Getting to Oud Sint-Jan
Brussels National Airport is the main airport for Bruges. Bruges is within easy reach (approximately 1.5 hours) from Brussels. There are regular trains (every half hour) between the airport and the railway stations of Brussels North or Brussels Central, from there several trains per hour to Bruges. Airport information number: +32 2 753 77 53
The Charleroi Airport, also called "Brussels South", located 46 km south of Brussels. On their website you can find information about the transport possibilities to Brussels.
There is also a small airport at Ostend (Oostende) just 24km (15 miles) from Bruges at the Belgian coast, but it handles mostly charter and air-taxi flights.
Trains arrive every half hour or so from Brussels and from Ostend (Oostende). Journey time is about 1.5 hours from Brussels and 15 minutes from Ostend. You can take a normal train from Brussels to Bruges. Here you can check the time tables for the
International and Inter-City
trains.
Although the city is called Bruges in both English and French, look out for its Flemish name, BRUGGE, written on the rail-station name boards. The station is on Stationsplein, about 1.6 km south of town, a 20-minute walk to the town centre, or a short bus - choose any bus labeled CENTRUM and get out at the Markt - or taxi ride. For train information, call tel. +32 50 38 23 82 between 6:30 am and 10:30 pm.
Buses are less useful than trains for getting to Bruges. The Bruges bus station adjoins the rail station. For schedule and fare information, call tel. +32 70 22 02 00 daily between 6am and 9pm. Bruges can also be reached from all over Britain and Europe on the Eurolines network, via London or Brussels. For schedule and fare information, contact Eurolines at tel. +32 02 274 13 50 in Belgium.
You'll find it's all but impossible to use a car in the centre, since the confusing network of one-way streets makes driving a trial. We recommend all participants to use the city parking spaces. Bruges is 92km (57 miles) northwest of Brussels and 51km (32 miles) northwest of Ghent on A10/E40; 102km (63 miles) west of Antwerp on A14/E17 and A10/E40, and 30km (19 miles) southeast of Ostend on A10/E40; and 16km (10 miles) south of the ferry port Zeebrugge on N31 and N371. From Calais and the Channel Tunnel, take E40 east.
On-street parking in the city centre is limited to 2 hours for metered parking, and to 4 hours for free parking spaces ("blue zone" parking: a parking disc is required). The use of underground car parks (4,000 available parking spaces) is highly recommended. Arriving by car, you will be able to use one of the underground parkings in the inner city or one of the parking lots alongside the ring road from where you will quickly reach downtown, walking or using one of the frequently operated bus lines.
We would like to advise participants arriving by car to use the parking Station (1435 places) + free bus ride to the centre (2,50 euro/24 h.). You can find more information on parking places in Bruges at the www.interparking.be