“In Bruges” is the name of a dark humor movie I’ve seen some years back. At the same time, it planted a seed in my mind that I need to visit Brugge. One of the biggest and most well preserved medieval city centers in Europe. Actually, town center, because, while the historical component of Brugge is impressive, the place itself has merely more than 120K inhabitants. This is, even for Belgium’s standards, a rather small place. But to me, this was the main objective to first see in Belgium, as, for example, I am not thrilled to go in Bruxelles or Antwerp, for reasons I don’t want to detail now. However, Brugge is a totally different story.
Why Brugge, and not Bruges
You might wonder why I’m using two name versions for the same place, and the reason is quite simple. Being located in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, Brugge is the right spelling, while Bruges is the French version. Now, the movie is named after the French variant, and so is the… marathon! Don’t really understand why, but must comply to be accurate. Especially that the marathon was the main trigger to finally arrive in Brugge. I found this by accident, while scrolling on Strava, in 2025. I saw the map and instantly knew it is the best reason.
In Brugge, thru Charleroi airport
In our many trips during a year, this needed to be squeezed as efficient as possible, so we opted for a Saturday – Monday mid-October experience. The marathon being scheduled for Sunday. I need to be efficient in scheduling, because I want to enjoy as much as possible the place, outside the marathon schedule. Not easy, but we find a direct Ryanair flight to Charleroi, and from there a 2 hour bus ride facilitates our trip. In a period when Europe boils with protests and riots, we make the best of this, even if we were about to miss the return flight.
Try hotel Maraboe and De Vlaamsche Pot, they worth it
Running helps you also move crazy fast in airports, when needed, and ensure you make the best of narrow time gaps at hand. In any case, back to the marathon. Our accommodation, Hotel Maraboe, is 50 meters from the start, so this facilitates our movement. It is in the city center, close to everything. An impressive number of restaurants wind Brugge. It is not by chance, given how the town looks like, and the lucky pick is De Vlaamsche Pot. Not necessary great graded on Google, we did guarantee for the location, as it has great Flemish dishes. The prices are a bit spicy, but the service and food are top notch.
Bruges marathon, an experience a runner should have
We stick to it for the other day also, after the marathon. Running the Bruges Marathon opens a lot of perspectives. Even more if you move at a steady pace, as steady as it allows you to explore bit of one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. The first evening is indicative, the heavy lifting in terms of exploring comes after the marathon. But I am lucky that I can make a great idea about what Brugge and its surroundings look like, while running the marathon. It is hard to explore such a big surface by foot, in such a small time frame. However, running a marathon has its advantages.
A lot of cobblestone in medieval Brugge
Being a medieval town, Brugge is full of cobblestone, and when you run on it, it takes its toll and it becomes an immersive experience. Luckily, the 8-9 kilometers of cobblestone are split in two rather even pieces, at the beginning and end, so the impact is not as severe as it could be. In between, there is a crazy flat surface, mainly under giant trees. The thing I noticed about Belgium is that they put a lot of vegetation near highways, and so where people can go for a walk and bike. Before kilometer 15, when I am still bright green, and don’t feel the effort too much, we enter a small village near the main town, and enjoy the local flavor. Well, visually, but it still counts.
A decent marathon, and some time for exploration
Fast forward, the marathon experience arranged my thoughts in how we should approach Brugge the hours after the run. I feel good after the marathon. With 3:23:18 it is an average time for me, but it offers me enough energy to keep going. The next hours are destined to a 11 kilometers walk. Brugge is really big, when it comes to medieval heritage! It is amazing, and you can find chocolate all over. Of course we buy some, as the price is not bothering. On the contrary, if you compare it with Swiss chocolate is basically negligible.
Beer tasting at Bourogne des Flanders, a must do
Apart from seeing the town and enjoy some local gastronomy we can squeeze in few other things. But Belgian beer is a must taste, so then we took our chance at Bourogne des Flanders. I am not sure if it is the best, but it is the first recommendation we got, and alongside some cold food, the beer goes in splendidly. I really like it, but tasting six types of beer, even being small, can have some impact after a rough four hour physical effort. The dizziness disappears rather quick, so we can continue to cruise thru the town.
Streets of Brugge
We are lucky and get a beautiful afternoon, then the extended walk is even more pleasant. One strange thing you can see in the medieval part of Brugge is that some streets can be packed with people, bustling, while some, few meters away, are completely empty. I can’t understand why, because their patterns are so similar. It looks like one of the multiple charms of the place, something you don’t need to investigated, let alone explained.
Narrow time window to arrive at the airport for our flight back
The day is complete, our comprised mission of running and exploring merges perfectly, now we think of the departure. Belgium, like most Europe, goes through some strikes, and the trains are not working on our departure. This is a problem, because I could book only the 12:30 bus, meaning we will arrive in Charleroi airport only 1 hour and 10 minutes before the departure. Quite narrow, but that is the best we could get.
Unlocked bikes in Brugge, like a lot of them!
Before embarking, another quiet walk in a crisp and sunny morning inside the downtown, to learn how things are moving on a Monday late morning. What is seem very odd is that bikes, most of them, are not locked! It is really a first I see in my travel. Let me be clear: while Amsterdam, Zürich or Copenhagen are very well known for the number of bicycles from their streets, the density in Brugge is huge. It basically looks like all people are circulating on bikes, so you need to be careful.
Highway jammed, our flight at huge risk
In a Monday morning, those rest in front of buildings, unlocked. It is such a pleasant view, which restores a lot of faith in humanity. Small details can often be big triggers in one’s mind. Anyway, done with the final walk, we need to take our two hours ride to Charleroi airport, but there is a huge problem. Our bus arrives at 12:15, but it seems it should have arrived one hour earlier, because some traffic jam on the highway. A three+ line highway surrounded by trees is not always enough in times of strike.
Ryanair was minutes away from departing without us!
The huge problem: driver needs at least 45 minutes of rest, then we will leave 30 minutes later, which will cut up the time until our departure to 40 minutes! It is so narrow, we are afraid to miss our flight back. The bus arrives at 15:05, and we speed to the security check: three out of four luggage pieces are checked. It is a first, and at the most unproper moment. We manage to take together the belongings, and run towards boarding. We are called, and manage to catch the plane in the last moment. Being runners, sometime pays off, because you can easily move in limit circumstances. As stated above, before getting into details.
Charleroi airport, so different comparing to what Brugge has to offer
Charleroi airport was not the best experience, naming the fact it is the only one I’ve been in which charges money to go to the toilet! And the toilets, even in these circumstances, are not as clean as they should / can be. Indeed, that is a detail, but the exacerbation from the security check reinforced our mild disgust for the place. At least the security guys understood our hurry, and didn’t challenged us harder. Charleroi doesn’t look to have nothing in common with Brugge, maybe this is why Brugge is considered so special in Belgium.
“In Bruges”, finally “explained”
Maybe it is a paradox, but this was my 30th country visited. I am not necessary tracking these down at an obsession level, especially I usually visit in depth some countries, while some I prefer to have only glances. Brugge was a condensed visit, but one full of flavor, and for a runner this can really be considered a running event which can enhance, without any problem, a marathon personal best. Now I fully understand the idea behind “In Bruges” movie. It was maybe meant to show us the beauty of the town, even if one of the hit men labeled it as “shithole”. It is not the case, for sure. Brugge really is wonderful and the pics sustain better the statement!
