Taxi to Bruges from the Zeebrugge Port

[Ladybug18]

Hello,

We will be on the NCL Prima in mid July and are interested in going to Bruges from the Zeebrugge port. The cruise line has a "Bruges On Your Own" tour that we can book but it seems expensive for just a bus ride to/from Bruges. I know there is the Cruise Express bus that will take us to Bruges but I have read reviews and unfortunately they do not get the best reviews. Has anyone taken a Taxi from the port in Zeebrugge to Bruges? If so, which company did you use? Can you prebook a roundtrip fare? There will be three of us (myself, my husband and our 11 year old son).

 

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

Funny you mentioned this. We just booked our transportation for this today for our August Prima cruise. 

https://www.cruise-express.be/en/  about $26 USD roundtrip.

[chpal]

Does anyone have any information regarding Ladybug’s question- and mine!- about taxis from Zeebrugge into Bruges and return? Especially availability?

[Bowman1]

See thread

 

[chpal]

Thanks so much - this is good information!

[Cassicruiser]

I have the same question - we would like to take a taxi into Bruges, more economical for 4 of us. Are they plentiful at the dock or would we need to book one before arrival? Thanks

[gumshoe958]

15 minutes ago, Cassicruiser said:

I have the same question - we would like to take a taxi into Bruges, more economical for 4 of us. Are they plentiful at the dock or would we need to book one before arrival? Thanks

They are not overly plentiful so it would be wise to pre-book.
 

At Zeebrugge you have to take a (free) shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal as it’s predominantly a cargo port and no pedestrians are allowed in the dock area. The buses run frequently but to be safe you should probably allow 15-20 minutes from walking off the ship to arriving at the terminal in case you just miss one and have to wait for the next one to fill up. 

 

Cabs will pick you up from the terminal. I’ve never seen very many waiting there though.

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by gumshoe958

[Cassicruiser]

15 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

They are not overly plentiful so it would be wise to pre-book.
 

At Zeebrugge you have to take a (free) shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal as it’s predominantly a cargo port and no pedestrians are allowed in the dock area. The buses run frequently but to be safe you should probably allow 15-20 minutes from walking off the ship to arriving at the terminal in case you just miss one and have to wait for the next one to fill up. 

 

Cabs will pick you up from the terminal. I’ve never seen very many waiting there though.

 

Thanks for the advice, I didn't think about adding in time for the shuttle bus.  Sounds like pre-booking is the way to go, just have to find a taxi company that takes bookings.

[smileforever]

What taxi company did you end up pre-booking and what was the cost round trip? We have been to Brugge before and did the Cruise Express, but do not feel like waiting in line. Thank you.

[sunfan03]

On 6/10/2023 at 8:02 AM, Ladybug18 said:

Hello,

We will be on the NCL Prima in mid July and are interested in going to Bruges from the Zeebrugge port. The cruise line has a "Bruges On Your Own" tour that we can book but it seems expensive for just a bus ride to/from Bruges. I know there is the Cruise Express bus that will take us to Bruges but I have read reviews and unfortunately they do not get the best reviews. Has anyone taken a Taxi from the port in Zeebrugge to Bruges? If so, which company did you use? Can you prebook a roundtrip fare? There will be three of us (myself, my husband and our 11 year old son).

 

 

@Ladybug18, what did you end up doing in Zeebrugge? I'm curious if there were taxis available in port...thanks in advance for sharing!

 

[gavenalex]

Take the train.  3.5 euros per person RT.  Leaves every hour, 10-15 min ride each way.

[Ladybug18]

On 8/4/2023 at 1:00 AM, sunfan03 said:

@Ladybug18, what did you end up doing in Zeebrugge? I'm curious if there were taxis available in port...thanks in advance for sharing!

 

@sunfan03 we got off the ship as early as we could and took a taxi to Bruges. We asked the driver to pick us up at 3pm and he returned at the agreed upon meeting spot at 3pm and took us back to the ship. We shared the taxi with another family so we split the cost of the round trip taxi (we each rounded the fare up to 50 Euros). One family paid going to Bruges and the other paid from Bruges to the ship. I was super nervous the taxi driver wouldn't come back for us but he did. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad we did Bruges on our own. The town is beautiful, make sure to do a canal cruise! The waffles, fries, chocolate and beer were excellent!

[skatie]

8 hours ago, Ladybug18 said:

@sunfan03 we got off the ship as early as we could and took a taxi to Bruges. We asked the driver to pick us up at 3pm and he returned at the agreed upon meeting spot at 3pm and took us back to the ship. We shared the taxi with another family so we split the cost of the round trip taxi (we each rounded the fare up to 50 Euros). One family paid going to Bruges and the other paid from Bruges to the ship. I was super nervous the taxi driver wouldn't come back for us but he did. It was a wonderful day and I am so glad we did Bruges on our own. The town is beautiful, make sure to do a canal cruise! The waffles, fries, chocolate and beer were excellent!

@Ladybug18Good to hear a recent update on taxi to Bruges.  Can you tell me what time you left the ship and when you got to taxi stand were there many taxis waiting?  Also were you able to pay with credit cards or needed euros?   I plan on leaving ship at 7:45am to catch taxi and hope that’s early enough.   Thanks

Edited August 7, 2023 by skatie

[sunfan03]

14 hours ago, Ladybug18 said:

We shared the taxi with another family so we split the cost of the round trip taxi (we each rounded the fare up to 50 Euros). 

@Ladybug18, how many people in your taxi? I'm guessing 4 pax?

Thanks for sharing!!

[Ladybug18]

12 hours ago, skatie said:

@Ladybug18Good to hear a recent update on taxi to Bruges.  Can you tell me what time you left the ship and when you got to taxi stand were there many taxis waiting?  Also were you able to pay with credit cards or needed euros?   I plan on leaving ship at 7:45am to catch taxi and hope that’s early enough.   Thanks

@skatie
The ship was scheduled to arrive @ 9AM. We met the other family we shared the taxi with in the atrium @9AM and waited for the announcement to say the ship was clear to go ashore. As soon as that announcement was made we made our way to the gangway and got off. In Zeebrugge passengers are required to take a free shuttle bus to the exit because it is a very busy shipping port. We took the bus and then found where the taxi stand was. We were the only ones in the taxi line and wr immediately got a taxi. The early bird gets the worm!!
 

@sunfan03 The taxi has seating for 7 passengers, 6 in the back and 1 up front with the driver. We were 4 adults and an 11 year old.
 

We rounded the taxi fare up for a tip so the taxi was $61 and change one way. I’d definitely try to share the taxi with anther family to cut down on the cost. We asked for a 3PM pickup so that we had plenty of time to get back to the ship in case there was an issue. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Ladybug18

[crucero05]

Do taxi take credit card or do we need euros?

[sunfan03]

On 9/23/2023 at 1:14 PM, crucero05 said:

Do taxi take credit card or do we need euros?

@Ladybug18 - good question - did you pay cash or use credit card?

[Ladybug18]

2 hours ago, sunfan03 said:

@Ladybug18 - good question - did you pay cash or use credit card?

@sunfan03 We paid the taxi fare and tip with a credit card.

[crucero05]

Thanks. We took a taxi for 6, fare was close to 55 euros. Taxi driver realized he was late for our return and sent a peer, same company. He  was waiting for us at same dropping point.  It worked pretty smooth