Don't go there! Stay in Ghent and take a short rail trip to Bruges for the day. Ghent also has canals and some wonderful art, including the great altarpiece in the cathedral and a good modern art museum.

It has lots of restaurants, plenty of beer and far fewer tourists. Unlike Bruges, it's a real place.

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The railway station in Bruges is 2km from the city centre. If your bags are heavy or walking is a problem, save money on taxi fares by taking any bus from outside the station with the heading 'Centrum'.

The fare is 1.5 Euros and the driver will almost certainly speak English so ask to be alerted to get off at the ‘Markt’. You will alight at the most beautiful square in the city and hotels, bars and restaurants are plentiful. Most usefully you will be only a few yards from the Tourist Information Bureau.

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I think the best way to see the historical city of Bruges is on an open-top canal boat. Daily between March and mid November 10am to 6pm. Take a jumper or jacket as it can get chilly even on a sunny day!

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Travel early in the season, when it is crowd-free and not too hot to walk miles in this most beautiful and relaxing of cities. When you can't walk anymore, take a horse drawn buggy ride, or boat trip along the canals.

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Make sure you have plenty of change for the train ticket machines they don't take notes and don't seem to like credit cards either.

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Be careful when you change trains for Bruges in Brussels. After station made a last minute platform change, we ended up on a train headed for Germany!

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Bruges is a very cycle friendly city. Why not hire bikes and conduct a lazy tour of the city with a few Belgian beers on route.

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Eurostar to Belgium is great because the ticket cost covers any trip within Belgium once you’re there.

So we got about to places like Ghent and Knokke at no extra cost. In Bruges we stayed in Hotel Montanus in Niuewe Gentweg, right in the centre of the town.

It was a delightful hotel that had lovely bright chalet-style rooms overlooking an inner courtyard garden.

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You can hire a bike cheaply from the station at Bruges, so you can see a lot more of the city very easily.

My top tip though, would be don't carry your shopping on the handle-bars, get your carrier bag tangled up in your front wheel and spread the contents of your bag all over the road!

Cyclists do get priority over other road users, but not that much!

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Tickets to Bruges (or anywhere else in Belgium) can be bought cheaply at UK train stations. As long as you are prepared to take local trains and the ferry.

My wife and I bought train tickets that went from Lond to Dover, crossed to Zeebrugge and the by local train to Bruges. Yes, slightly longer, but we enjoyed this old-fashioned travel.

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Take your bicycle! Bruges is lovely and flat to cycle round and the railway station has a massive bike rack!

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