Best Time to Visit Bruges

April to June, September to October

Months to avoid: July to August (peak crowds. Markt impassable on weekends, hotel prices 40% higher)

Recommended stay: 2-3 days

Plan Bruges for April to June, September to October. Give it 2-3 days. The window to avoid is July to August (peak crowds. Markt impassable on weekends, hotel prices 40% higher).

What the season gets you

• The Belfort at 8am before the queues form, 366 steps up a winding staircase, a carillon playing overhead, and rooftops in every direction with no cranes in sight
• Bruges has some of the best beer bars in Belgium. De Garre serves a triple you can only get in this one alley, and half a litre will do the job
• Cycling out of the city gates into the flat Flemish polder, windmills, cows, no traffic, is 30 minutes from the Markt and feels like a different century