A cosy Flanders December: Bruges and Ghent

The route

1. #1

   Bruges

   2 nights

   Start in Bruges. The old town is small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes, so two nights lets you walk the canals early, before the day-trippers arrive, and still have an evening at the market on the Markt. Base yourself inside the ring of canals and you will not need a taxi once.

   Where to stay

   • 7.6
     BOUTIQUE B&B / EVERELMUS

     Bruges, Belgium
   • 7.4
     The Herring's Residence

     Bruges, België / Belgique / Belgien
   • 7.4
     Huis Koning B&B

     Bruges, België / Belgique / Belgien
2. #2

   Ghent

   1 nights

   Ghent is twenty-five minutes by direct train, so move here for the last night rather than day-tripping back and forth. It is a student city, livelier after dark than Bruges, and the walk from Sint-Pieters station to the medieval centre along the water is the reason to stay over rather than rush the last train.

   Where to stay

   • 7.1
     Eremyten Hof

     Ghent, België / Belgique / Belgien
   • 7.0
     Villa Emma

     Ghent, België / Belgique / Belgien
   • 7.0
     1898 The Post

     Ghent, Belgium

When to go

December is the point of this route: the markets, the early dark, the lit-up canals. Come in July and you get the same streets under coach-tour crowds and none of the warmth. Late November through the first week of January is the window.