BRUGES and GHENT in ONE Day | Guide to Belgium's Medieval Towns

Bruges and Ghent are two lovely Medieval towns in Belgium, close to Brussels. Both make for an excellent day trip...but what if you want to visit both places in just one day? Let me show you how to do it, and also show you the best things to see in each town!

This video covers the whole trip, starting from Brussels early in the morning, to what to explore in Bruges when you get there, onwards to Ghent, and then the train back to Brussels in the evening.

Bruges has tons of amazing spots to explore, and some of the things covered in this video include:
- Walking from the train station via Minnewater Bridge (the Lovers' Bridge), Minnewater Lake, and the Begijnhof to the city center
- The Markt, the market square, including the massive belfry called Belfort
- A climb up Belfort, with a magnicifent view of the city from the top
- The Frietmuseum, a museum dedicated to French f-, sorry I meant Belgian fries!
- The Lucifernum, a cafe, bar and museum owned by a self-proclaimed vampire
- De Burg, a square with the City Hall building as well as the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which apparently houses some of the blood of Christ
- Finally, a boat tour through the canals of Bruges

After that it's onwards to Ghent, and the following sights:
- A tram ride from the station to the city center
- Groentenmarkt, which was where a turf war, called the War of the Little Noses, took place up until 2016
- The streetlights called Ai Nati Oggi, For Those Born Today
- Castle Gravensteen, which is quite a spectacular sight in Ghent
- Trying some Waterzooi, a dish from Ghent that's quite famous in Belgian cuisine
- A visit to a pub called Dulle Griet, where you have to leave your shoe as a deposit to get a glass of beer
- Werregarenstraat, a narrow alley filled with amazing graffiti
- Saint Bavo's Cathedral, named after the patron saint of Ghent
- I also marvel at the Stadshal, a marvel of modern design...that looks completely out of place among the medieval buildings
- And to round things off, St Michael's Bridge is also quite worth a visit, as well as a boat tour so that I can compare the canals of Ghent with the ones of Bruges

At the end of all of this I offer some spontaneous thoughts about how Ghent and Bruges are different - and what parts I like and dislike about the two towns. The whole trip took roughly 12 hours, so it was a full day of sightseeing, but it's very doable in one day!

#bruges #ghent #belgium

[LIBREPUB]

Oh yeah, you definitely have to take that beautiful walk from the train station to the city center in Bruges…omg I want to go back tomorrow. Bruges and Ghent are mind blowing 🤯 next level awesome.

[Frahamen]

Actually, if you go from Brussels to Bruges you past Ghent. The rule is if you can stop in between a line and continue later the day, you do not need to buy a new ticket. So buying a train ticket Brussels-Bruges both ways would have been enough.

[cindymarasligiller]

Interesting video thank you. Love Bruges. It warrants at least 2 days, especially during December for the Christmas market.

[garyroberts]

Didn’t think Bruges looked that interesting in your video but Ghent looked really interesting

[tp]

Hi, thankyou so much for this heartful video. Taking your advice, I've visited Brugges and Ghent/Gent in one whole day on 2nd July. As the sunset is 10pm, we have indeed sufficient time for our trip.
As confirmed with train station staff, we just purchased return tickets from Brussels to Brugge. After visiting Brugge, we got on the train again and dropped off at Ghent, as Ghent is between Brussels and Brugge. No additional ticket is requested from Brugge to Ghent and from Ghent to Brussels. We just use the same return ticket (on same day).

Then we return to Brussels by 9pm train, as it is still the sun there ;)).

Thanks again and would love to see more vlog.

[crushmash]

Ghent was clearly my favourite town. The history was so much better and I really enjoyed the castle, river canal tour is recommended for €10
Of course, Brussels is awesome to spend over a month there recently. Love from 🇨🇦

[pkharper]

They both look like amazing city’s in there own ways. I absolutely love the architecture in both city’s, the old buildings have such style not to mention thinking about the artisans that built them. Another amazing video, thanks for taking us along your journey. Stay safe till next time 😊

[midmiddleton]

The cities look beautiful. The architecture is thought-provoking. The people in the past were master masons Indeed.

[adventurelifewithbob]

Enjoyed your video! We just spent a very enjoyable day in Bruges. What a wonderful place

[ExplorerOfTheGalaxy]

Man, your style to present cities are awesome!! I usually don't like vlogging but you KNOW how to show off the touristic points without showing yourself too much (and when you do that you only say useful informations). Just subbed seeing this video for the 1st time. Keep going! I'd love to see some Barcelona videos of yours or Lisbon :)

[PolCornelis]

You don't need 3 train tickets . It is possible to interrupt your trip if it is on the same day and on the same route. Brussels - Gent - Bruges is one connection without detours so one return ticket will do.

[pinkpebbletravels]

love your witty and honest review. Thank you

[ChristopherGronlund]

Most of what I know about Belgium is what I've seen through the eyes of a couple online friends who live in Liège. (Oh, and from a foreign exchange student from Belgium I knew in high school.) I didn't know Bruges existed until I saw the movie, In Bruges. I was aware of Gravensteen Castle, but know so little about Ghent. So, I appreciated that you covered the two towns so well...in a day! It's a country I've wanted to visit for a long time...but then, that describes most countries for me 😀

[galgal]

A very wonderful video! And in Belgium they speak Flemish 😄

[ign__]

Thank you for this video, really helped a lot! Wish you all the best!

[elmarta]

Loved the video but: Talking about the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent without mentioning the masterpiece you can see there is a 'sin' ;-). The Ghent Alterpiece or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers is considered a masterpiece of European art.

[JustBeingAwesome]

Gent needs to be experienced in the evening too and ideally in summer :)

[patrickbolin]

Another great video provided by Three Star Vagabond!😀 The Belgians are indeed experts in Fre...Belgian Fries and beer! Did you catch any more tours in Brussels or what's that place called?...an ABBA song, oh yes "Waterloo"? 😉

[wesailwillow]

Thanks, we will now spend a full day in both cities. Three star? This was a five star video:)

[roelantverhoeven]

but both have much more to offer! also, don't forget Antwerp! bit larger, bit more modern and busy (especially compared to Bruges), but also with unique historic gems and a lot of museums!