Mid-range · 6-hour walk · Bruges
The Flemish Primitives and the quiet north-east in six hours
Van Eyck and Memling, the brewery on the Walplein, the old port square, the oldest tavern, the Jerusalem Chapel and the windmills on the ramparts.
Bruges' two great collections of 15th-century painting sit a few hundred metres apart in the south of the old town, and the city's last working brewery is next to them. After lunch the route crosses to the north-east, where the merchants' port square gives way to the quiet Sint-Anna quarter and the windmills on the rampart, and few day-trippers go.
The route, stop by stop
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Groeningemuseum
Six centuries of Flemish and Belgian painting, with the Flemish Primitives at its heart. Jan van Eyck's Madonna with Canon van der Paele (1436) and Hieronymus Bosch's Last Judgement are the pictures to find.
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Sint-Janshospitaal
One of the oldest surviving hospital buildings in Europe, which cared for the sick from the 12th century. Hans Memling's paintings, the St Ursula shrine among them, hang in the old ward, and the 17th-century pharmacy is intact.
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Brouwerij De Halve Maan
A family brewery on the Walplein since 1856, the brewers of Brugse Zot. Since 2016 a 3-kilometre pipeline has carried the beer under the streets to the bottling plant outside the centre; the 45-minute tour climbs to the roof for the view and ends with a beer.
55 min here Walk here → -
Jan van Eyckplein
The old port square where the canal boats unloaded, with a statue of Jan van Eyck in the middle. The Poortersloge, where the merchants met, and the Tolhuis, where tolls were paid, face the water.
15 min here Walk here → -
Café Vlissinghe
Bruges' oldest tavern, serving since 1515 in the Sint-Anna quarter. It is open daily from 11am to 9pm, and only groups can book.
30 min here Walk here → -
Jeruzalemkapel
A 15th-century chapel built by the Adornes family, merchants from Genoa, on the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The black marble tomb of Anselm Adornes and his wife stands in the nave; the chapel is seen with the Adornes Domain museum.
20 min here Walk here → -
Sint-Janshuismolen
A post mill of 1770 on the Kruisvest rampart, still grinding grain and open to visitors in summer. It is one of four windmills left on the rampart, where there were once many more.
20 min here Walk here → -
Kruispoort
The city gate of 1402 at the end of Langestraat, one of four medieval gates left on the ring. Beyond it is Sint-Kruis, the suburb with two of the region's starred restaurants.
10 min here Walk here →
More walks in Bruges
More in Bruges
Every walking route in Bruges, the full Bruges guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.