Bruges: A Picturesque Medeival Town and a Tasty Beer Hunt

We arrived in Bruges around 12pm after an hour train ride from Brussels. As I read there would be, there were many day trippers on the same train, so we were immediately glad we chose to spend a night in Bruges knowing later many of the tourists would be returning to Brussels. We stayed at the Budget Ibis right at the train station, which was really perfect for one night. It was convenient to not have to drag our bags into the city center and to be near the train station for the following morning’s trip to Amsterdam.

Bruges is very walkable, but biking is also a great way to see the town.

It rained on and off all day, but it didn’t take away from the beauty of the town. If anything, the rain drove many of the tourists indoors making the cobblestone streets that much more enjoyable.

We started the day with a walk to the main Markt square before heading out northeast of the center to the St. Anna area to see the windmills. We enjoyed this area because it seemed captured in time. There were very few people walking around, and sometimes we were the only ones on the street. It was peaceful. 

The canals added to the historic feeling of the town.



Two of the four windmills are still in operation and date from the 18th century.



Our first beers of the day on the way to the windmills.

We used the Lonely Planet Pocket Guide to Bruges and Brussels to help guide our bar stops throughout the day. We spent 45 minutes looking for the De Garre bar. The guide book uses the word “hidden” to describe the location of the bar but also provides a map with the location of the bar on it. This confused us until we actually started looking for it (using the map) and could not find it. There is a small alley behind where we thought the bar should have been so we walked through there a few times and made a circle between the Markt and Burg square. We were confused and began to think the map was wrong. Thinking we needed to hurry to the De Halve Maan Brewery to catch the last tour, we abandoned our search for De Garre.

The belfry at Grote Markt in the background and the provincial court on the left

Markt, the main square in Bruges.

Because we are apparently not good at reading the fine print in the guide book or on signs, we showed up too late for a tour of the De Halve Maan Brewery. We were disappointed, but our spirits were quickly lifted with a taste of the beer. We were able to find a dry spot in the beautiful courtyard of the brewery to sit and enjoy the tasty brews. 

Straffe Hendrik quadrupel and Brugse Zot Dubbel

De Halve Maan Brewery was founded in 1856.

After more wandering around the canals and an attempt to go to Café Vlissinghe (it was closed for the week), we made our way to t’Poatersgat. This bar was also described as having an obscure entrance, but we found it easily. It was a little intimidating because it is a huge cave-like space, and there were only two other people there when we arrived around 7pm. We started with beers from a brewery we had read about from Esen, Belgium: Arabier and Oerbier from the De Dolle Brouwers. They were both delicious. By the time we were halfway through our first beers, the bar was half full and by the time we ordered our second beer, the whole bar was packed, and there wasn’t an open table. It was really fun to see it fill up, and we were happy we arrived when we did.

t’Poatersgat is a great bar with a huge beer selection.

We could have spent a whole day there tasting Belgian beers.

Two more great beers: Orval and Gauloise

Oerbier and Arabier from the De Dolle Brouwers. The Arabier was Andy's favorite of the trip.

We had a great dinner at Pita Huis, a couple of blocks off of the Markt. It was slightly more than we normally like to pay for dinner but worth it. We had a falafel pita and a lamb gyro and the meal came with five delicious sauces. It’s a classy but cozy little restaurant. After dinner, around 11pm, we walked through the Markt square in order to enjoy it at night. There were a few people still hanging out at one of the restaurants there, but other than that, we had it almost all to ourselves. After a full day of walking and beer drinking, we headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted. 

The Markt at night

As we were walking by the area where the elusive De Garre bar was supposed to be located, we joked that if we happened upon it then, we would have to stop since we spent so much time earlier looking for it, even though we were seriously ready for bed. That particular street was still relatively crowded. We stepped out of the way of a guy on a bike and when we did, we looked up and saw the street sign “Garre.” It was really funny; it was like being in a movie where the answer to a complex plot magically appears lighted in a golden hue. It is a tiny, narrow alley, the opening is not more than three feet wide, and the sign is very small. It had a gate it front of it, and I guess because it was so busy during the day, we didn’t even notice the narrow opening between two shops. So even though we were full and very tired, we had to stop. The bar is at the end of the tiny “street” and is a very small space (it also has a second floor as well but we didn’t go upstairs). It is old and authentic and the beers are served on trays with white doilies. It felt like we stepped back in time as we walked through the door. We ordered one of the exclusive 11% Garre Tripel beers (this bar is the only place in the world to get it) and a Kwak because we were leaving Belgium the next day and hadn’t had one yet. We also didn’t think we could handle two Garre tripels. We really enjoyed the Garre beer. It was dangerously easy to drink for having such high alcohol content. 

Many Belgian beers have this thick, foamy head when freshly poured.

The "street" we could not find earlier in the day.

We got a little lost on the way back to our hotel, partly because the streets in Bruges can be confusing and partly because we’d just enjoyed an 11% beer. We ended up back on the Markt, and our exhaustion had us, for a few seconds, believing we were somewhere we had not yet been. It was hilarious. We got ourselves turned back in the right direction and back to the hotel 15 minutes later. 

One day was enough time to get a good taste of Bruges, though there are things we didn’t have time to do and see, so we could easily have filled another day there. I have read that Bruges is especially wonderful in the winter and after walking around the town at night on almost empty streets, it’s easy to imagine loving a day there bundled in a warm coat with some hot chocolate. We might have to plan a winter trip back to Bruges. After all, we do still have hundreds of beers to try.