Park in Bruges
Minnewater Park surrounds the Lake of Love at the southern edge of Bruges’s historic center. Free. Swans glide across the water, old trees shade the paths, and the Beguinage (a UNESCO-listed 13th-century religious community) sits at the northern edge. Budget travelers walk here from the train station as a quiet introduction to Bruges before the busier center.
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Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
The Basilica of the Holy Blood is a small church on the Burg square with two chapels: a Romanesque lower chapel and a Gothic upper chapel that houses a relic believed to contain a cloth with the blood of Christ. Free to enter.
The Bruges Beer Museum on the Markt Square is an interactive museum covering the history of Belgian beer. Entry is paid and includes tastings.
Bruges is defined by its canals, and walking along them is free, beautiful, and the single best way to see the city. The route from the Rozenhoedkaai (the most photographed corner in Belgium) along the Dijver and around the Minnewater (Lake of Love) takes about an hour.
The Burg is the civic and religious heart of Bruges, a smaller and more intimate square than the Markt. The Town Hall (one of the oldest in the Low Countries), the Basilica of the Holy Blood, and the ornate facade of the Old Civil Registry face the square.
The Church of Our Lady has the tallest brick tower in the world (115.5 meters) and houses Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. The nave is free to enter.
De Halve Maan is Bruges's only remaining active city-center brewery, producing Brugse Zot and Straffe Hendrik beers since 1856. Tours are paid at a modest price and include a tasting on the rooftop terrace with views over the old town.
Working out what Bruges costs?
The whole of Bruges