Your itinerary
Day 1
Arrival in Bruges
Arrival in Bruges – Upon arrival in Lille, we travel by coach to your hotel in the heart of Bruges for three nights in the old town.
Day 2
Bruges
Bruges – After breakfast we take a guided walk to discover the highlights of this alluring city. We begin in its medieval heart, the Markt, which has served as the main market square since the 10th century. Towering 272 feet over the colourful gabled buildings framing the square is the Belfry and its 47-bell carillon.
This afternoon you’ll have the opportunity to climb the 366 steps to the top, the reward being a breath-taking view of Bruges and the Flanders countryside extending beyond. We also visit two other notable buildings in the Burg, the city’s second main square – the elegant Gothic Stadhuis (Town Hall) and the 18th-century law courts – plus the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Another must-see is the Church of Our Lady, which houses Michelangelo’s beautiful white marble sculpture, Madonna and Child.
The remainder of the day is free for you to explore. The Groeningemuseum and Sint-Janshospitaal are home to sublime works of art and you can find museums dedicated to Belgium’s holy trinity of beer, chocolate and frites. You can take a boat tour of the canals so you can see the city from a waterside perspective, or find a café and enjoy watching the world go by.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 3
Ypres, Passchendaele & Tyne Cot cemetery
Ypres, Passchendaele & Tyne Cot cemetery – Late morning, for those interested, a coach leaves Bruges to visit Ypres and nearby Great War battlefields. Alternatively, you can simply choose to remain in Bruges to spend your time as you please.
The battlefield tour centres on Ypres, which was almost flattened during the First World War as Allied and German forces fought for control of this strategically important town. The countless lives lost are remembered with a moving ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial each evening at 8pm.
You can also visit the Passchendaele Memorial Museum, which shines a light on some of the darkest days of the Great War. During the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917, over 500,000 troops died in just three months as the Allies attempted to take the village of Passchendaele. We visit the bunkers, craters and trench sites of this monumentally bloody battle.
The day concludes with a visit to the world’s largest Commonwealth cemetery at Tyne Cot, its sea of 11,961 graves reflecting the First World War’s staggering loss of life. Returning to Bruges in the late afternoon, you cannot fail to be touched by the sights and sounds of this unforgettable trip back in time.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 4
Return Eurostar
Return Eurostar – Belgian chocolates are known as the finest in the world, and this morning we visit one of the few establishments in Bruges where they are still made by hand. During the demonstration you’ll learn all about this artisanal craft, including the top-quality ingredients that are used and the techniques involved in making these delicious luxuries.
Later, a coach returns you to nearby Lille for an afternoon Eurostar service back to London St Pancras International.
Meals: Breakfast
What’s included
What’s not included
Additional information
Artisan Chocolatier Demonstration in Bruges
Visit one of Bruges’ last traditional workshops to watch a live chocolatier demonstration. Smell warm cocoa and caramel as tempered chocolate ribbons across marble, forming glossy shells for finest Belgian pralines crafted with classic ganaches and nut pastes.
Learn how beans are roasted and conched on the journey from bean to bonbon, and hear how Belgium’s praline tradition took shape in the early 20th century. Discover why precise tempering creates that signature snap and sheen, and gain tips for distinguishing single-origin flavors and artisanal techniques.
Belfry of Bruges Tower Climb
Climb the 366-step Belfry for a visceral ascent through Bruges’ medieval watchtower. Pass the drum room of the 47-bell carillon before emerging to windswept views, where red rooftops, church spires, and lacework canals spread in every direction.
Learn how this 13th-century tower once guarded city charters and watched for fire, then savor panoramic views over Bruges and the flat Flanders countryside beyond. This is an optional experience available at additional cost and arranged locally on tour, subject to weather and capacity.
Bruges Canal Boat Cruise
Cruise Bruges’ canals aboard low-slung boats that slip under stone arches and past gabled warehouses mirrored in the water. See hidden gardens, swans gliding through reed-fringed channels, and weathered quays that speak to the city’s trading past.
Hear skippers share tales of guilds, merchants, and painters that shaped this “Venice of the North”, while cameras capture angles only visible from the waterline. This is an optional experience available at additional cost and arranged locally on tour, typically offered during daylight hours.
De Halve Maan Brewery Tour & Tasting
Tour the working brewhouse at De Halve Maan Brewery, where gleaming copper brew kettles perfume the air with malt and hops. Walk catwalks above the vats and trace centuries of Bruges brewing tradition in atmospheric museum rooms.
Discover the family-run story behind Brugse Zot and the innovative underground beer pipeline that carries beer from the city center to the bottling plant. Most visits conclude with a guided tasting. This is an optional experience available at additional cost and arranged locally on tour.
Passchendaele Memorial Museum Entry (Zonnebeke)
Deepen your battlefield visit at the Passchendaele Memorial Museum, where immersive galleries chart the 1917 offensive and its staggering toll. Walk reconstructed trenches and dugouts to sense the claustrophobic conditions of the Western Front.
Personal stories, artifacts, and maps illuminate the Third Battle of Ypres from strategy to survival, placing the landscape outside into sobering context. This is an optional museum entry available at additional cost and arranged locally on tour during the battlefield excursion.
In Flanders Fields Museum Entry (Ypres Cloth Hall)
Visit In Flanders Fields Museum inside the Cloth Hall of Ypres, where multimedia exhibits, personal testimonies, and period artifacts trace the war’s impact on soldiers and civilians alike.
Learn how the Gothic Cloth Hall—rebuilt after the First World War—symbolizes the city’s resilience, and explore interactive displays that bring the Ypres Salient to life with maps, soundscapes, and film. This is an optional museum entry available at additional cost and arranged locally on tour during your time in Ypres.
Ypres Battlefields Remembrance Tour & Tyne Cot Cemetery
Join a guided battlefield tour across the Ypres Salient to understand the human cost of the First World War. Reflect at the Menin Gate Memorial, where the names of the missing fill the stone arches, and survey the gently rolling fields that once formed the mud-churned Passchendaele battlefields.
Visit Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery, where white headstones stretch across Flanders. Your Tour Manager shares context on the 1917 offensive and Ypres’ near destruction, with time to pause for photos and reflection. Museum entries in Ypres or Zonnebeke can be added locally at your own expense.
Bruges Historic Walking Tour: Markt, Burg & Basilica of the Holy Blood
Explore Bruges’ UNESCO-listed core on a guided walking tour, where the Markt and Belfry frame gabled guildhouses and the bell music of a 47-bell carillon drifts across the square. Stroll cobbled lanes beside still canals and hump-backed bridges that reveal the city’s medieval grace at every turn.
Admire the civic grandeur of Burg Square and Stadhuis before stepping into the dim, jewel-like Basilica of the Holy Blood, linked to a revered relic. Gaze up at the lace-like tower of the Church of Our Lady, home to Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child, as your Tour Manager traces Bruges’ rise on textile wealth and Hanseatic trade.
