BRUGES and GHENT in ONE Day | Guide to Belgium's Medieval Towns

Bruges and Ghent are two lovely Medieval towns in Belgium, close to Brussels. Both make for an excellent day trip...but what if you want to visit both places in just one day? Let me show you how to do it, and also show you the best things to see in each town!
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This video covers the whole trip, starting from Brussels early in the morning, to what to explore in Bruges when you get there, onwards to Ghent, and then the train back to Brussels in the evening.
Bruges has tons of amazing spots to explore, and some of the things covered in this video include:
- Walking from the train station via Minnewater Bridge (the Lovers' Bridge), Minnewater Lake, and the Begijnhof to the city center
- The Markt, the market square, including the massive belfry called Belfort
- A climb up Belfort, with a magnicifent view of the city from the top
- The Frietmuseum, a museum dedicated to French f-, sorry I meant Belgian fries!
- The Lucifernum, a cafe, bar and museum owned by a self-proclaimed vampire
- De Burg, a square with the City Hall building as well as the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which apparently houses some of the blood of Christ
- Finally, a boat tour through the canals of Bruges
After that it's onwards to Ghent, and the following sights:
- A tram ride from the station to the city center
- Groentenmarkt, which was where a turf war, called the War of the Little Noses, took place up until 2016
- The streetlights called Ai Nati Oggi, For Those Born Today
- Castle Gravensteen, which is quite a spectacular sight in Ghent
- Trying some Waterzooi, a dish from Ghent that's quite famous in Belgian cuisine
- A visit to a pub called Dulle Griet, where you have to leave your shoe as a deposit to get a glass of beer
- Werregarenstraat, a narrow alley filled with amazing graffiti
- Saint Bavo's Cathedral, named after the patron saint of Ghent
- I also marvel at the Stadshal, a marvel of modern design...that looks completely out of place among the medieval buildings
- And to round things off, St Michael's Bridge is also quite worth a visit, as well as a boat tour so that I can compare the canals of Ghent with the ones of Bruges
At the end of all of this I offer some spontaneous thoughts about how Ghent and Bruges are different - and what parts I like and dislike about the two towns. The whole trip took roughly 12 hours, so it was a full day of sightseeing, but it's very doable in one day!
Twitter: / vagabonddeluxe
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#bruges #ghent #belgium

[@promiserodriguez7553]

I enjoyed watching you. Great information. This is very helpful. I am going to Bruges next month. Thank you so much and have a great day.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that! Thanks for checking it out - and I hope you'll have a great time in Bruges

[@249ign__]

Thank you for this video, really helped a lot! Wish you all the best!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

So happy to hear that! Thanks - and hope you had/will have a great time there :D

[@pkharper3525]

They both look like amazing city’s in there own ways. I absolutely love the architecture in both city’s, the old buildings have such style not to mention thinking about the artisans that built them. Another amazing video, thanks for taking us along your journey. Stay safe till next time 😊

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

They were really nice both of them! I'll happily go back if I visit Belgium again :D The architecture really was amazing. Thanks for checking it out and cheers! ^_^

[@cindymarasligiller2115]

Interesting video thank you. Love Bruges. It warrants at least 2 days, especially during December for the Christmas market.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yeah, I definitely think I'll be returning to Bruges! But I like having these quick visits, to determine which places I want to go back to and not :)

[@RegularCanadianFella]

Cool informative vid once again! In Bruges was an ok film…any plans for travel in Finland? That Sisu film was quite something!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! And just an ok film eh, maybe I'll skip it. But yeah Finland is also on the todo list! But I'll have to think about what to do and where to go. Winter is coming after all :D

[@silhofn3]

Thanks for video. Really nice.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! I appreciate it ^_^

[@wesailwillow]

Thanks, we will now spend a full day in both cities. Three star? This was a five star video:)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

That's so nice of you! Hope you'll have an awesome time there - I'm definitely going to return to explore both cities more :D

[@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy]

Man, your style to present cities are awesome!! I usually don't like vlogging but you KNOW how to show off the touristic points without showing yourself too much (and when you do that you only say useful informations). Just subbed seeing this video for the 1st time. Keep going! I'd love to see some Barcelona videos of yours or Lisbon :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh wow, thank you so much! That's so nice to hear - and I've been thinking about Barcelona actually. It'd be an awesome excuse for me to go to PortAventura as well :D But that might have to wait until later in the year unfortunately! Cheers!

[@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy]

@@ThreeStarVagabond I've never heard of PortAventura before! Greetings from Brazil! :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@ExplorerOfTheGalaxy Haha I love theme parks so I can understand if it's not something all that common to hear about :D Cheers! Hope you're having better weather than us now!

[@syedshah6392]

awesome to sight

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It really was quite amazing :D

[@raffffff]

I was in those three cities. I reaaaally loved the architecture in Ghent. I hope I get to see the inside of the castle next time 🫶🏻

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yeah, same here! Now I know what places to spend more time on the next time I go there :D

[@garyroberts3859]

Didn’t think Bruges looked that interesting in your video but Ghent looked really interesting

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

That's so interesting - because I just loved the relaxed feeling in Bruges. But glad to hear that opinions differ 😊

[@garyroberts3859]

@@ThreeStarVagabond it was the quality of the buildings you showed. Ghents we’re far more decorative

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@garyroberts3859 Fair enough! Maybe it's just different tastes, or maybe I didn't manage to convey the "feeling" of the places correctly :)

[@aoscariz]

IMO, Bruges is more beautiful and charming then Ghent but Ghent is also amazing and worth visiting.

[@patrickbolin5613]

Another great video provided by Three Star Vagabond!😀 The Belgians are indeed experts in Fre...Belgian Fries and beer! Did you catch any more tours in Brussels or what's that place called?...an ABBA song, oh yes "Waterloo"? 😉

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha, no Napoleon-ending spot for me this time unfortunately. But I did take a day trip to Paris, and I also visited a very ugly town... Stuff that's coming up in the future (when I can be arsed to edit more ;D)

[@Catosphere.]

Very useful. Thank you!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that!

[@midmiddleton163]

The cities look beautiful. The architecture is thought-provoking. The people in the past were master masons Indeed.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Fully agree! It amazes me how people could create such marvelous buildings hundreds or even a thousand years ago sometimes.

[@user-pl6cp6tv6g]

Very interesting.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! :D

[@davidcunningham2074]

an enjoyable journey.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Happy to hear that 😀

[@user-iz8vs5ib3o]

Dude, you are a kick in the pants! A real breath of fresh air. My wife and I loved your video. Be well!!!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Haha, that totally made my day - so happy to hear that. Cheers, and have a great one!

[@galgal8333]

A very wonderful video! And in Belgium they speak Flemish 😄

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! Haha, and ooh right - I really should have known that ^^

[@ChristopherGronlund]

Most of what I know about Belgium is what I've seen through the eyes of a couple online friends who live in Liège. (Oh, and from a foreign exchange student from Belgium I knew in high school.) I didn't know Bruges existed until I saw the movie, In Bruges. I was aware of Gravensteen Castle, but know so little about Ghent. So, I appreciated that you covered the two towns so well...in a day! It's a country I've wanted to visit for a long time...but then, that describes most countries for me 😀

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

This was actually my first time in Belgium. Many people asked why I decided to go there, and I had to admit that part of it was "well, I want to check off one more country" :D But I really had a great time! Especially on this day trip to these spots :D

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@ThreeStarVagabond It looks like it's worth the trip for the Belgian fries museum alone! 🤣

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@ChristopherGronlund Best. Song. Ever. I still have nightmares about that one :D

[@musicfunlax1224]

Liege is actually in another country than Flanders . Hope you get it.

[@ChristopherGronlund]

@@musicfunlax1224 I do. (The person I knew in high school spoke Flemish.) But if I mention Flanders or Wallonia, most people have no idea what I'm talking about because most people just refer to the overall country, Belgium.

[@SergioM-bt6zq]

Great video. I'm planning on visiting both Ghent and Brugges. What time of the year did you go? It seemed like cool weather.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you! I think that was summer actually... Must have been August - but the weather was pretty rainy :/ Still, it was nice despite that!

[@Frahamen]

Actually, if you go from Brussels to Bruges you past Ghent. The rule is if you can stop in between a line and continue later the day, you do not need to buy a new ticket. So buying a train ticket Brussels-Bruges both ways would have been enough.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh! Thank you - that definitely would have made it all a bit better to coordinate. Damn, I had no idea that it worked like that, but it makes perfect sense in retrospect.

[@BIGBEN9999999]

@@ThreeStarVagabond And from friday 7 PM till sunday you can buy a 'weekend ticket' at +/- 50% of the normal price. If there is an official holliday on thursday, friday or monday, this ticket is valid for the extended weekend

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@BIGBEN9999999 That's such a great tip! I guess I never bothered to look up any weekend deals, since I was there on weekdays only. Great information!

[@charlizedejonghe350]

I don’t know how to explain this but I think you took the wrong stop to gent there’s more than one just like in Brussels so you don’t need to take the tram like gent Sint Pieters ,… hope this helps ❤

[@maritesgabaldon3026]

Hi. I'm going to brussels on July. Our first time What tips or advice on transport in the city

[@hinjeyan1]

Thanks!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

And thanks a lot to you too 😀

[@tumarfa]

The setup at that Belgian fries song almost invites one to sing along. And perhaps you did. But somehow forgot to film it? :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha no I was too busy giggling at the weird song! No singing along at all :D

[@JustBeingAwesome]

Gent needs to be experienced in the evening too and ideally in summer :)

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

A good reason for me to return in that case :D

[@chckzchck]

I will be in Brussels for 4 days. Is 2 days enough to explore Brussels and go to Bruges and Ghent for separate day trips. Or should I take 3 days in Brussels and only 1day trip to both Bruges and Ghent like you did. It’s my first time Belgium. Thank you! Great informative video as well as lots of great comments from fellow travelers. Thanks!

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I would say 2 days for Brussels, and then a day each for Ghent and Bruges. I was on a pretty tight schedule, but I really could have spent more time in both of those towns. Brussels is lovely, but I think two days is enough to do everything. Hope you have a great trip there! :D

[@johnorbegozo685]

amazing video whats the name of the company or website to buy train tickets from brussels to ghent???? question what is the station i get off to visit ghent ??? is it st peters??? if i get train tickets with a particular time do i have to come on that exact time or can i catch the next train ???

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Thank you so much! :D The train company is SNCB: www.belgiantrain.be/en Yes, the station in Ghent is called Gent-Sint-Pieters. And no worries about the time - you can catch any train the whole day with that ticket :)

[@johnorbegozo685]

awesome keep up the amazing videos would love to see a video on Antwerp @@ThreeStarVagabond

[@bv2623]

Belgian trains are flexible. No need for reservations etc. The national train company is called NMBS/SNCB (Flemish/French acronym) And as mentioned above, you can travel with one ticket Brussels-Bruges to Gent aswell as it is on the same trajectory. Coming from Brussels by train, best station is Gent-Sint-Pieters as you can hop on two tramlines (1 or 2) to get to the city centre. I prefer the second one as tramline 1 is the one most tourists will take. Oh and if you're travelling in a weekend, the traintickets (simply called weekendticket) are reduced by 50 percent and you can use it for the whole weekend (great if you have booked a hotel for a night).

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@bv2623 Thanks a lot for that extremely useful info :D

[@jigarmistry5570]

I am travelling brussel for 1 day for Luxembourg and Dinant and 1 day for Ghent and brussel, do I need to take return ticket or single ticket is valid for bruge and Ghent and brussel. How to check children ticket for age 4 and 11​. Is tram ticket free or need to take sepearate ticket? In brussel in same day I want to take photo just from outside of Belgium palace and Atonium structure. Which ticket need for local brussel. @@bv2623

[@WavyDane]

your accent is amazing

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha thank you so much! I always thought that I sound like a constipated otter

[@annesarnomcilwrath5260]

What was the beer bar you stopped at?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

It's called Dulle Griet

[@Drago1995]

a Tram in Bruges ? boy you messing up xD the only tram that passes by Bruges is the costal tram with only 5 stops. i also crossed that bridge lots of times and i really love myself and my single free lifestyle ;p

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Oh damn! I think I meant the bus.... I was probably thinking of Ghent. Man, I even walked past the buses on the way.

[@Drago1995]

@@ThreeStarVagabond it's ok Xp, but it would actually be cool if Bruges had a proper Tram network, Courtrai is gonna have a Tram/Bus hybrid in 2030 no tracks needed they could also do it for Bruges.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

@@Drago1995That would be really cool! I really liked Bruges in general, so I think I need to return there next summer. No tram by then of course, but maybe some day...

[@Evan-rb1oh]

im going to be living in Ghent. Could I in theory buy a ticket from brussels to bruges, stop in between at ghent to drop off my luggage first and then go to bruges, and later in the day return from bruges to ghent instead of to brussels with a single ticket?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I'm not an expert but I think you'd need two tickets.... But you can absolutely stop in Ghent on the way to Bruges, on one ticket. But the return might require one more...

[@strange4you]

Both are great towns,,, love them. But you need more than 1 day????

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha yeah, I couldn't choose between them so this was an initial exploration for where to spend more time the next time

[@brincatstrasse]

How much was the boat trip in Bruges?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I think it was like 15 EUR

[@wanneske1969]

I don't see why you would only spend half a day in a city like Ghent. I visit Bremen quite often, which is not bigger than Ghent but I could stay there all week and not having seen everything. For Berlin I'd probably need 3 weeks.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Sounds excellent for your way of traveling then. Good for you!

[@user-gd9mm8cj3s]

What time did you reach Bruges?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Before 9 at least! It's a short ride

[@fitta74]

Are u from Sweden?

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Yes indeed

[@biancamayer197]

Are you by chance related to Bruce Dickinson? Man.. you look like Bruce’s young brother 😅

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

Haha I wish - and I don't see it at all myself 😂

[@user-fu8jk6vv2d]

Bruges and Ghent in one day is an insult for both cities inmy humble opinion.... there is a lot to discover.... For Ghent you need 2 days. If you do all in1 day you tend to visit the main instagrammable, very touristy sites. Also train ticket, you are allowed to step of , for a city in between on the same line for your itinarary if it is on the same day. So a ticket for Brussels to Bruges, allowes you to step of at Gent and get back on if it is the same connection.... so no extra tickets needed. With a wayandback ticket you can actually ,make an intermediary stop to Ghent on you way towards and return from Bruges.

[@ThreeStarVagabond]

I like to see it as a first investigation of both cities, so I know where I want to explore more the next time! That way I won't have to invest time in something that I might end up disappointed with :) But yeah, good point about the train tickets! I wish I had known that...

[@jigarmistry5570]

I am travelling brussel for 1 day for Luxembourg and Dinant and 1 day for Ghent and brussel, do I need to take return ticket or single ticket is valid for bruge and Ghent and brussel. How to check children ticket for age 4 and 11​. Is tram ticket free or need to take sepearate ticket? In brussel in same day I want to take photo just from outside of Belgium palace and Atonium structure. Which ticket need for local brussel.