Bruges, Belgium — Activities
Bruges Culture
Music, Theater and Dance: Bruges’ top music venue is the Concertgebouw (concert hall), which opened at ’t Zand Square in 2002 and regularly presents classical music, opera, ballet and a range of contemporary performances. The main auditorium seats 1,300, while there is also a smaller Chamber Music Room with a capacity of 320 (tel: (050) 476 999, for tickets; website: www.concertgebouw.be).
The Bruges Cultural Center operates seven venues in the city, including the City Theater (tel: (050) 443 040; website: www.cultuurcentrumbrugge.be). The De Werf Art Center, Werfstraat 108 (tel: (050) 330 529; website: www.dewerf.be), is primarily known as a jazz venue. Tickets and information for all these events can be obtained from the In & Uit tourist office (see Sightseeing).
Film: Two city center cinemas offer mainstream programming with original soundtracks and French/Dutch subtitles. Ciné Liberty is at Kuipersstraat 23 (tel: (050) 332 011; website: www.cinebel.be), while Lumière (tel: (050) 343 465; website: www.lumiere.be) is located in Sint-Jakobstraat. Numerous themed arts festivals take place throughout the year.
Bruges Tours
At weekends in June and September, and daily in July and August, two-hour guided walking tours of the city depart at 1430 from the tourist office - from where you can buy tickets in advance. Horse-drawn cabs depart frequently from Markt Square (tel: (050) 345 401; website: www.hippo.be/koets), offering a 30-minute trip.
City Tour Brugge (tel: (050) 355 024; website: www.citytour.be) runs tours aboard small coaches with multilingual headphone commentary, also departing from Markt Square. The city canals offer a different perspective, and frequent boat tours depart from several points on the south side of the city - trips last around half an hour; contact the tourist office for details.
Quasimundo (tel: (050) 330 775; website: www.quasimundo.com) offers guided two-and-a-half-hour bicycle tours in English from March to October, using either your own or a hired bike - the starting point is the Toyo Ito Pavilion in Burg Square.
