Ciao a tutti and welcome back!
Today, I am excited to share with you that I went on my first ever solo trip to Bruges, Belgium and it was amazing!
It was a little daunting at first, but thankfully the universe was working with me instead of against me and gave me the smoothest and easiest international trip. I planned my trip using Google Flights to find the cheapest and easiest flight from Italy to Belgium and was able to get a perfectly priced flight to Brussels, Belgium with a short layover in Munich, Germany. Then from Brussels, I took about an hour and a half train to the fairytale-esque city of Bruges.
For a first solo trip, especially as a woman, Bruges was the perfect city! It was small and easily walkable, allowing you to see the entire city in a day, and everyone spoke English and was super friendly. I arrived Thursday around noon and after checking in to the cute, cozy, and economical room I booked at Hotel Biskajer, which was only a 5-minute walk from the center of the city, I made my way to the Market Square in search of Belgian fries.
After eating a fulfilling lunch of Belgian fries with mayonnaise and Belgian sauce, (both popular European condiments,) I began my trek through the city. But instead of having set destinations in mind, I chose to wander through the medieval buildings down whichever streets I felt had something to show — which I feel is a great way to see a new city if you have time to kill!
Some main attractions I had to chance to visit were the Belfry of Bruges in Market Square, St. Salvator’s Cathedral, Rosary Quay, and De Burg.
The next morning I decided to have a late start because the weather was extremely windy, slightly rainy, and cold, but around lunchtime, I knew I had to venture out to taste some famous Belgian waffles.
I headed to the famous House of Waffles restaurant where I had some of the best waffles I’ve ever had. There were so many options to choose from, I almost didn’t know what to get. But I decided on the Classic Waffles — crispy Belgian waffles topped with powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.
After successfully trying some Belgian waffles, I headed out to a few different shops to taste another famous Belgian delicacy — chocolate. I decided on three popular chocolate shops: Chocolatier Dumon, La Belgique Gourmande, and The Chocolate Line.
There were so many good options to choose from, but ultimately my favorite was Chocolatier Dumon where I bought two chocolate bars — the first was a classic milk chocolate, and the second was a dark chocolate with chocolate Smarties.
As my first solo trip, Bruges was definitely the perfect city! It was small enough to easily walk everywhere, but still big enough to explore the whole day. If you ever have the opportunity to study abroad or even just visit Europe, and decide that you want to travel, I would definitely recommend Bruges, Belgium! It’s a great “starter-city” with a rich abundance of history, amazing architecture, delicious chocolate, and a fairytale atmosphere.
And with that I’ll leave you with a few extra photos of my time in Bruges.
Grazie ed a presto!
