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This is part 2 of 3 of my impromptu trip to Belgium. (Yes, I’m dragging this out into a trilogy—consider it the Lord of the Waffles series.) In this post (I promise it’ll be short), I’ll be sharing my visit to two must-visit Belgian cities: Brugge and Gent.

Since I have the historical knowledge of a goldfish, I decided to join a tour just to absorb some history—before promptly forgetting it all. I booked through the GetYourGuide app, which was super easy to use. It cost around 38 euros, including transportation. Not a bad deal, considering that’s roughly the price of two Belgian waffles and a fancy coffee. We met at Brussels Central Station and hopped on a bus to Brugge. The scenery on the way? Pretty uneventful. Honestly, you’re better off taking a nap.

Brugge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which means all the buildings are preserved in their original medieval charm—no modern renovations allowed. It’s a small town, but it’s packed with history. The tour guide explained a lot, but thanks to my goldfish memory, I’ve already forgotten everything. I do recall, however, that Brugge is full of historical buildings, cathedrals (because what’s a European city without a cathedral?), charming squares, and peaceful parks.

There’s also a castle, which I could have visited, but the tour itself already took an hour and a half, and we only had another hour and a half to explore the city. So instead of playing medieval knight, I decided to stroll around the city square and hunt for souvenirs. Fun fact: Brugge also has a ridiculous number of bars. If you enjoy a drink, this is a great place to indulge. (For the record, I don’t drink alcohol—just in case my mum is reading this.)

Brugge is also known as the Venice of the North, which is a fancy way of saying, “We have canals too!” There are plenty of boat tours available, but since it was freezing the day I visited, I wisely decided to skip the whole Titanic reenactmentexperience. No way was I going to voluntarily turn into an ice cube for the sake of sightseeing.

One of the parks in Brugge is a great spot to relax while soaking in the breathtaking scenery of the lake. It’s the kind of place where you could pretend to be deep in thought while actually just debating what to eat next. After that, we gathered back at our meeting spot and made our way to Ghent.

Ghent (or Gent, depending on how fancy you want to sound) is no longer a UNESCO World Heritage site, which means it has a mix of old and new buildings. You can easily tell the difference—if the ground is covered in charming but ankle-breaking cobblestones, you’re in the old part of town. If it’s regular bricks, congratulations, you’ve entered modern civilisation.

One of the landmarks here is a tower you can climb for panoramic views of the city. If I remember correctly, it has around 300 steps—so basically a free leg day workout. But since you have to pay to enter, I kindly declined the opportunity to suffer. The tower is actually part of a museum, but I skipped that too because my priority was more souvenirs and less historical enlightenment

Speaking of castles, Ghent has a pretty impressive one. It might look small in pictures, but trust me, it’s huge in person. Did I explore its grand halls and dive into its rich history? Nope. I spent my time going from one souvenir shop to another, as if I had a mission to single-handedly support the local economy.

You can easily finish exploring Ghent in under two hours, which makes it a perfect half-day trip. As for the tour itself, if you’re young and can plan your own trip, I wouldn’t really recommend a guided tour. Sure, it’s convenient because all the transportation is sorted, and you get to learn some history, but there’s also a lot of waiting around for people, attendance checks, and general herding. Still, it was a good experience.

I’d say you should spend at least a day visiting Brugge and Ghent. There may not be a ton to do, but the historical buildings are stunning, and the peaceful atmosphere makes it a great place to just wander and chill.

Alright then, that’s all for this post. Hope you enjoyed reading it—see you in part 3!