As of lately, I’ve been living in Paris as an au pair, and one of the things I wanted to take advantage of while living here was having little weekend trips! At the end of September, I decided to take a solo trip to Bruges, Belgium because my mom always talks about how it’s her favorite city that she visited so I had to see it for myself.
I was actually a bit nervous for my solo trip, mainly because I hadn’t had a solo trip in a year and a half and also I felt fomo for leaving Paris for the weekend, but I’m so glad I decided to make the trip. This city is absolutely beautiful and perfect for a solo female traveler. I felt safe, and the locals were very kind!
In this blog, I’m sharing my itinerary for spending the weekend in Bruges! Feel free to use this itinerary as inspo when you plan your trip traveling in Belgium, Europe, or just for a little weekend away like myself.
My Itinerary at a Glance:
Day 1:
Arriving + checking into my hostel
Lunch at Grote Markt
Exploring Bruges by Canal
The Evening in Bruges
Day 2:
Sunday Brunch in Bruges
Sunday Flea Market / Brocante
ChocoStory Chocolate Museum
Last waffle + heading back to Paris
Day 1 in Bruges
Arriving in Bruges + My Accommodations
I took the train from Paris Gare du Nord to Bruges which was about a 3 hour trip in total. I arrived about noon on Saturday, so the first thing I did was take a bus to my accommodations at the St Christopher’s Inn Bauhaus Hostel. Personally, you don’t actually need to use their bus system unless you’re more crunched for time because the city is very accessible by walking and is not that huge.
The check-in wasn’t until later in the day but I was able to drop my bags off in their lockers so that was very convenient. I enjoyed the hostel I stayed in. It was about a 15 minute walk from the center so it was nice to roam the streets outside of the busy area. My hostel wasn’t too lively which is normally what I prefer, but nonetheless I did end up meeting a few people from it!
My first impression as I rode through the city was that it was so charming! I loved how medieval it still feels and how colorful the buildings were. I really felt like it was a little fairy-tale in the form of a city from the second I got here.
Lunch at Grote Markt
After dropping my things off at the hostel, I headed into the city center at Grote Markt. The market square was absolutely gorgeous, surrounded by gothic brick buildings and also their Hôtel de Ville. The architecture here really brings you back into medieval times.
This is a great location to start exploring Bruges because it’s filled with lively bars and restaurants and even street performers. Pay attention as you’re walking because there are lots of horse & carriages making their way through!
Here, I had a liege waffle with Belgian chocolate from this cute little waffle food truck in the middle of the square, and then enjoyed it while watching a man perform in the center. It was so much fun listening to his music because he was playing original songs and also using the guitar in a way I’ve never seen before!
I definitely recommend trying the waffles from this food cart because they were so tasty, and I even came back the next day for another!
Exploring Bruges by Canal
During my afternoon in Bruges, I spent it walking through all of the shops because I was in the market for some new sweaters now that it was getting colder. I ended up buying a puffer jacket because it was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit and I didn’t have a jacket, even back in Paris!
After doing some browsing and shopping, I took the canal boat tour for 12 euros that lasted about 30 minutes. This was probably my favorite part of my whole weekend because my tour guide was super kind and knowledgeable, plus I love seeing new places by boat!
I wish I remembered my tour guide’s name, but she was so sweet and encouraging. She asked where everyone was from as they entered the boat, and as she saw that I was alone she was praising me for solo traveling, which really boosted my confidence! She also spoke 5+ languages, and said how she was only going to give the tour in two, but then ended up giving it in all five because of all of the nationalities that were on the boat. I would love to be able to speak 5+ languages so fluently where I can easily switch from one to the next. That’s so impressive to me!
The tour itself was very relaxing and we were able to see so many parts of the canal. My favorite part that we saw was Sint-Janshospitaal, or Saint John’s Hospital, which is an old hospital founded in the 1100s and remained in use until 1978! We were able to see the entrance from the canal where they brought in sick patients. I would love to do a tour of the hospital my next time in Bruges!
The Evening in Bruges
Bruges, Belgium is a very calm and slow paced city. So if you’re looking for dancing and lively nightlife, this may not be the city for you. Even though I love a city with good night life, it was nice to have a change of pace!
I met a few people from my hostel and we decided to have a drink at The Pigeon House before joining a walking tour at night put on by our hostel. I definitely recommend this restaurant! Their beer was really good and so were their dishes. It’s a bit on the expensive side so my new friends and I shared the appetizer and then we had a side of potatoes. Two of them had the cheese croquettes and they looked amazing.
The walking tour at night was a great idea since their nightlife scene isn’t too big. The tour took about two hours and started at 9pm, and we explored the streets of Bruges that I hadn’t seen yet during the day, and I had done a lot of walking during the day!
The tour gave us fun back stories of the city and also some ghost stories which I wasn’t expecting.
Seeing the city at night really showed how beautiful it was at all hours!
Day 2 in Bruges
On my second day in Bruges, I slept in a bit and started my day around 10am. This is definitely a city where you don’t need to wake up at 8 or 9am because most restaurants didn’t open until about 10:30/11am even for breakfast.
Sunday Brunch in Bruges
I started my morning by checking out of my hostel and storing my backpack in their luggage lockers, then I searched for a spot to have breakfast. I originally wanted to have a waffle because duh, I’m in Belgium, but the spot I wanted to go to wasn’t open yet. I decided to try out That’s Toast because they had a lot of great reviews on Google and a lot of people talked about it on TikTok.
That’s Toast is a brunch restaurant that is known for their variety of toasts, and I decided to try the All Day Breakfast Plate because I was very hungry. This was more of an English Breakfast type meal, not one of their signature toasts, but it was so good and exactly what I needed. The eggs were still on toast so it counts as toast!
Sunday Flea Market and Brocante
After breakfast, I really wanted to check out the brocante / flea market that they had! I had rode past it on the bus the day before, but by the time I made it to the market the stands were all packed up.
They had so many different items that were in really good condition. I would’ve loved to buy this record player if I had my own flat in Paris!
I ended up buying two sweaters for 12 euros total which definitely helped me build up my winter wardrobe here since I didn’t bring that many options. The market was so cute and fun to explore!
ChocoStory Chocolate Museum
Then, I went to the ChocoStory Museum because Belgium is known for their chocolate. This was a cute activity and it was so interesting to learn about the history of chocolate.
The best part was definitely getting free samples of chocolate at the end!
Last waffle + heading back to Paris
Before I caught my train back to Paris, I picked up one more waffle from the waffle cart to hold me over on my trip back. Even though I was still mostly full from my big brunch, I couldn’t leave without having one more!
This time I had the classic plain liege waffle with sugar and it was so good. I want to go back to Bruges for so many reasons, but I would simply go back just for these waffles.
Finally, I caught my train at 4pm, and arrived in Paris by 7pm.
Overall, my solo weekend trip to Bruges was amazing and I really loved exploring this city! I loved the architecture, the beautiful canals, and how kind everyone was, plus it was so relaxing to explore on my own.
I definitely recommend visiting Bruges if you are nearby in Amsterdam, Brussels, or Paris, because it’s a little gem that is hardly talked about.
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Under The Sun 
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