← Ghent Marathon·Day trip

Bruges: A Flat Medieval Day Out After Ghent

A short train ride to a small, level medieval town of canals, a belfry and a Madonna by Michelangelo, easy on tired legs if you keep to the canalside.

DurationDay trip
TransitSNCB train from Gent-Sint-Pieters to Brugge, about 25 to 30 minutes
DepartsGent-Sint-Pieters

After the Ghent Marathon: Bruges

The Route: Gent-Sint-Pieters → Bruges → Gent-Sint-Pieters Logistics: SNCB train, about 25 to 30 minutes each way, with trains several times an hour. The centre is 1.5 km from the station: a 20-minute walk, or a short bus ride. Marathon Month: March Duration: Day trip

Gent-Sint-Pieters ──(25-30 mins, SNCB train)──> Brugge station
        ^                                            │
        │                                     (20 min walk or bus)
        │                                            v
        └────────(25-30 mins, SNCB train)──── Markt and canals

The Ghent Marathon finishes indoors at the Topsporthal on a Sunday in March, and Monday is the day when the stairs of a hotel start to feel like a mountain pass. Bruges asks for very little: one train, no luggage and a town that is level from end to end.

March in Bruges: daytime highs sit around 10°C, rain is common and the wind finds the gaps between the buildings. The tour boats and terraces are not at their summer strength, which means shorter queues. Sunset is at about half past six, so there is time for a long, slow afternoon. Several museums close on Mondays, so check opening days before you go. The churches and the canals are open regardless.

Belgian trains are priced by distance, with no advance fares, so there is nothing to book ahead. Buy at the machine or in the SNCB app and check for engineering works. From Brugge station, a walk through the Minnewater park and along the water brings you into the centre without a hill, though the paving is uneven. A bus saves the 1.5 km if the legs complain.

The Centre

Start at the Minnewater, a quiet basin on the south side of the old town with benches and a flat path. From there the Begijnhof, a courtyard of whitewashed almshouses around a lawn, is a few minutes away. In March the lawn is usually bare, and the courtyard is peaceful on a weekday. Check opening times for the small convent museum.

The Markt is the main square, with the Belfry on one side. The climb is 366 steps in a narrow spiral with no lift, so look at it from the ground and save your thighs. The Church of Our Lady, ten minutes' walk away, holds Michelangelo's marble Madonna and Child, and the interior is level. Check whether the museum section is open on Mondays.

The Groeningemuseum, a compact gallery of Flemish painting with seating and a lift, is the best indoor option for a wet hour. Check whether it is open on Mondays before you plan around it. The Dijver canalside nearby is flat and has plenty of benches. A canal boat trip lasts about half an hour, is seated and shelters you from the weather. Confirm that the boats are running in March.

For something to eat, Bruges has plenty of small places for waterzooi, a creamy chicken or fish stew, and stoemp, a mash of potato and vegetables served with sausage. De Halve Maan, the town's working brewery on Walplein, runs tours, so check times and book ahead.

Trains back to Ghent run until late in the evening. Check the last service on the SNCB app if you stay for dinner, and keep a few minutes spare for the walk or bus to the station.