes For...

      Art enthusiasts

      Escaping the crowds

      Children

      Food and drink

      Green spaces

      Historians

      Rainy days

      Romantic Bruges

      Explore Bruges

      Geography

      History

      Golden Age

      Decline

      Modern era

      Climate

      Politics and economics

      Flemish autonomy

      Devolution

      People

      Food and drink

      Local cuisine

      Where to eat

      Restaurants

      Brasseries

      Bars and cafés

      Tearooms

      Drinks

      Beer

      Genever

      Mineral water

      Tea and coffee

      Shopping

      Shopping areas

      Beer

      Chocolate

      Lace

      Books, music and art

      Fashion and design

      Entertainment

      Music

      Classical

      Carillon

      Contemporary, rock and jazz

      Theatre and dance

      Film

      Nightlife

      History: Key Dates

      Early period to the Middle Ages

      Burgundian rule to the Enlightenment

      Modern era

      Post-war, Europe and Federalisation

      City Highlights

      Markt

      Burg

      Jan van Eyckplein

      Groenerei

      Tanners’ Square

      Dijver

      Mariastraat

      Walplein

      Beguinage

      St Saviour’s Cathedral

      ’t Zand

      The Three Towers

      Belfry

      The climb

      St Saviour’s Cathedral

      Interior

      Treasury Museum

      Church of Our Lady

      Church museum

      Around the Burg

      City Hall

      Basilica of the Holy Blood

      Story of the relic

      Basilica Museum

      Liberty of Bruges Palace

      Renaissance Hall

      St Donatian’s

      Refreshment options

      Chocolate museum

      St Walburga’s Church

      Inside the church

      On to St Anne’s

      Markt to the Museums

      Markt

      Market Halls

      Provincial House

      Guildhouses and mansions

      Military Chapel

      Dijver

      Groeninge Museum

      Flemish Primitives

      Renaissance

      17th and 18th centuries

      19th century

      20th century

      Arentshuis

      Gruuthuse

      Memling to the Beguinage

      Archaeology Museum

      Hospital Museum – Memling in St John’s

      Walplein

      Beguinage

      Beguinage enclosure

      Beguine’s House Museum

      Beguinage Church

      Minnewater

      Powder Tower

      Minnewater Park

      De Vos Almshouse

      Diamond Museum

      More almshouses

      Sint-Anna

      Sint-Anna

      Jerusalem Church

      Lace Centre

      Museum of Folklore

      English Convent

      St Sebastian Archers’ Guild

      St John’s House Mill

      Holy Cross Gate

      Guido Gezelle Museum

      Café Vlissinghe

      Fish Market to Astrid Park

      Fish Market

      Rosary Quay

      Tanners’ Square

      Groenerei

      Along the Coupure

      Bistro option

      Conzett Bridge

      Ghent Gate

      Astrid Park

      Merchants’ Quarter

      City Theatre

      Merchants’ houses

      Fries Museum

      Ter Beurze House

      Venetian and Florentine Houses

      Jan van Eyckplein

      Old Customs House

      Spiegelrei and Spinolarei

      De Rode Steen House

      Spanish Quay

      Augustinians’ Bridge

      Phantom House

      Bladelin Court

      Langerei and St Giles

      Potterierei

      Episcopal Seminary

      Our Lady of the Pottery

      Dampoort

      Koelewei Mill

      Langerei

      St Giles

      St Giles Church

      Gouden-Handrei

      Princes’ Court and Donkey Gate

      Muntplein

      Princes’ Court

      Court history

      Minstrels’ Chapel

      Hof Sebrechts Park

      Pastor Van Haecke Garden

      Ezelstraat

      Carmelite Church

      St James’s Church

      Around ‘t Zand

      ’t Zand

      Sculpture fountain

      Concert Hall

      Our Lady of the Blind

      Blacksmith’s Gate

      Nieuw Waterhuis

      Boeveriestraat

      Damme

      Town Hall

      Tijl Uilenspiegel Museum

      Herring Market

      St John’s Hospital

      Church of Our Lady

      Old ramparts

      Ostend

      Museum Ship Amandine

      Visserskaai

      Fish Market

      Around Langestraat

      Museum of Local History

      James Ensor House

      Casino Kursaal

      Albert I-Promenade

      Royal Ostend

      Museum by the Sea

      Leopoldpark

      Wapenplein

      Church of SS Peter and Paul

      Marina

      Ypres

      Grote Markt

      Cloth Hall

      In Flanders Fields Museum

      St Martin’s Cathedral

      St George’s Church

      Menin Gate

      Ramparts

      Ramparts Cemetery

      City Museum

      Ypres Salient

      Sanctuary Wood and Hill 62

      Passchendaele Museum

      Tyne Cot

      German Soldiers’ Cemetery

      Ghent

      St Nicholas Church

      Belfry

      Cloth Hall

      St Bavo’s Cathedral

      Mystic Lamb

      Vrijdagmarkt

      Jacob van Artevelde Statue

      Guildhouses

      Socialist headquarters

      Patershol District

      Folklore Museum

      Castle of the Counts

      Design Museum

      Korenlei and Graslei

      St Michael’s Church

      Accommodation

      Bed and breakfast

      Centre

      South

      West

      North

      East

      Bruges outskirts

      Ghent

      De Haan

      Ostend

      Restaurants

      Centre

      South

      West

      North

      East

      Damme

      Ostend

      Ypres

      Ghent

      Nightlife

      Music, theatre and dance

      Film

      Nightlife

      Festivals (in date order)

      A-Z

      A

      Admission charges

      Age restrictions

      B

      Budgeting

      C

      Children

      Climate and clothing

      Crime and safety

      Customs

      E

      Electricity

      Embassies and consulates

      Emergencies

      Etiquette

      G

      Green issues

      Carbon-offsetting

      H

      Health

      Healthcare and insurance

      Pharmacies and hospitals

      Telemedicine

      Hours and holidays

      I

      Internet facilities

      L

      Language

      Left luggage

      LGBTQ

      Lost property

      M

      Maps

      Media

      Print media

      Radio

      Television

      English-language publications

      Money

      Currency

      Credit cards

      Cash machines

      Tipping

      Taxes

      P

      Post

      Public holidays

      R

      Religion

      S

      Smoking

      Student travellers

      T

      Telephones

      Mobile (cell) phones

      Time zones

      Toilets

      Tourist information

      Tours and guides

      Bike tours

      Canal rides

      Horse-drawn carriages

      Bruges–Damme by paddle-steamer

      Battlefield tours

      Transport

      Airports and arrival

      By sea

      By rail

      By road

      Public transport

      Travellers with disabilities

      V

      Visas and passports

      W

      Women

      Language

      Useful phrases

      General

      On arrival

      Sightseeing

      Emergencies

      Dining out

      Shopping

      Days of the week

      Numbers

      Online

      Social media

      Menu reader

      Appetizers

      Fish

      Meat and poultry

      Vegetables

      Fruit

      Cheese

      Dessert

      Books and Film

      Books

      Early writers and dramatists

      Pre-20th century

      20th century and beyond

      Film

      Recommended Routes For...

      Art enthusiasts

      Admire Flemish Primitives, Bosch and the Symbolists at the Groeninge (route 4), see Hans Memling’s work in St John’s Hospital (route 5), and marvel at van Eyck’s altarpiece in Ghent (route 15).

      Gregory Wrona/Aps Publications

      Escaping the crowds

      Follow the lapping waters of the Langerei to the charming museum of Our Lady of the Pottery church (route 9), wander the district west of ’t Zand (route 11) or cycle up the canal to peaceful Damme (route 12).

      Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications

      Children

      Wander along canals past fishermen and houseboats on the way to the Astrid Park (route 7), visit the adorable Museum of Folklore (route 6) or take to the beach at Ostend (route 13).

      Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

      Food and drink

      Chocoholics will get a tasty treat at Choco-Story (route 3), while beer-lovers should sample the only beer still brewed in Bruges at the Half Moon Brewery (route 5). For seafood, nothing beats Ostend (route 13).

      Glyn Genin/Apa Publications

      Green spaces

      Discover a real secret garden, the Hof Sebrechts Park (route 10), enjoy a picnic in the shade at tranquil Astrid Park (route 7) or explore a village surrounded by green fields and polder in Damme (route 12).

      iStock

      Historians

      Stalk the haunts of medieval merchants (route 8), inspect the crusader’s trophy that inspires religious devotion at the Basilica of the Holy Blood (route 3) or revisit the tragedy of World War I around Ypres (route 14).

      iStock

      Rainy days

      Situated side by side, the Groeninge and Arentshuis museums are ideal for an indoor day (route 4), or travel to Ypres, for the excellent In Flanders Fields and Sanctuary Wood museums (route 14).

      Bruges Tourism

      Romantic Bruges

      Watch swans glide over the mirror-like Minnewater, the ‘Lake of Love’ (route 5), or set out early to enjoy uninterrupted views from the Rozenhoedkaai and along leafy Groenerei (route 7).

      Bruges Tourism

      Explore Bruges

      Medieval Bruges is one of Europe’s most romantic destinations. Canals meander around gabled almshouses, Gothic churches, world-class art galleries and boutique hotels, all packaged in a central district less than 2km (1.25 miles) across.

      Bruges – Brugge to its residents – is a provincial town that hit the big time with its cloth trade in the Middle Ages, riding high for 400 years before sinking into oblivion, cut off from the world. Centuries on, 19th-century heritage enthusiasts chanced upon the time-capsule city and shook it from its Sleeping Beauty slumber, restoring it to a splendour that celebrates the Gothic and Baroque, Renaissance and modern.

      The city may live off its past but it is not content to reside there. A startlingly modern music venue, incessant property renovation, chic new restaurants and a lively programme of contemporary dance, experimental music and film disprove accusations that it is little more than a museum piece. Yes, tourism dominates the city, but it is fantastically easy to escape the crowds.

      The canals are just as atmospheric at night

      iStock

      Geography

      This city of around 117,000 people, 20,000 of whom live in the city centre, is located 11km (7 miles) from the North Sea coast and is the capital of West Flanders, a province that contains the entire 67km (42 miles) of Belgium’s coastline and is bordered by France, the Netherlands and the provinces of Hainaut (in French-speaking Wallonia) and East Flanders.

      With the reclaimed polders of the maritime plain to the north and west, and sandy pastoral land to the east and south, the municipality of Bruges includes three distinct areas: the historic centre (a Unesco World Heritage Site), contained by a 7km (4-mile) -long ring canal along the line of the former city walls; the suburbs, named after historic parishes situated outside the walls: Sint-Michiels, Sint-Andries, Sint-Jozef and so on; and a tongue of land stretching north to the sea, including the village of Lissewege and the port of Zeebrugge.

      As long as you are within the centre, and there is little reason to venture outside, the only sensible means of getting around is on foot or by bike.

      History

      The city grew up from a Gallo-Roman settlement, Bruggia, first mentioned in AD 851. It rose to prominence as a cloth town and trading hub, its weavers renowned for their skill in transforming English wool into the finest tapestries and garments in Europe.

      Fortunes waxed and waned with time and tides. Fierce coastal storms opened and closed the city’s access to the sea starting in the 11th century, when silting prevented ships from sailing directly into the centre. A flood in 1134 created a new sea route from the Zwin inlet to Damme, 7km (4 miles) to the north-east. Bruges made Damme its outer port, and dug canals to ferry goods to and from the city on small barges.

      The Procession of the Holy Blood occurs every year on Ascension day

      Bruges Tourism

      Golden Age

      From 1200–1400, the city was an important member of the Hanseatic League, a network of trading cities across Europe. Foreign merchants built grand consulates and settled here, trading metals, fur and wine for locally produced cloth. The city saw the birth of the world’s first stock exchange, and became a cultish place of pilgrimage, inspired by a supposed relic of Christ’s blood brought back from the Crusades (and still presented for veneration in a basilica built for the purpose). The Gothic City Hall and many churches and mansions survive from this period.

      Wealth and religious devotion promoted a flourishing artistic community: painters Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling made Bruges their home, catering to the court of the dukes of Burgundy, successors to the counts of Flanders and great patrons of the arts. Their rule was renowned as a period of refinement and festivities: banquets, tournaments and processions helped local craftsmen diversify into illuminated manuscripts, lace and other luxury items.

      Also noteworthy, the first printed book in English was produced in Bruges in 1473 by William Caxton for Margaret, duchess of Burgundy and sister of English kings Edward IV and Richard III.

      Decline

      Protracted conflicts between the royal houses of England and France eventually took their toll on a city ruled by the French yet dependent on English wool. The silting up of the sea-channel compounded disputes between the citizens and their rulers. By the early 16th century, Bruges was effectively cut off from the world. Courtiers and merchants abandoned the town, while religious wars and persecution forced many skilled craftsmen to flee.

      Disaster then has brought riches today, as centuries of decline left many historic monuments untouched. By the mid-18th century, the much-dwindled population survived by making lace, a cottage industry that was eventually decimated by industrialisation.

      Bruges rooftops and stepped gables

      iStock

      Modern era

      Belgian independence and the arrival of the railway brought early tourists travelling from Ostend to Brussels – many of them English people en route to the Waterloo battlefield – who came across this time-warped city. A heritage movement was launched, Gothic buildings and historic monuments were repaired, and the tourist industry took off.

      Climate

      Bruges has the warm summers and mild

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