Bruges: City Bike Tour with Windmills & Secret Alleys

4.91

(134 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We started our Bruges bike tour just off the Markt — not far from where the bells ring out every hour. Our guide, Pieter, handed me a slightly squeaky blue bike (which he called “the classic model”) and off we went, weaving into little cobbled streets before I’d even figured out my gears. There’s something about cycling here that makes you feel like you’re part of the city’s heartbeat — the clip of other bikes, the soft smell of waffles drifting from an open window. I tried to keep up as Pieter pointed out the crooked gables on Burg Square and told us a story about a wedding that happened there centuries ago. I probably missed half of it because I was distracted by a dog in a basket zooming past us.

We stopped at the Church of Our Lady, which looked impossibly tall up close. Pieter explained how the bricks were hauled in by boat — he even showed us an old canal behind some houses that I never would’ve noticed on my own. The group was small; just six of us, so it felt easy to ask questions or just hang back for a second if you wanted to snap a photo or catch your breath. At one point we rode along this quiet path lined with poplars and suddenly there were these old windmills — not touristy at all, just sitting there with grass growing around them. The air smelled faintly like cut grass and river water.

I didn’t expect to enjoy riding over cobblestones but after a while you get used to it — kind of like learning to balance a tray of Belgian beer (which is harder than it looks). Pieter joked that if you can cycle Bruges’ stones, you can cycle anywhere. We ducked down some side alleys he said most visitors miss; one had laundry strung between windows and someone playing accordion behind a half-open door. It felt like seeing the city’s quieter side for once. The tour lasted about two and a half hours but honestly it went fast — I still think about that last stretch by the canal when everything got really quiet except for our tires on stone.