My last trip of 2018 was beautiful Bruges in Belgium. The capital of West Flanders is known for its cobbled streets, medieval looking buildings and colourful gingerbread market plaza. Even though we had booked a two night stay in Brussels, we knew we couldn't take a trip to Belgium and not pay a visit to Bruges so we booked a return day ticket and that was enough to take in its beauty, eat waffles and take a couple of pretty snaps for the 'gram. If you're looking at visiting Bruges in the new year, here are my tips on what to do, where to eat and where to stay in Bruges, Belgium. 

A DAY IN BRUGES

Breakfast | Li or Lait 

Li or Lait is a cute little coffee shop with an extensive hot drink menu and a cute interior. They also sell bagels and other quick bites to eat so makes it a perfect location for breakfast or brunch. I wanted to make sure I had space for the waffle and chocolates to follow in the afternoon so I only opted for a vanilla latte, whilst my mum had the 'croque' bagel with ham and mozzarella. 

If you want to take a break from history and cultural museums, and fancy an interactive (with snacks) experience instead then Frietmuseum and Choco-Story are a great way to start your day. I mean the main reason we visited was because of the free samples, but we did learn about the history of both in Belgium and had a demo on making chocolate praline truffles. There were also spots around the museum that let you take an unlimited amount of milk, white and dark chocolate buttons, so that was cool. 

A fun fact about 'french fries' was that in fact, they're not french at all but came from Belgium.  Apparently they were served in the War and since French was the language associated with Belgium, the Americans took this back to the US and dubbed them 'French fries' - although the french beg to differ and have their own versions of the origin of chips.

Lunch | Le Panier D'OR

Seeing as we wanted to try some traditional flemish hearty food (and not just sweet treats) we searched for somewhere that did 'traditional flemish beef stew' and after a quick comparison of the few restaurants in the market square on Trip Advisor, we decided on Le Panier D'Or. I ate that whilst my mum opted for some mussels and we were both left satisfied (there was also free Wi-Fi available so you can update your social media followers on your morning shenanigans).

PM | Go and see the best of Bruges

I've had quite a few city breaks this year, which means I've got quite good at condensing my trips and making sure we see as much as possible in a short space of time. Last year I treated my mum to a trip to Copenhagen, and this year after searching on SkyScanner and seeing where we could fly direct to through Malaga Airport, we decided on Brussels (and Bruges but I'll save all that for the next post). Brussels, also known as the European capital of culture (and EU politics) had a lot to offer in terms of food, drink and activities. Even though we didn't have a lot of time to explore, we still managed to pack quite a lot in and get a taste of Brussels vibrant culture. Here's my guide to a day in Brussels, Belgium.

10AM | GO SEE THE SIGHTS.

The first thing you usually do when visiting a new city, is Google 'things to see is Brussels' which is exactly what I did. After reading a couple of Pinterest posts I compiled a list of the things that were worth seeing and that you could walk to (apart from the Atomium, you'll have to take the metro for that). 

• Grand Palace 
• Town Hall
• Manneken Pis - be prepared to be dissappointed. 
• Jeanneke Pis
• The Monnaie Opera
• St Nicolas' Church
• The Royal Square
• Mont des Arts - especially beautiful at sunset or in the evening. 
• Atomium
• Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert - here you will find the chocolate shop Mary's where you can try the new fourth type of chocolate - Ruby.
• St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral - If you ask a local, they'll tell you this is the church of St. Gudula not St. Michael, and her 'miracle' was lighting a candle that had gone out in the forest.              

12:30PM | LUNCH AT LES FILLES

1:30PM | MINI-EUROPE AND ATOMIUM.

So I had a mind blank on what the proper name for the Atomium was so had to google 'ball monument in Brussels' and voila. It's not a very exciting thing to see but it is right next Mini-Europe* which on the other hand, is very cute and interesting for all ages. The attraction is just as it suggests, it allows you to get a glimpse of most of Europe in just a couple of hours - thanks to their 350 models representing different landmarks and sites from around the continent.

We got a lovely day for it as the sun was shining, which meant we could get all those great pics for the gram. We saw models from over 90 countries - there were the expected ones such as the Eiffel Tower and The Eiffel Tower but I was impressed to see some other places that I'd visited on my travels before. Such as the Szechenyi thermal baths in Budapest and the Blue Church in Bratislava that I saw IRL just a couple of weeks ago! Sadly the Rock of Gibraltar hasn't quite made it to Mini-Europe, but here's hoping we will see it there someday!

There were guides available to give you information and details about each monument and tell you stories about each one - so if you've ever wanted to find out the origin of 'Big Ben', why the Venetian gondolas are black, or why there are more saunas than cars in Finland then this is the place to do it all in under 2 hours.

We were kindly given complimentary access to the park for the purpose of this post, but standard prices for the park are 15.50 euros for adults, and 11.50 euros for children. 

3PM | WAFFLE AND CHOCOLATE TIME. 

4PM | FREE WALKING TOUR OF BRUSSELS 

If you're short on time then I always recommend free walking tours because they're a good way to see most of the points of interest and find out what's so interesting about them. We got a lovely guide called Adalin and you could really tell he was passionate about his country (and beer). It always helps when they're actually from the country and not someone who moved there two years ago, as they really give you an insight into the culture and their own personal stories and views. I can confidently say I've retained 80% of the information and stories he shared with us - and I even found myself Googling 'Queen Fabiola' to see pictures of her with an apple on her head at a ceremony, which she did to mock the guy who was sending her death threats.

I also managed to drink a whole pint of beer for the first time in my life, because after being the only person to raise my hand in a group of 30 when asked 'who here doesn't like beer', our guide promised me that there was a Belgian beer that I was going to enjoy - kriek! Simply because it was made from sour morello cherries, and I love my cherries.



The walking tour takes place at 10am, 11am and 4pm from the Grand Place/Grote Markt everyday. I suggest you get there a bit earlier simply so you can take in the beauty of the square - it's probably one of the most beautiful ones I've seen.

7:30PM | DINNER AT MANHATTN'S BURGERS

If you're staying in the centre of Brussels then this place might be a bit of a walk away (30 mins) or a couple of stops away to Louisa Metro station. Since this happened to be where our hotel was it was only a 10 minute walk away from us. These burgers were gooooood. The place is very New York burger joint-esque with its yellow bulbs and of course each burger is named after a place or thing associated to New York. I went for the Rockefeller burger which was your standard cheese, bacon , BBQ sauce and caramelised onions one and I was very content with it. They also served a 'special' sauce with the fries which I think was a blend of mayo, mustard and something slightly spicy. 

Once your tummy is nice and full I think the only thing you're going to want to do is go and flop in your nice hotel bed and fall asleep within 2 minutes. Now for some practical information. 

WHERE TO STAY IN BRUSSELS

GETTING AROUND IN BRUSSELS