A Bruges city break by train

Bruges is the one destination on this list where the journey is genuinely part of the argument. There is no Bruges airport. You take the Eurostar, which means no airport transfer at either end, no 4am alarm, and a city centre to city centre trip of about three and a half hours.

Getting there, and the mistake to avoid

London St Pancras to Brussels-Midi takes 1h 53m. From there it is just over an hour on a Belgian domestic train to Brugge. A single "Any Belgian Station" ticket covers both legs, so you are not booking two journeys.

Check which train you board at Brussels. Services to Bruges that route via Kortrijk take about 45 minutes longer than those going via Gent. Same destination, same ticket, materially different afternoon. Two direct trains an hour run at weekends.

From Brugge station it is a 20-minute walk to the Markt, or a €3 De Lijn bus that runs every five minutes and covers an hour of unlimited travel.

When to go

Winter, and specifically after Christmas. January is the quietest month of the year here and the cheapest — with one caveat worth taking seriously: some galleries and attractions reduce hours or close entirely in January, so check what you want to see is open before booking.

The Christmas market runs 20 November to 3 January, and Wintergloed — the winter light installations — carries on until 14 February, which makes late January and early February a genuinely good window: lights still up, crowds gone, prices down.

Summer is the opposite in every respect. June to August is the most crowded and most expensive, and Bruges is a small city that feels it.

How long to give it

Two nights. Bruges is compact to the point of being walkable in an afternoon, and its great quality — the quiet once the day-trippers leave — only reveals itself if you stay the night. A third night is for Ghent.

Where to stay

Historic centre

Inside the canal loop, around the Markt and the Burg. Walkable to everything, full of small hotels, and busy until the evening trade thins out. Parking is a genuine problem if you have driven.

Sint-Anna

Ten minutes' walk from the Markt, residential, canals and windmills, almost no tourists. Limited for eating and shopping, which is the trade.

Ezelstraat

Bohemian, student-ish, vintage shops and galleries, and the most affordable rooms in the city without being far out.

Stationsbuurt

The station district. Chain hotels, lower rates, twenty minutes' walk in, and handy for the Beguinage and Minnewater Park. Functional rather than lovely.

What two nights costs

Mid-range rooms run around €130 a night, with three-star averages nearer £116. Reported daily spending for a mid-range traveller lands around €80–100 per person including the room, or roughly €45–85 for everything else.

What things cost: a standard pint €3, a Trappist €5–9, an espresso €1, street waffle €2–5, fries with mayonnaise €3.50, lunch €8–14, dinner €15–25, moules-frites €20–30.

Sights: the Belfry climb around €14–15, the Groeningemuseum €14, a canal boat €12, the Halve Maan brewery tour €16 with a beer included. If you intend to do three or more museums, the 72-hour Musea Brugge Card at €49 (€37 under 26) pays for itself quickly.

On the cheapest month: the aggregators disagree — one says January, another March, another early November. They are scraping different inventory. Treat winter broadly as the cheap season rather than trusting any single month.