Planes, trains & automobiles

When you’re visiting Bruges by car, finding a parking spot can be a problem. There are a lot of car parks (‘parking’) inside the center of the city, but for one day you’ll pay €8.70 in each one (http://www.interparking.be). That’s expensive! Parking on the side of the streets is even more of a problem. First problem is finding a spot. Once you have located one and parked, you must go and pay. This can be done with cash (on a ticketmachine, and you must place your ticket behind your frontwindow) or through texting with your phone. Only problem here is that you’re limited to maximum 2 hours! And it’ll cost you €2,80 for those two hours. Again… not the best solution.

There is something we Belgians use, called a “blue disc” (blauwe schijf, just translated, you can buy this in some newspaper shops, such as ‘Standaard Boekhandel’). With this you can park for free for a 4-hour maximum, but only in certain areas in the city. And, they check them very often! Yes, parking guards roam the city in search for violators! The fine for parking without paying or exceeding the time on the ticket is €25 per ½ day. So, if you’re really unlucky and parked in the morning, you can get two fines for that day. I had a Russian dude with a ticket. He’ll be receiving his fine shortly at home. Yep, even as tourist, they send the ticket to your house.

My advice: if you’re with a car, go to the car park at the train station. They have room for 1498 cars, it’s the biggest of Bruges. It’s €3,50 to leave your car there for the entire day, so it’s by far the cheapest. And with the ticket you can use the bus to the center for FREE. Everyone in the car can use the bus for free, to a maximum of 5 persons. Just go from the car park to the train station next to it. Show your ticket to the desk where they sell the tickets for the busses (called ‘De Lijn’, it’s in front of the station) and they’ll give you a free bus ticket. Then you just take the number 12, or any other bus which has ‘centrum’ on the front. The center busses stop next to the ticket booth. You’ll see it’s the place where most of the people are waiting.

 

Now if you’re staying in Ghent or Brussels (or arrived by plane in Zaventem), the best way to come to Bruges is by train. A ticket from Ghent is €6,30 (+12y), from Brussels it’s €13,80 (+12y).  Four kids under 12 can go free with each paying adult. But if you are many, it's maybe cheaper to buy a ‘railpass’. These are 10 single journeys from and to anywhere in Belgium. This costs 76 Euro and is valid for 1 year. (For example, if you are coming from Brussels with a party of 5, it’s better you buy this card, and you can share it to go to Bruges and back to Brussels, and you’re much cheaper off.) It’s one hour from Brussels to Bruges, from Ghent it’s half an hour. You arrive in the station of Bruges (there’s only one, no worries on that), you can walk into the center (15 minute walk), or take a bus (€2 if you buy it on the bus, €1,30 if you get it in advance at the ticket booth).

 

More info on trains and busses can be found on www.belgianrail.be (trains) and www.delijn.be (busses).