2015 marks my first Winter Christmas… and it’s been amazing! The Northern Hemisphere does Christmas well. There are fairy lights everywhere, christmas carols, christmas jumpers, ice skating rinks, winter wonderland and lets not forget christmas markets! Last weekend me and my friends went to Brugge for their Christmas Markets and it did not disappoint.

Brugge (also known as Venice of the North) is an idyllic town. In fact the whole town has been a World Heritage Site since 1998.  To get to Brugge we joined First Festival (a tour company) who took us from London to Dover (via bus), Dover to Callais (via ferry) and Callais to Brugge (via bus). We left at 7am on Saturday morning and arrived about 3pm.

Once we arrived we checked into Hotel Ibis which was nice and central (only a 15 minute walk from the centre of the town). Plans for the evening included strolling around the Christmas Markets which are based in the Markt (Market Square). The market was quaint and not over run with tourists like I imagined. We indulged in gluh wein (mulled wine), frites, waffles, hot dogs and beignets. Once we had finished exploring/stuffing our faces we settled into a cute restaurant and had some Belgian beer – the very popular Juliper. We then met up with the rest of the tour group and had a few more beers at Cafe Picks.

On Day two we did some more exploring. Activities included:

• A canal cruise – this was about half an hour long and cost about 8 euro.
• A walk up to the top of the Belfry – the bell tower which is situated in the Markt. Here you will get a great view of Brugge. It costs around 8 euro. You have to climb over 300 narrow steps to get to the top…
• A walk around the Begijnhof – a pretty cluster of historic houses (these are the white houses you see below).

I would definitely recommend a trip to Brugge. It is such a beautiful town. I didn’t find the trip too rushed – one full day in Brugge is all you need as everything is so close together.