A couple of hours in Bruges from Zeebrugge

A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a last minute short cruise aboard the Disney Dream, travelling from Southampton with a day in Zeebrugge and a day at sea. Zeebrugge is just a busy port, but it's a great cruise stop if you want to visit Bruges or Brussels. We had a lovely day out in Bruges last year, and so we decided to go back and enjoy some sightseeing and a Belgian waffle.

We had an activity on the ship in the morning, so we only had a few hours to spend ashore. Luckily our ship departure time wasn't until very late at 10pm, so we had plenty of contingency for getting back onboard. Last year we took a taxi from the port which was very easy but also quite pricey, so this time we decided to do the journey by train at a fraction of the cost.

It was all very easy. Zeebrugge port offers free shuttle buses from the ship to both the main cruise terminal (where you can pick up a taxi) or to the nearby town of Blankenberge. We had a quick walk around Blankenberge and it was lovely, very busy with plenty of shops and bars and a sandy beach. If you are stopping in Zeebrugge on a cruise you could easily just take advantage of the free shuttle and enjoy yourself here.

The shuttle dropped us just outside the station, and we purchased our train tickets in advance online. It takes just over ten minutes to travel to Bruges, and the main reason that we wanted to take the train was so that we could travel on a double decker train which was very exciting!

Bruges station is central, and you can take a nice walk through the park to reach the centre, passing some beautiful bridges and canals on the way. The main streets of the city were very busy, but there were plenty of quiet streets with beautiful buildings to enjoy.

This year we decided not to do a canal boat tour again, but you can read about how we did it here - A canal tour in Bruges. It's all very well organised. Last year we arrived early to avoid the queues, but the lines didn't look too bad when we went past, and it it's a first trip to Bruges I would definitely recommend it.

We returned to a tried and tested favourite for our waffles - Chez Albert on Breidelstraat located just off the Market Square. It's a takeaway but there are places to sit nearby if you don't mind perching on a wall or in a doorway. The queue was short, the menu was simple, the Belgian flag is a nice touch, the sturdy cutlery very much appreciated, and of course it tasted delicious! 

Breidelstraat is a beautiful street filled with intriguing little shops, and so while the sugar hit from the waffles wore off we had a lovely walk up and down doing some window shopping. Then we made our way back to the station for a train back to Blankenberge, and a return to the Disney magic onboard.