Belgium: In Bruges

Despite the fact that the movie is not at all family friendly, Bruges turned out to be an excellent, kid-friendly place to visit. The baby girl was only 3 months old when we visited Bruges. However, it didn’t hold us back at all. Everyone was super-friendly and there was so much to do (and eat) that we easily filled a couple days. We visited Bruges in August 2018. We drove in from Germany and stayed at a lovely AirBnB just outside the main city. Our AirBnB was nicknamed the Jolly Roger. The boys were immediately enamored by the bunk bed, which featured a slide. We were immediately enamored of the bottle of wine that greeted us in the extremely up-to-date kitchen. The Jolly Roger was an apartment above a toy store. It had a cute play area in the garden – a serious windfall for a family driving 8 hours to be there.

In Bruges

Venturing into the city was much easier than anticipated. We parked in one of the all day garages that ring the city center for about 18 euro. Based on feedback from a friend, their all-day fee was much nicer than the ticket he received for parking in a random spot he found. Our garage happened to be near the visitor center, where we grabbed an English-language map of the city center for free. The map was an excellent way to keep track of where we were and what attractions we wanted to prioritize.

The highlight of our trip was the food, which is incredibly kid-friendly. In Bruges, there is something delicious to eat everywhere you turn. Mussels and fries, waffles, ice cream, chocolate…. and all the Speculoos things your heart could possibly desire. If you’re not familiar with Speculoos, I pity you, but I’ll do my best to explain: Speculoos is a Belgian spiced shortbread cookie. It is traditionally made around St Nicholas’ day in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and around Christmas in Germany and Austria. One day, some genius at Lotus (I may be assuming a bit here) said: “you know, we should grind these cookies into crumbs and combine them with a bit of fat to make a substance like peanut butter. But, you know, we can call it cookie butter.” (You can find another version of Cookie Butter at Trader Joe’s or even a Great Value version at Walmart.) Cookie butter is like Christmas exploded in your mouth. To bring it all the way back around, I sometimes use cookie butter in place of peanut butter to make thumbprint cookies. But I digress…..

Seeing Bruges

We walked from the edge of the city straight into the Market Square. This square is usually crowded with visitors and carriages. We had a nice (albeit slightly expensive) lunch of mussels and fries there. After wandering the streets a bit, we found ourselves at the Rozenhoedkaai. It’s a beautiful spot that simply demands a picture. Near the bridge, you can buy a ticket for a canal tour. It’s a lovely way to see Bruges, so I’d highly recommend one. The most impressive stop on the tour was Beguinage, because the swans like to hang out there. After the canal tour, we headed over to the Burg Square. The Bruges website calls the Burg square Bruges’ soul, and I have to agree. It was a spot we came back to many, many times. Go down one street for all the food, another for lovely buildings… play in the park on one of the edges of the square. The Basilica of the Holy Blood is on another edge.

Our next stop was the Chocolate Museum, of course. On our way there, we passed a priest. Our youngest son nudged one of his brothers and said, “Dude – did you see the ninja?” We’re working on it y’all. The boys LOVED the chocolate museum. It’s incredibly kid-friendly and had many amazing works to enjoy. I’ve actually been to many a chocolate museum, and I have to say, this is one of my favorites.

We returned to the Market Square. The boys begged for a carriage ride. We gave in, knowing we’d likely see a lot of the same spots as the canal cruise but from a new angle. I can’t say if the boys preferred one over the other. They thoroughly enjoyed both. We found a lovely gentleman who spoke English and took a nice picture of us while my son gave me bunny ears.

Goodbye Bruges

We spent the second day wandering around the same sights but mostly eating. Honestly, if I lived near Bruges, I’d probably have to work really hard to stay healthy. We got a little closer to the many buildings and bikes of Bruges. Even though there was more walking and less riding, the boys enjoyed the second day as much as the first. It was with sad hearts and full bellies that we said goodbye to Bruges.

If you liked reading about our kid-friendly trip to Bruges, check out some of our other travel stories: Beach Bali; Bohemian Bali; Finland; Family-Friendly Rabat; or Mystical Marrakesh.