# Cerca de Ghent From Ghent, Bruges is less than half an hour by train, with direct trains all day from Gent-Sint-Pieters, and from Bruges you continue by bike or boat along the canal to Damme. Brussels is about 36 minutes away and Antwerp an hour. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/ghent/getaways ## Planes de un día - [Bruges with children: chips, a boat and swans](https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/a-day-with-children-from-brussels.md) (41 min en coche): The chip museum, half an hour on a boat along the canals, lunch with children's dishes at De Halve Maan and the swans of the Minnewater, back by mid-afternoon. - [Bruges: chocolate in the morning, beer in the afternoon](https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/beer-and-chocolate-from-brussels.md) (41 min en coche): The Choco-Story museum with a demonstration, pralines at The Chocolate Line, Flemish lunch at Cambrinus and the Bourgogne des Flandres brewery with a terrace over the canal. - [Bruges: belfry, canals and brewery](https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/bruges-belfry-boat-and-brewery.md) (41 min en coche): The belfry before the queues, the boat on the canals, lunch and a visit at the De Halve Maan brewery and the beguinage with the Minnewater. By train, an hour from Brussels. - [By bike to Damme along the Damse Vaart](https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/cycling-to-damme-from-brussels.md) (41 min en coche): A hire bike in the centre of Bruges, seven flat kilometres along the Damse Vaart to Damme, lunch at Tante Marie and back past the Kruisvest rampart windmills. ## Bruges, less than half an hour from Gent-Sint-Pieters Ghent is a good base for getting to know Flanders without changing hotel. From the [Gent-Sint-Pieters](/en/belgium/ghent/services/train-from-brussels) station direct trains leave for [Bruges](/en/belgium/bruges) all day: the SNCB gives an average of 28 minutes and more than ninety trains a day between the two cities. Until the end of 2027 Infrabel is building a third and a fourth track between Ghent and Bruges, and some intercity trains make a detour that adds between 15 and 20 minutes, so check the day's timetable on the SNCB website or app before you set out. In Bruges, buses 1 and 2 take you to the centre in a few minutes from the station. By road it is about 47 kilometres along the E40, about 40 minutes, but the car doesn't pay off: the centre of Bruges has closed streets and a 30 limit. If you go by car, leave it in the station car park, whose ticket includes the bus to the centre. ## Four ways to spend the day in Bruges For a first time, the [day with belfry, boat and brewery](/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/bruges-belfry-boat-and-brewery) climbs the belfry with the first-thing slot, takes the boat on the canals before the groups and eats at De Halve Maan. With children, the [day of chips, a boat and swans](/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/a-day-with-children-from-brussels) goes more slowly and returns mid-afternoon. If your thing is eating and drinking, the [beer and chocolate day](/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/beer-and-chocolate-from-brussels) combines Choco-Story, the pralines of The Chocolate Line and the Bourgogne des Flandres brewery on the canal; its bar is closed on Mondays. These plans are written with departure from Brussels; from Ghent, you set out about half an hour later and arrive in Bruges at the same time. ## Beyond Bruges, by bike to Damme The fourth plan leaves the city: [by bike from Bruges to Damme](/en/belgium/bruges/itineraries/cycling-to-damme-from-brussels), seven flat kilometres along the Damse Vaart between poplars, lunch at Tante Marie and back past the rampart windmills. [Damme](/en/belgium/damme), Bruges' old port, has a Gothic town hall, the Church of Our Lady tower, open from April to September in the afternoons, and a book market on the second Sunday of every month. From April to October, the Lamme Goedzak boat makes the same journey in 35 minutes, with no bikes on board. ## Brussels and Antwerp, on the same line To the east, SNCB trains reach Brussels in about 36 minutes on average and [Antwerp](/en/belgium/antwerp) in a little under an hour, with direct trains. [Brussels](/en/belgium/brussels) is also the gateway from Spain: Ghent has no airport, and the practical thing is to fly to Brussels and continue by train. If you arrive via Charleroi, Flibco has a direct bus to Ghent. What to see in the city itself, the Mystic Lamb altarpiece, the Castle of the Counts and the Graslei, is on the [Ghent](/en/belgium/ghent) page.