How to spend the perfect long weekend in Bruges this Christmas

Already famous for its chocolate-box good looks – and made more so by the 2008 hit film In Bruges – Belgium’s West Flanders capital is absurdly pretty. Cobbled streets? Check. Open, pedestrianised squares framed by handsome medieval buildings? Check. Historic gabled houses, Gothic and Baroque churches and stone bridges crossing glassy canals? Check, check, check. Heck, even the McDonald’s is charming.

This is a city, too, that was almost made for winter; when we wheel our cases from the train station into the centre of Bruges one crisp December evening, it is eerily beautiful, cosy lights appearing gradually through the mist as if beckoning us onward. They know how to do Christmas decorations, too – there are trees, wreaths, ribbons and twinkling fairy lights everywhere you look, but all of it as tasteful-looking as Bruges itself. “Gaudy” simply isn’t in their vocabulary.

Here’s how to spend a long wintery weekend in this Flanders showstopper.

Hit the Christmas markets

Bruges’ Christmas markets are, like many a market, hit and miss. Among stalls selling strokeably soft scarves and elegant watches, there are one too many purveying poo emoji hats to be in good taste (and the music choices are wild – you’re as likely to hear pumping techno as you are a croon-worthy holiday favourite).

Still, the two iterations in the Grote Markt and Simon Stevinplein squares respectively are imbued with enough cosy festive cheer to be worth a good stomp around, and also provide plenty of filling, warming food and drink options to feast upon, from classic frites and tartiflette to booze-spiked hot chocolate and knock-out Belgian beer selections. (There’s a €2 deposit for glasses, so if you fancy taking home a souvenir, you can always forgo the refund and stash one in your bag.)

Swing by the rink

As part of Wintergloed, or Winter Glow, Bruges’ Christmassy festival, you’ll find a pop-up ice rink in an idyllic setting on the Minnewater (otherwise known as the “Lake of Love”). Don some skates (€7) or, if that looks like too much work, simply relax with a mulled wine at the accompanying Winterbar Vorst and enjoy the stripped-back, wooden Scandi aesthetic.

Climb the Belfry

Bruges’…