A Long Weekend in Bruges, Belgium | Notes From The Archive

aka: the city that smells like chocolate

Apr 05, 2026

*SHARED TO THE BLOG IN APRIL 2026.

ARCHIVE / aar•kive / (noun): a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.

Welcome to a new Notes from the Archive post, a series in which I am sharing some of my old & well documented travel notes to the blog. I’ve been keeping detailed notes and journals from my travels abroad long before I ever started sharing that content to this little corner of the internet. For some reason, it only dawned on me recently that, although not as thorough as my note-taking and journaling of today, this information could a. be useful to someone out there planning a trip, b. offer a glimpse into my travel days of yore, or c. just be fun for me to relive briefly under the pretense of being useful — so I figured why not share them here!

If you have stumbled across this post on a deep-dive through the blog archives, hello! I have done my darndest to make sure every piece of information shared here is just as relevant today as it was the day it was scrawled in my journal. I would also like to take a moment here to apologise in advance for any poor-quality photographs. You have been warned.

Today’s Notes from the Archive post — A Long Weekend in Bruges, Belgium — is all about my 2012 trip to the Belgian city with my then-boyfriend and three of our friends. The trip came about because, less than a month beforehand, my then-boyfriend & I arrived back from our inter-railing trip under-budget, and what better way to celebrate that than doing more travel!? Bruges was selected because of the cheap flight prices, but we all ended up loving the city; it was beautiful, the canals were picture perfect, and it literally smelled like chocolate and waffles in the air. It was amazing!

Listed below is all the legible information I could garner from my trusty ole journal, broken down into the following categories: getting there / where we stayed / and where we tourist-ed.

Enjoy, friends!

getting there

Here’s how we made the journey to Bruges:

we flew from Dublin Airport to Brussels South Charleroi Airport with Ryanair. The flight time was around 1-hour and 40-minutes.
from Charleroi Airport, we took a shuttle bus to Brussels-South Railway Station — aka: Brussels Midi Train Station. The journey took 1-hour, and we bought our tickets on the bus with the driver.
from Brussels-South, we took an InterCity train heading in the direction of Blankenberge and got out at Bruges. The journey time was around 1-hour and 10-minutes, and we bought our tickets at a counter in the train station.
from Bruges train station, we walked for about 30-minutes before reaching our hostel, below.

where we stayed

St Christopher’s Inn - The Bauhaus // located in the old medieval centre, we were pretty happy with this hostel. The beds in our 8-person dorm were all curtained off for privacy, with individual reading lights, sockets, and luggage storage; it was so handy! Breakfast was included, and, according to my journal, I was very happy with the broad selection of cereals, bread rolls, juices and hot drinks. We also spent many an hour in the hostel bar, availing of cheap happy hour drinks — apparently only €2 for a pint of Jupiler at the time of our visit! — and generally soaking up the cozy atmosphere. Address: Langestraat 137, 8000 Brugge

where we tourist-ed

enjoying the smell of chocolate in the air

Surprisingly, we actually did a lot of tourist-ing while we were in Bruges. However! One of the very first things we did after arriving in the city was to purchase a Bruges City Card, which, essentially, for €30, included free entry into most of the touristy places we planned to hit to anyway. Sadly, according to the internet, this card was discontinued in 2017, and there doesn’t appear to be any suitable replacement. The best they seem to offer now is the Musea Brugge Card, but I can’t personally vouch for that — for more info, click here.

Anyway, here’s where we touristed:

free attractions

michelangelo's madonna of bruges // looking up at the belfort

Basilica of the Holy Blood // home to a phial that apparently contains the blood of Jesus Christ himself! I won’t lie to you, we all thought this was just plain gross. The blood in the phial had solidified yet separated, and it made us a bit queasy — but, at the same time, it was something you couldn’t not look at, if you get me? Despite the gross factor: would recommend. Address: Burg 13, 8000 Brugge

Church of Our Lady // the art history student in me dragged everyone here because I wanted to see Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges — said to be his only sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime — and it was totally worth it! Fun fact: this church is also home to the tallest tower in all of Bruges, which dominates the city skyline! Would recommend. Address: Mariastraat, 8000 Brugge

paid attractions

XPO Salvador Dalí // we really only stopped in here because it was on the way to our lunch spot, but it’s always fascinating to see Dalí’s work in the flesh. A little traumatizing at times, sure, but fascinating nonetheless. Address: Markt 7, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Canal Tour // probably my favourite thing we did in Bruges! The tour lasted about 30-minutes in total, and our multi-lingual guide — who switched between English / French / Flemish(!) — steered us expertly along the beautiful canals. Highlights include: sailing through flocks of ducks and swans, seeing the smallest window in Bruges, and spotting the famous golden Labrador, Fidel, sitting in his window overlooking the canal.
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Choco-Story, Chocolate Museum // a very good museum! We liked it from the second we walked through the door and the smell of chocolate hit us in the face! My favourite parts of the museum were the sculptures made entirely of chocolate, and a praline making demonstration by a professional chocolatier. Added bonus: we got free chocolates both at the beginning of our visit and after the demonstration — score! Would recommend. Address: Wijnzakstraat 2, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Belfort // aka: the Belfry. Climbing the 366 steps to the top of here is just something everyone has to do in Bruges — I don’t make the rules! We stopped by first thing in the morning to avoid any lengthy queues and it was so lovely! The view over the city below was beautiful, and we somehow managed to time our visit to coincide with the bells ringing. Fun! A must visit. Address: Markt 7, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan // the only time I’ve ever done a brewery tour in my life, and, oh my lord, it smelled so bad! Our guide — who effortlessly switched between English and Flemish — was good; he explained the beer making processes, led us up through the building, showed us the view from the top floor, and gave us all a glass of the house beer, Brugse Zot. Overall, I’m glad we went here — but I was so not prepared for the overwhelmingness of the smell. You have been warned. Address: Walplein 26, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Frietmuseum Brugge // full disclosure: we really only decided to go here because a) we thought it would be funny, b) we thought we would get a free chip sample or two, and c) it was free with our City Card. Unfortunately, no free samples were had, the museum didn’t make fun of itself in the least, and it was just full of a lot of boring informative panels about, believe it or not, potatoes. Sad. Address: Vlamingstraat 33, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.

Groeninge Museum // nothing of note stands out in my memory from this museum, but according to my journal, we rather enjoyed the modern art room. You are welcome for this informative tidbit. Address: Dijver 12, 8000 Brugge
*DISCLAIMER: our Bruges City Card entitled us to free entry here back in 2012 — but, as stated above, this card no longer exists. Please check the website for current ticket prices.