Koninklijke Gidsenbond

The historical heart of Bruges beating as only it can for the countless visitors. The appropriate guided route for an introduction to the city. You will encounter a variety of city sights such as the market square (Belfry and historical building facades), the "Burg" (city castle) square (City Hall, Sacred Blood Basilica, Old clerks office), the "Reien" (picturesque canals and waterways), the Fish market and the "Europa-College". You will wander along most foremost museums (such as the "Groeninge", "Gruuthuse" and "Brangwyn" museums), the Church of Our Lady (with a statue of the Madonna with child by Michelangelo), the old Saint Johns Hospital with the "Memling" Museum, Almshouses, the Beguinage and the charming waters of the "Minnewater".

Discover hidden treasures in a picturesque part of the city as you wander towards the church of Saint Walburga, the Saint Anne’s church, the Jerusalem church with the lace museum, the museum of folk art, the "Guido Gezelle" museum, the archer guilds of Saint Joris and Saint Sebastian, the English cloister, the windmill and the "Potterie" museum and old hospital.

The earlier cosmopolitan cityscape, the glory of the economically thriving Bruges of the 14th and 15th centuries: the 'Burg' (city castle square), the centre market square, the "Vlaming" street (The street of the Flemings), the "Academie" street, the "Jan van Eyck" square, the Wednesday market square, the "Natives of the east" square (Eastern Europe), the Saint Gillis church, the Augustinian waterway, the Saint James Church, the court household "Bladelin", the "Kuipers" (vat makers) street and the Egg Market all in search of the links to the European presence from afar in Bruges at the time.

A dynamic city zone with a youthful heart, a little taste of a lesser known region of Bruges: "'t Zand" square (statues and fountain), the concert hall, the "Smedenstraat" (the street of the Blacksmiths) the chapel of Our Lady of "Blindekens", the "Smedenpoort" (the Blacksmith’s gate), the old city ramparts, the old Waterhouse, the "Dumery" Bell, the Saint "Godelieve" Abbey, Almshouses and the Cathedral of Saint Saviour.

Along the former city walls, presently a nature zone circling the city: The Train Station, the "Beguinage" vest (a "vest" is an area where the earlier city fortifications were raised), the Beguinage, the "Minnewater"' park, the "Kathleen's" vest, the "Gent Gate" vest, The "Gent Gate", the "Bonin" vest, the "Coupure" a small scale inner city boat harbour), the "Schaar" street, the Holy Magdalena Church, The Queen Astrid Park, the "Kruis" gate and the "Ezel"(donkey) gate.

At the city limits and in the immediate surroundings of Bruges one can undertake many interesting excursions to a variety of small villages with their unique attractions such as: Male (The Abbey of Saint Trudo), Assebroek (The domain of the seven towers and a children's petting farm), Sint-Michiels (The Boudewijnpark aquatic theme park and "Dolfinarium"), the Provincial domain Tillegem forest, Saint Andries (City park Beisbroek and Tudor, The "Zevenkerken" Abbey) and Lissewege or Damme with their beautiful canal landscapes and coastal polder-lands.

Bruges with the spirited sea air: the old city centre of Dudzele, the picturesque coastal polder village Lissewege (The Church of our Lady, the 'Ter Doest' Abbey), Zeebrugge (A Bustling sea, energy and fishing harbour)

Once an out port of Bruges, now a medieval city frozen in time with an added dimension of being a city of books and bookstores. Market square with typical gables houses, Church of Our Lady (13th century), City Hall (15th century), Saint John’s Hospital (Medieval) and the "Napoleon" canal.

The digging of the connecting canal between the Flemish cities Oostende and Gent was a major factor in the 19th century that led to a growth in industry and commerce in this part of the city. In 1852, the landscape architect Rosseels, from Leuven, transformed the old cloister garden of the "Braamberg" into the first city park: The "Astrid" Park. A place where the commerce and the nature exist only short distance from each other.