Things to do in Bruges today and this weekend

Climb the Belfry on the Markt, walk to the Burg and the Basilica of the Holy Blood, and take a half-hour canal boat from near the Rozenhoedkaai. After lunch see Michelangelo's Madonna in the Church of Our Lady and walk through the Beguinage to the Minnewater. In the evening there is a concert at the Concertgebouw or the Cactus Club.

Go museum-hopping: the Groeningemuseum, the Gruuthusemuseum, St John's Hospital and the Church of Our Lady are a few steps apart, and the Musea Brugge Card gets you into all of them for 72 hours. The rainy-day page lists what is indoors, with what is on there next.

The Christmas markets on the Markt and the Simon Stevinplein are open from 20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027: Sunday to Thursday 11:00–22:00, Friday and Saturday until 23:30, and on New Year's Eve until 3:00.

Yes: IJsgloed, a covered ice rink in the Koning Albert I-park, is open from 20 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, every day from 10:00 to 22:00 (Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve until 17:30, Christmas Day and New Year's Day from 12:00). A ticket costs €9; children up to 3 skate free.

Take a canal boat (children aged 4 to 11 pay €9), go to the Christmas fair on 't Zand (until 30 December 2026) or the ice rink in the Koning Albert I-park, or explore the Concertgebouw Circuit, open at weekends and in the school holidays. In spring the Meifoor fills 't Zand with rides.

The Eiermarkt, just off the Markt, is the square of cafés and terraces where students and locals stay late. The Langestraat has brown cafés, De Vuurmolen on the Kraanplein has DJs, and the Cactus Club near the station has concerts and club nights.

Walking costs nothing: the Markt, the Burg, the Rozenhoedkaai, the Minnewater and the Beguinage are free, and so are the Christmas markets. In summer Brugge Centraal has a free concert on the Burg and the Benenwerk dance party, and from 24 April to 5 September 2027 the Triennial's art trail is free.

On Thursday 6 May 2027, Ascension Day. It leaves the Dijver at 14:30 and closes at the Burg at 17:30; it takes about an hour and a half to pass any point of the route.