Bruges - tour to Flanders - enough time??

I found a tour company (Quasimodo) that offers a tour to Flanders and was wondering if anyone did this or had any insight on doing it. They start picking up at the hotels in Bruges at 9:15 and then drop off at 6 p.m. As much as I'd love to do this, I'm worried that it will be a bit of a tight schedule. Any other suggestions? It appears that most of these day tours are really an all day thing, with schedules that make it close to getting back in time.

The big problem for you, Cindy, is that you don't port in Bruges - you port at Zeebrugge, about 20 minutes from Bruges.

It'll be a mixed group of folk staying at hotels in Bruges and even if the tour operator were willing to collect / drop you at the port, because Zeebrugge is the wrong side of Bruges they'd need to collect you first & drop you last.

So whether you were first to be dropped in Bruges & hailed a taxi or you were taken back to the ship in the van you'd be back long after 6pm, which is almost-certainly too late.

All I can suggest is that you get private tour quotes for a car & for a van, and see if you can get sharers via your ship's RollCall

I'm guessing that by "Flanders" you mean the WW1 war sites, which are centred on Ieper (Ypres). It's just under an hour from Zeebrugge, so with a 9am start and (say) a 5pm back-on-board time you'd have 5 to 6 hours in and around Ypres, so you'd get a very good taste of it - a few original trenches & blockhouses, war cemeteries, museums, monuments etc, plus Ypres centre and its "In Flanders Fields" interpretation centre.

Ships' tour itineraries that I've seen are a real waste of time, with stops only at Ypres and at Tyne Cot (Paschendale) cemetery.

By rented car is another option - I (& doubtless others) can help with a suggested little itinerary but you'd need to research as well because you don't want to spend half the day scratching your heads.

JB :).

The big problem for you, Cindy, is that you don't port in Bruges - you port at Zeebrugge, about 20 minutes from Bruges.

It'll be a mixed group of folk staying at hotels in Bruges and even if the tour operator were willing to collect / drop you at the port, because Zeebrugge is the wrong side of Bruges they'd need to collect you first & drop you last.

So whether you were first to be dropped in Bruges & hailed a taxi or you were taken back to the ship in the van you'd be back long after 6pm, which is almost-certainly too late.

 

All I can suggest is that you get private tour quotes for a car & for a van, and see if you can get sharers via your ship's RollCall

I'm guessing that by "Flanders" you mean the WW1 war sites, which are centred on Ieper (Ypres). It's just under an hour from Zeebrugge, so with a 9am start and (say) a 5pm back-on-board time you'd have 5 to 6 hours in and around Ypres, so you'd get a very good taste of it - a few original trenches & blockhouses, war cemeteries, museums, monuments etc, plus Ypres centre and its "In Flanders Fields" interpretation centre.

 

Ships' tour itineraries that I've seen are a real waste of time, with stops only at Ypres and at Tyne Cot (Paschendale) cemetery.

 

By rented car is another option - I (& doubtless others) can help with a suggested little itinerary but you'd need to research as well because you don't want to spend half the day scratching your heads.

 

JB :).

Thanks! And yes, I'm taking into account that we're not actually docking IN Bruges. I did look at the map to locate where everything was. And yes, talking about Ypres, that's where this tour goes to. I had thought about the private car option as well. If we did that, what kind of passes/tickets would we need to see sites in Ypres?

And yes, RCI lists Flanders as an excursion, which I thought would be this area. But it actually goes the NE side of Bruges, to Damme. They don't even have any excursions to Ypres. :( I'm truly torn on if we should make this work. We already have the trip to Normandy booked, for in France. So not sure if we should try to get to Ypres as well, or just spend the day exploring Bruges? Thanks for your response so far!

Hi, Cindy.

You won't need any passes etc in advance.

Some sites there's no fee - like the Menim Gate, the Yorkshire trench, the Canadian Stooping Soldier memorial and the many small cemeteries (but not sure whether a donation is expected at Tyne Cot)

Some sites a small donation is normal, eg the Hooge crater has a little donations box.

Most museums eg the two big ones - In Flanders Fields & the Memorial Museum in Zonnebeke - and the smaller museums near Hooge Crater and at Sanctuary Wood (also some sensitively renovated trenches here) have usual admission fees.

Don't recall the charges - they'll be on the web and they're all pretty small.

Everywhere is in a small radius, no more than about 4 or 5 miles from Ypres, so once there you'll not lose much time travelling between.

Whether to visit here and the D-Day sights depends on your interests.

They're very different - a good opportunity to compare the two European wars?

Or a war over-load?

Only you can decide.

BTW, this part of the Western Front involved Brit & Commonwealth troops (mainly Brits, Canadians & Australians). No American involvement that I'm aware of - the doughboys were much further south, mainly around Verdun.

I don't know whether that may sway your decision.

If you decided against, Bruges itself is the most obvious choice. By taxi is ideal, get the driver to drop you at Grotemarkt. By train is cheap but you need ship's shuttle to get you to Blankenberge, station about 3 miles from the ship, and a 15 minute walk from station to Grotemarkt. By ship's "on-your-own" is more convenient than the train, but again about a 15 minute walk to the Grotemarkt because large buses aren't permitted in the city's cobbled centre. A very attractive historic trading city, at one time its canals connected it to the sea - but as ships grew larger & the canal silted up, its trade declined. Do take a canal boat ride (if the weather's not too wet, they're open boats)

Or take the kusttram to the port of Ostend.

Or to just beyond Ostend to the Atlantic Wall site/museum at Raversijde. It figured in both world wars, and there are remnants & artefacts of both.

Which kinda takes us full-circle ;)

JB :)

Hi, Cindy.

 

You won't need any passes etc in advance.

Some sites there's no fee - like the Menim Gate, the Yorkshire trench, the Canadian Stooping Soldier memorial and the many small cemeteries (but not sure whether a donation is expected at Tyne Cot)

Some sites a small donation is normal, eg the Hooge crater has a little donations box.

Most museums eg the two big ones - In Flanders Fields & the Memorial Museum in Zonnebeke - and the smaller museums near Hooge Crater and at Sanctuary Wood (also some sensitively renovated trenches here) have usual admission fees.

Don't recall the charges - they'll be on the web and they're all pretty small.

 

Everywhere is in a small radius, no more than about 4 or 5 miles from Ypres, so once there you'll not lose much time travelling between.

 

Whether to visit here and the D-Day sights depends on your interests.

They're very different - a good opportunity to compare the two European wars?

Or a war over-load?

Only you can decide.

 

BTW, this part of the Western Front involved Brit & Commonwealth troops (mainly Brits, Canadians & Australians). No American involvement that I'm aware of - the doughboys were much further south, mainly around Verdun.

I don't know whether that may sway your decision.

 

If you decided against, Bruges itself is the most obvious choice. By taxi is ideal, get the driver to drop you at Grotemarkt. By train is cheap but you need ship's shuttle to get you to Blankenberge, station about 3 miles from the ship, and a 15 minute walk from station to Grotemarkt. By ship's "on-your-own" is more convenient than the train, but again about a 15 minute walk to the Grotemarkt because large buses aren't permitted in the city's cobbled centre. A very attractive historic trading city, at one time its canals connected it to the sea - but as ships grew larger & the canal silted up, its trade declined. Do take a canal boat ride (if the weather's not too wet, they're open boats)

 

Or take the kusttram to the port of Ostend.

Or to just beyond Ostend to the Atlantic Wall site/museum at Raversijde. It figured in both world wars, and there are remnants & artefacts of both.

Which kinda takes us full-circle ;)

 

JB :)

Thank you again!! We did plan on just grabbing a taxi to Bruges, from the ship. Someone else wrote a review and she said it was easier. While more expensive, it was quicker. They were in town long before the big cruise ship groups made it. ;) And we certainly planned on doing a canal boat ride. I actually bought a guide book for Bruges (cheap, at half-priced books), so it gives me a lot of good info about the city, what to see, how to get around, etc... But, we'll talk about it more and make our decision though. Your information is extremely helpful though.