Since we were staying in Bruges for 5 days, and Bruges isn’t really all that big, we decided to see some of the countryside, which I had read was beautiful. We hired a private guide, Xavier Meurisse, via Trip Advisor, and he led us on an all day bike ride. We rented e-bikes, which was a really good idea since we biked about 22 miles overall. Now bear in mind, e-bikes came with a little trepidation, as we have never used one, and neither of us have been on a bike in at least 10 years. Suffice it to say, we are now big fans of e-bikes!
We started off in Bruges by the concert hall, and rode around the perimeter of what was once the ramparts of the city. Here we are stopped at one of the city gates. There are 4 original gates remaining. This one is called Kruispoort Gate, and dates back to 1401. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Napoleon and the German army all entered Bruges through this gate. Not at the same time…wouldn’t that have been interesting though? Kind of like a Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure moment!
Along the old rampart area are 4 historic windmills. This is the last one that’s operational, and it was running while we were there. It turned out to be a pretty windy day, which made us VERY glad to have e-bikes.
Our guide Xavier explained to us that the idea to build canals to Bruges dates back to 1134, when a huge storm pushed out tons of silt and opened up access to the ocean. To maintain that access they ended up digging canals. The original canals were not straight at all, but along came Napolean and some engineers and he straightened them out. The canals are lined with trees, and make for a beautiful sight.
More windmills in the countryside.
We arrived at the city of Damme and parked the bikes for a walking tour. Damme was the “port” for Bruges in the 13th century, where ships were unloaded onto small barges for trans-shipment to complete their journey. Below is the town hall, with a statue of Jacob van Maerlant, an important 13th century poet and author who lived and wrote here. Because of his influence the little town has become known as “book town”. It might also have to do with the lack of internet access?
We visited the ruins of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (say that 3 times fast…hell, I can’t say it once!) church, which started construction in 1225. The portion that is in ruins was due to a lack of maintenance after Damme had a large population drop, requiring them to demolish a portion in 1725.
Xavier pointed out storks living in the middle of the town. We saw no bundled up babies anywhere, so that rumor is officially debunked.
These guys love storks so much they build them their own nests!
The canal as it stretches away from Damme towards our lunch destination, Sluis, Holland. Yes, we actually crossed the border into Holland!
Along the bike path are these cool Virtual Reality stations where you can view what the area looked like in the 13th century. They are free of charge and very interesting and informative.
We crossed the border between Belgium and Holland numerous times. You could see the border identified by these black and white markers.
Our ride ended up along the beach of Knokke-Heist, a coastal city with a lot of high end cars, even several Tesla’s. We took the train from here back to Bruges. I’d forgotten what it was like to be “saddle sore”! Despite the pain in the ass, it was still an excellent trip with Xavier. He led us on bike trails that we would not have found otherwise, and if we had found them we’d still be trying to figure our way out.
I can highly recommend this trip, particularly if you want to get away from the tourism for the day. Rather than use Trip Advisor, I suggest you use his website. Let him know Chris and Kim sent you! I don’t think that will get you anything other than a blank stare, but it’s worth a try!