Seven kilometres of canal between poplars, from Bruges to Damme by bike and back past the windmills.

The trip the people of Bruges take when they want to leave Bruges: seven kilometres by bike along the Damse Vaart, a straight canal between two rows of very tall poplars, to Damme, a village with a Gothic town hall and quiet streets which in the Middle Ages was the city's port. The path is flat, almost free of cars, and suits anyone who can ride a bike. This plan adds lunch in Damme and a loop around Bruges's rampart, with its windmills.

In the morning, to the canal

08:00 · Train to Bruges. An hour from Brussels. At the station, buses 1 and 2 go to the Markt in a few minutes.

09:30 · The bike. Bruges Bike Rental is on the Niklaas Desparsstraat, a side street off the Vlamingstraat two minutes from the Markt. A city bike costs €13 a day; an electric one, €30, and a tandem, €25. They have children's bikes, seats and helmets. Book by emailing them with the day and the type of bike.

Head north along the Langerei, beside the canal, to the Dampoort gate and, after crossing the water, follow the bank of the Damse Vaart. You can't go wrong: the canal runs straight to Damme. Pedalling gently it takes about forty minutes, with stops for photos of the reflected poplars.

Damme, the old port

You arrive at the Markt square of Damme, with its Gothic town hall and the statue of the poet Jacob van Maerlant. The tourist office is around the corner, at Jacob van Maerlantstraat 3, and gives you the map of the village and of the routes around it. Stroll along the Kerkstraat to the Church of Our Lady, whose tower opens from April to September in the afternoons, and look in at the Schellemolen, the windmill on the canal bank. Damme can be covered entirely on foot in an hour.

11:45 · Tante Marie. At Kerkstraat 38, it serves meals without a break from 11:30 to 17:45. Order the house shrimp croquettes and, if there is room, a pancake with its jam or a cake of the day. Closed on Saturdays: on that day, eat on your return in Bruges.

The return along the rampart

13:45 · The Kruisvest windmills. Retrace the canal to Dampoort and, instead of going into the centre, continue south through the park on the eastern rampart. There are the four Kruisvest windmills, on top of the embankment, and the Sint-Anna district, where the Bruges of the locals lives.

15:00 · The beguinage and the Minnewater. Cross the centre by bike (carefully, as there are cobbles and pedestrians) to the beguinage and the Minnewater lake. Return the bike when it suits you, as the shop is near the Markt, and walk down to the station, ten minutes from the lake.

16:45 · Train back. In Brussels around six.

With a guide or by boat

If you prefer someone to take you, Quasimundo runs a three-hour guided bike ride through the countryside to Damme from March to October, in English, of about 20 km with a twenty-minute break; it leaves from its shop on the Predikherenstraat. And if you don't want to pedal, the Lamme Goedzak boat links Bruges and Damme in 35 minutes from April to October, for €12 one way; bikes do not go on board, so it is the boat there and a walk back, about two hours along the same path.

To spend more time in the area, the three-night plan with Damme and the coast includes this day and combines it with Ostend and De Haan.