How do you get to Bruges?
How do you get to Bruges?
By plane
Although the closest airport to Bruges is Ostend Airport, just 25 km from the city centre of Bruges, there are not so many connections to the biggest towns around Europe.
A large number of carriers offer direct flights to Brussels Zaventem Airport or to Charleroi Airport (Brussels South – Wallonie) or Lille Airport (France).
Belgium’s main airport (Zaventem Airport) has its own railway station and Bruges is reachable easily by an hour and half journey. There are several train each hour to get Bruges, at least 3 trains per day.
A little bit longer the journey if you landed to Charleroi Airport or Lille Airport which are not so far away from Bruges but it is needed to have an extra journey to get Brussels Midi (Brussel-Zuid in Dutch) before to get train to Bruges.
From those last two airports is possible to rent a car and reach Bruges in approximately an hour and 15 minutes from Lille and two hours and half by car from Charleroi Airport.
By train
Trains to and from Brussels leave every 30 minutes during the day. The journey to Bruges takes about 50 minutes and a return ticket will cost about 30 Euros. Brugge is not the terminus, look for trains going to Oostende or Blankenberge. Be aware that trains are often full to and from Bruges, especially during rush hours, so if you or your colleagues have any problems with mobility you could be standing the whole trip or at best sitting in the entry area of the carriage. There isn’t really any solution to this during the tourist season when Bruges is wall to wall people.
You can double check timetable and prices of your journey to Bruges from official website of Belgian Rail.
By car
If you are planning a bus-tour: be aware buses and camping vehicles are not allowed intra muros. There is a perfect parking place for them on the south side of the city with a newly designed gangway bringing you directly into the heart of the town. It is in general a bad idea to venture inside with a car, as parking is limited and finding your way difficult. There are multistory car parks a five minute walk from the city centre. Nice city mini-buses cruise the town with high frequency, and in any case, the historical centre must be traversed on foot, by bicycle, by horse-drawn carriage or by boat to enjoy it.
By ferry
P&O Ferries operate a daily sailing every evening from Hull to Zeebrugge, taking 12½ hours for the crossing. The fares do not include the bus from the ferry terminal to Bruges railway station.
DFDS operates ferries from Dover to Dunkirk every 2 hours. From Dunkirk, Bruges is only 90 km / 1 hour drive away.
DFDS do not take foot passengers on this or their Dover to Calais route.
DFDS also operate overnight ferries from Newcastle to IJmuiden (near Amsterdam) daily and from IJmuiden, you can reach Bruges in less than 3 hours by car.