Bruges Day Trips: Ghent, Damme and the Coast

October 30, 2026

Where to go from Bruges

Bruges station has frequent trains to Ghent, Ostend and Brussels, and journey times below are from Brugge station. Check the SNCB planner for the day, because times and platforms vary. Bruges itself is better with an overnight stay, so treat these trips as a second or third day.

Ghent

Intercity trains take 22 to 28 minutes and run several times an hour. Ghent is a larger, livelier city with its own set of sights.

St Bavo’s Cathedral: the Ghent Altarpiece visit with an augmented reality guide costs EUR 16 and lasts about 60 minutes, with a child price of EUR 8 under age 12. A shorter ticket for the altarpiece alone costs EUR 12.50 and takes about 25 minutes. Buy online through the cathedral ticket page .
Gravensteen: the castle costs EUR 15 for an individual ticket, with an audio guide included. It is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January, and online booking is advised. See the Gravensteen visitor page .
Graslei and Korenlei: the two historic quays beside the river are free to walk.

To compare organised trips, see Bruges day trips on Viator .

Damme

Damme is a quiet village 6 km north-east of Bruges. You can cycle along the Damse Vaart in about 25 minutes, or take the Lamme Goedzak paddle steamer from Noorweegse Kaai 31. A single fare costs EUR 12 for adults and a return costs EUR 18. Seniors aged 65 and over pay EUR 10 and EUR 15, and children under 12 pay EUR 4 and EUR 7. There are four sailings a day in each direction, leaving Bruges at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00, and leaving Damme at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00.

The steamer is seasonal. It runs from early April to early November and is closed in winter, so check lammegoedzakdamme.com for the current season. If you cycle, the climb up the Damme church tower is 206 steps and is open seasonally, about April to September.

Ostend and the coast

Ostend is about 15 minutes away on a direct train. From there the Kusttram runs along the whole coast from De Panne to Knokke-Heist, 67 km with 67 stops. A single fare is a flat EUR 3 with 60-minute transfers. A De Lijn day ticket costs EUR 9 for ages 12 and over and EUR 4.50 for ages 6 to 11, valid for 24 hours on buses and trams. For the Mercator sailing ship in the marina, check zeilschipmercator.be for its status.

Brussels

Trains to Brussels take about 1 hour and leave every 20 to 30 minutes. Many people do Bruges as a day trip from Brussels, but staying overnight in Bruges is the better plan.

Ypres and the Flanders Fields memorials

Ypres is a full, solemn day. There is no direct train: change at Kortrijk and plan on 1.5 to 2 hours each way, and check SNCB for times.

The Menin Gate memorial lists roughly 54,000 names of soldiers missing from the Ypres Salient. The Last Post is played there every evening at 20:00. It is free, with no reservation, and the road under the gate closes to traffic. Arrive well before 20:00 for a place, and check the last train back before you stay. See the Last Post Association .

The In Flanders Fields Museum, in the Cloth Hall at Grote Markt 34, is open daily from 10:00 to 17:30, with Monday closures in winter. An adult ticket costs EUR 12 for the museum alone. A typical visit takes 1.5 to 2 hours; see the museum visit page .

Tyne Cot Cemetery lies about 9 km from Ypres and holds 11,961 burials, of which 8,373 are unidentified. The grounds are free and open from sunrise to sunset. De Lijn bus 90 stops at Passendale Tyne Cot.