Most efficient/easiest way to Brugge from Zeebrugge

[mcoler181]

As above, will be on MSC Virtuosa, I have seen something about a train that only takes 16 mins but not sure if it is easy to get to from the ship.

 

Thanks

[mnpurple]

I can't tell you about the train, but we took the ship excursion. It was about a 30 minute bus ride from the port into Bruge. The excursion was mostly a walking tour as buses aren't allowed in the old town area and it was about two hours. Our guide was very quick and I "dropped out" of the group about halfway through and did some exploring on my own. My husband finished with the group.  There was about two hours of free time then before we got back on the bus and returned to the ship.

 

I booked the excursion package, so it was the tours in Hamburg, Rotterdam and this one. I felt that was reasonably priced and enjoyed them.  They did point out the Central train station in Bruge and it was just outside town. 

Not sure if you saw this discussion:

 

 

Edited May 23 by mnpurple

[mnpurple]

Sorry if I gave too much info. Bruges is amazing!

[bobndee]

We hooked up with a group on the Cruise Critic Roll Call for our cruise. We hired a van to take us to Bruges, drop us off and pick us up at a specified time. It cost less per person and we drove right into the town center square.

[John Bull]

For the train you need to take ship's shuttle (probably payable but only a few euros) to Blankenberge station, where you catch the direct train to Bruges - takes about 12 mins, return fare about €10 or less. 20 min walk from Bruges station to the cobbled centre.

The big problem is that the train is only hourly, and because it's preceded by a shuttlebus you can't plan when you'll get to the station - you might have a wait of one minute, or 59 minutes!

 

Ships' "Bruges on your own" transfer takes you to Bargeplein, also a pleasant 20 min walk yo the centre (buses  aren't allowed in the centre). Disadvantages are that you return at a set time, and ships' arrangements are usually poor value.

 

There's an independent bus operator offering shuttles from port to that same drop-point in Bruges.  Can be pre-booked. Folk say it can be a bit of a scrum getting onto the bus for the return.

 

Taxis can be hard to pre-book, I don't know whether they're avalable on-spec. Last I heard some time ago was €50 return. They can drop you in the centre, somewhere like the Grotemarkt.

 

Ship's "tours" to Bruges would likely be a waste of time & money - as above, they can't take you around the centre.

 

We're on this cruise 29th June. Been to Bruges a number of times, might take the kusttram and spend a lazy day in Blankenberge and/or Ostend, mebbe even to the end of the line at De Panne.

 

JB 🙂 

[Harters]

13 minutes ago, John Bull said:

mebbe even to the end of the line at De Panne.

The coastal tram is a great resource for that part of the world. We've only visited the area when we've had the car with us (and tend to be visiting out of the way place - like WW1 war graves cemeteries). But, if I was on a cruise, then I would deffo use it. De Panne is a nice little coastal town. 

[mcoler181]

32 minutes ago, John Bull said:

For the train you need to take ship's shuttle (probably payable but only a few euros) to Blankenberge station, where you catch the direct train to Bruges - takes about 12 mins, return fare about €10 or less. 20 min walk from Bruges station to the cobbled centre.

The big problem is that the train is only hourly, and because it's preceded by a shuttlebus you can't plan when you'll get to the station - you might have a wait of one minute, or 59 minutes!

 

Ships' "Bruges on your own" transfer takes you to Bargeplein, also a pleasant 20 min walk yo the centre (buses  aren't allowed in the centre). Disadvantages are that you return at a set time, and ships' arrangements are usually poor value.

 

There's an independent bus operator offering shuttles from port to that same drop-point in Bruges.  Can be pre-booked. Folk say it can be a bit of a scrum getting onto the bus for the return.

 

Taxis can be hard to pre-book, I don't know whether they're avalable on-spec. Last I heard some time ago was €50 return. They can drop you in the centre, somewhere like the Grotemarkt.

 

Ship's "tours" to Bruges would likely be a waste of time & money - as above, they can't take you around the centre.

 

We're on this cruise 29th June. Been to Bruges a number of times, might take the kusttram and spend a lazy day in Blankenberge and/or Ostend, mebbe even to the end of the line at De Panne.

 

JB 🙂 

Thanks for the info, if it is Virtuosa you are on we are also on it. 

[phred119s]

We ended up not going to Brugge (long story), but the MSC shuttle to Blankenberge wasn't much money and dropped off directly in front (beside, really?) of the train station.

[sbaker]

On 5/23/2024 at 8:29 AM, bobndee said:

We hooked up with a group on the Cruise Critic Roll Call for our cruise. We hired a van to take us to Bruges, drop us off and pick us up at a specified time. It cost less per person and we drove right into the town center square.

What company/transportation provider did you hire?  We'll have a fairly large group and I'd love to look into something like that.

 

[bobndee]

10 hours ago, sbaker said:

What company/transportation provider did you hire?  We'll have a fairly large group and I'd love to look into something like that.

 

 

I'm afraid that I don't remember the name of the van company. That cruise was 6 years ago. Sorry.

[BuckeyeMark]

We did Cruise Express and it was wonderful. Nice bus. Very easy.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeMark said:

We did Cruise Express and it was wonderful. Nice bus. Very easy.

 

Hi, Mark,

We're there at the end of the month. Big ship (5000 pax) 🙁.

Did you pre-book the Cruise Express ?

And any delays due to too many folk outbound or back to the ship? 

 

TIA 

 

JB 🙂

[BuckeyeMark]

36 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Hi, Mark,

We're there at the end of the month. Big ship (5000 pax) 🙁.

Did you pre-book the Cruise Express ?

And any delays due to too many folk outbound or back to the ship? 

 

TIA 

 

JB 🙂

Yes, we pre-booked. We had a big group (90) and we were with Legends Tours  https://www.legendstours.be/ in Bruges. Nicolas of Legends recommended them. They take you a parking lot by a city park and a big red bridge. From there you walk into Bruges about 5-10 min. Easy peasy. They picked up our group at the end of our time in the city with plenty of time to spare but they were running buses every 30 minutes from that parking lot for everyone else using them. 

[John Bull]

57 minutes ago, BuckeyeMark said:

Yes, we pre-booked. We had a big group (90) and we were with Legends Tours  https://www.legendstours.be/ in Bruges. Nicolas of Legends recommended them. They take you a parking lot by a city park and a big red bridge. From there you walk into Bruges about 5-10 min. Easy peasy. They picked up our group at the end of our time in the city with plenty of time to spare but they were running buses every 30 minutes from that parking lot for everyone else using them. 

 

 

Thanks, Mark.

Yes, I know the coach park & bus stops by the little red bridge - I used to drive coach tours to Bruges.

But it sounds like you had a coach (or two) of theirs just allocated to your group ?

 

JB 🙂 

[BuckeyeMark]

38 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

 

Thanks, Mark.

Yes, I know the coach park & bus stops by the little red bridge - I used to drive coach tours to Bruges.

But it sounds like you had a coach (or two) of theirs just allocated to your group ?

 

JB 🙂 

They had a double decker bus allocated to us. They kept telling me "We've got a bus for you and your group" and I was thinking "A bus, like one? There are 90 of us!" and then we got there and they put us all on this double decker monster bus. Amazing. 

The bus ran us to a parking lot across from that park and the red bridge. The park had pay toilets - it sounds like you know exactly where this is.

 

[mawvkysc]

On 5/23/2024 at 10:29 AM, bobndee said:

We hooked up with a group on the Cruise Critic Roll Call for our cruise. We hired a van to take us to Bruges, drop us off and pick us up at a specified time. It cost less per person and we drove right into the town center square.

We did the same thing. Used https://www.airpotaxiservice.be