It was love at first sight for me when I visited Bruges. It’s a photographers dream; houses hang over calm canals, and gothic masterpieces tower over pristine squares. These are unquestionably the photos of Bruges that define the city for me.
From the moment I disembarked the train I knew without a doubt why I had long wished to visit Brugge. Time seems to have paused here with much of the buildings still medieval. The canals help it earn its Venice of the North reputation. Around each corner are more elaborate facades, and ever cuter step gable houses. Unique architecture is its speciality, from its town hall to its churches.
The city is a masterpiece and it undoubtedly ranks as the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is in essence an open air museum, one that’s free to walk and take in its sights at your liberty. When night falls on Bruges it takes on a new appearance, as lights illuminate the canals. Be sure to continue your tour after dark, and appreciate its other side.
This is my valentines week post, so its the perfect time to celebrate my love for this perfect city. I hope you appreciate my 50 photos of Bruges.
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My 50 photos of Bruges
Streets of Bruges
Houses of Bruges
Unique Buildings of Bruges
Canals of Bruges
Night Photos of Bruges
Bruges is a great city to visit throughout the year. I visited in winter and it was glorious as you can see. For my full in depth guide to visiting Bruges, please check my Travel Guide to Bruges.
If you liked my blog, and are feeling a little more partial to visiting Brussels, then please like or share.
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64 Responses
It is beautiful indeed and looks like a photographer’s paradise. Thanks for sharing, John. Allan
Thank you Allan. I was indeed in my element. Such an aesthetic place. I was delighted how some of my photos came out. Thanks for dropping by.
It looks beautiful, I am planning a trip there soon any tips where to stay and do?
I’ll be writing a post in the next week on that if you can wait. If not half the beauty is just walking the canals. I enjoyed the hike up the belfry, and a visit to the city hall is a must. I can’t recommend where to stay as my hotel was awful and the heating didn’t work. But the city is small so location isn’t a big thing.
Perfect we plan to go at the of Feb so I will wait for your post, thanks! Sorry to hear about your hotel🙀
That’s what you get when you pay €52 for a hotel with breakfast. But the breakfast was good
🙀😀
Completely agree with your sentiments about Brugges! We only had a couple of nights there but I’m already trying to figure out how to get back there. Did you visit any Almshouses? (Godhuis)
I had the same time. Do you mean the Begijnhof? I was in that area but nothing seemed open. See something I missed, I’m going to have to go back now 😁
All I can say is awesome.😊
Thanks Mark. A few of those came out as I hoped
So beautiful. 🙂 I like Bruges as well.
Thanks Lynette. It seems to be a well loved city.
Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. Such an awesome place to photograph.
Some really amazing shots. Looks like the earlybird caught the golden hour magic – or is it the magic hour gold?
Oh they were evening shots, I don’t really do mornings. Some of the shots came out really well so I thought it was worthy of its own blog.
John, I can see why you fell in love with Bruges! Your photos are just incredible! I think my favorite is the photo at night with the reflection! This certainly was a fantastic photo journey!
Thank you Sharon. I was proud of how the photos came out, the years of practice start to show dividend. I love the night shot too but it took me some time to work that one without a tripod. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Beautiful place. I’d like to visit it and other areas of Belgium, and drink lots of delicious Belgian beers. Hopefully that will happen. See you!
Neil Scheinin
Thanks Neil. I’m sure you could unearth some wonderful stories were you to find yourself in Belgium. Thanks. John
Incredible photos. I visited Belgium as a newbie traveler and managed to forget my camera and an adaptor to charge my phone. Not ideal when we took a daytrip to Bruges and I left with virtually no photos! Long overdue a return and this has tempted me to make it sooner rather than later!
I have the same issues with Paris, Pompeii, Croatia and a list of places the length of my arm. All of which I want to return to. It’s a great excuse for you to return to Bruges, not that you particularly need one. It’s a great place.
Absolutely, rarely need any excuse to go anywhere haha. Hopefully you’ll get back to Paris, Pompeii and Croatia at some point! 🙂
Wow, such a beautiful place. I can see why you could not wait to share it with the world! This year Belgium has really captured my interest and I would really love to visit it as soon as possible.
You should. Add in Ghent and Antwerp if you have the time and some of those castles littered around the place. I didn’t but would love to go back to see them
It’s incredibly beautiful 😻
It is. A gorgeous city. It’s well worth visiting too with something for everyone
I loved Bruges!! *insert dreamy sigh and googly heart eyes here* Beautiful photos, can’t wait to read your post about it!
I’m a bit slow getting the post together, but it will get there. Were you there this winter on your European trip? I’ve yet to talk to someone who didn’t like the place.
Some really amazing shots here!! Bruges is such a beautiful city and you have managed to capture the serenity that exists there perfectly. Looking through these really makes me want to go back.
Adam @ roamingirishman.com
Thanks Adam. That word- serenity, really captures the place. I’d love to bring the missus back, she was in Hungary while I was here. Thanks for dropping by
We went to Ghent and thought about doing a day trip to Bruges but never did. Really regret that now! Looks like we’ll have to book ourselves a trip this year. Your beautiful pictures do it justice I’d imagine!
The place lives up to the pictures. I have the same regrets about not having time for Ghent, but that’s how it goes. I would like to see Bruges in Spring or Autumn I think the colour of both seasons would really make it more magical. Just a suggestion.
Wow, I can totally see why you fell in love with Bruges! Love ’em all, but my favorite photos are of the city with changing skies, the reflections on the many waterways, the swans, the bridges and the night shots! You’ve inspired me to go. By the way, how was the chocolate? Or did you just photograph a chocolate shop? Can’t wait for your guide, thanks for sharing these photos in the meantime!
How could I not eat chocolate. One of the first things I did was get a mint chocolate marshmallow, that was exquisite. I then tried what was supposedly the world’s best truffle, but it wasn’t. The truffles I took home through were incredible. But the waffles beat everything in my opinion. So I ate a lot of them. The guide is on its way. Slowly.
How many waffles, exactly?🤔😆
Is 2 a day a lot
Lol I love it. It was RESEARCH
I agree. Without proper research I can’t give a definite opinion in my blog.
Amazing, simply wonderful!!!
Thank you. You are so kind.
Such beautiful photos! Bruges is such an incredible place, I definitely fell in love with it when I visited!
I just had a read of your Bruges blog. Very enjoyable. I think I was blessed in that the city was quiet for my visit, but it’s an easy place to fall in love with. Thanks for reading
So beautiful. Thanks for showing us the heart of this city. I think I need to go there, too!
You are welcome. I highly advise a trip if you can.
So beautiful 🙂
Wow, these photos are absolutely stunning! I can see why you fell in love with the place, buildings are beautiful and it’s looks so peaceful! I especially loved the colours in the evening shots, the sky’s look incredible! You have defo inspired me into taking a trip to Bruges in the future.
Thanks Louise. It’s a real beautiful city and I was happy to do it justice. I highly recommend you to visit if you can. I’ve yet to meet anyone who didn’t love it.
WOW! I’m ready to pack my bags up! Love these photos!
The city makes photography child’s play. No fancy tricks it looks this good and there is plenty to do. Thanks for reading
I love looking at the stone and brick architecture. The canals put everything over the top. My favorite photo is the one overlooking everything with the orange casting from the sun. Superb!
It’s a real beautiful city to look at. The light gave me some fine opportunities over my visit which I gleefully took. Thanks for reading
Beautiful photos! Bruges has long been on my list but I think I may have to move it up! 🙂
Thanks so much. It was on my list a long time too but I’m glad I finally made it happen. I could go back in a heartbeat.
Your photos are stunning! I will have to check out Bruges 🙂
You must. It’s an absolutely super city. Thank you for stopping by. John
cracking blog mate and the photos are superb, Vicky is desperate to get to Bruges so its on the list of places to visit.. thanks for sharing !
You will have to take her. It looks even better in real life.
This is the great post that I kept seeing run across Pinterest. I love all of your pictures. We did a combined trip to Belgium and Germany for a week for the Christmas Markets. Sadly, we made it just to Brussels, which I loved, but not Bruges. I would have liked to stay longer around Brussels and also head to Bruges. Next time, though. We have friends in the Netherlands so we are thinking that we need to do the Netherlands one spring for the tulips (we went to Amsterdam in the winter), drop back into Belgium, and also sneak into Luxembourg. I thought the combination of the French and Dutch influence was pretty special too.
Sorry completely missed this in my comments Christine. Don’t know how i did. Its a shame you didn’t make Bruges, but your plan to combine with Holland and Luxembourg is a perfect one (incidentally I am writing a guide on the Dutch Tulip fields now). You will inevitably love Bruges (I have no idea how someone couldn’t). Again sorry for missing this, it’s getting ever more difficult to stay on top of everything.
No need to apologize at all! Sometimes I am days behind on comments, and they easily get eaten on WP reader. I cannot wait to see your tulip pictures. My friends that live there think we are crazy for wanting to see them, but you don’t get tulips in FL.
That was a bucket list thing for me. Who wouldn’t want to see tulips. Then again people come to Ireland to see how green it is. Wait no I like to see that too. Don’t get your friends. 😉