It is really a nice and quite city to visit, ofcourse if you want to keep your self out of buzzing, populated and polluted city. But people always argue that Bruges is also populated with tourists. Yes ofcourse there will much more tourists. But not like Paris or Amsterdam.
What I did was I booked my train tickets from Amsterdam. One can go to central station and get week end retour tickets from the ticket counters. I bet it is really cheap to buy week end retour tickets. I guess there is some kind of reduction in the prices than normal/week day tickets. The tickets can also be booked through http://www.nshispeed.nl/
The good thing about the tickets is, it is not bound to a specific train. You can board any train [as per your ticket eg., you can not board Thalys] which goes to Antwerpen [there is no direct train to Bruges / Bruggen], any time of your convenience. It takes approx 3-4 hours to reach Brugges from Amsterdam.
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The train timings are very perfect. There will be 3 stops from Amsterdam to Bruges and one has to change trains. From Amsterdam to Antwerpen, then from Antwerpen to Ghent and from Ghent to Brugge. I had a reservation at Etap Hotel from Accord group. It is really cheap and also best for the price. Etap is very near to the Brugge Central station [believe me very near .. might be with in a stone throw ].
Bruges is a small beautiful city and known as the Venice of the North. I dont know why they call it so with having only one canal with in the City. I hope there should be some valid reason behind it. The city itself is very small and one can cover most of the city by foot having a good city map. Most of the things to see are with in walkable distance.
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 | The 'Madonna and Child' (1504-5) by Michelangelo Buonarotti is carved in Carrara marble. Originally it was intended for an altar in the Cathedral of Sienna but the Mouscron family of Bruges bought it and gave it to Our Lady's Church. It is one of the few works by Michelangelo outside Italy. One is strack by the contemplative Virgin with the naked child between her knees. The expressive work never fails to move and impress the beholder. [Note: the above text is a copy of inscription provided in the Our Lady church next to to the statue ] |
| Belfort, also known as Belfry is in the Markt Square which is in the center of the city. Most of the cities in the Belgium or also other European cities has one of these towers. Might be a colonial copy of architectures between neighboring cities. But the real purpose behind it remains the same. It is a tower where people hideout when there is a war or calamity happens. Soldiers stand on top of tower might be on some shift basis and look out for enemy troops approaching. Also these towers mostly has church beneath it. This is the story which I read in one of these towers. |  |
For more photos look in the Images and Bruges Slide show.
