What to do in Bruges when it rains

Bruges has plenty to do under a roof, from the Flemish Primitives in the Groeninge Museum and St John's Hospital to the chocolate museum, the Frietmuseum and the brewery tour, with opening hours and prices.

Last updated: 22 October 2026

Museums

Careful on Mondays: 5 of these museums are closed. Which museums are open today? →

Markt & Burg

Photo: Dani Latorre · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia

Choco-Story (chocolate museum)

Daily 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00) · €16

The 5,500-year story of cocoa and chocolate, with a live chocolate-making demonstration and tastings.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Navy8300 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Groeningemuseum

Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 until 2 Nov; from 3 Nov Tue–Sun 09:30–17:00; closed Mon; closes for refurbishment on 11 Jan 2027 · €15

Six centuries of Flemish art, from Van Eyck, Memling and Bosch to Magritte, in the Dijver museum quarter.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Wolfgang Staudt · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia

Gruuthuse Museum

Thu–Tue 09:30–17:00; closed Wed · €15

A 15th-century city palace of the Gruuthuse family with tapestries, lace, wood carving and a private oratory.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

St John’s Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal, Memling)

Tue–Sun 09:30–17:00; closed Mon · €15

A 12th-century hospital with six Memling masterpieces, the St Ursula Shrine and a 17th-century pharmacy.

Sint-Anna & Windmills

Photo: Donarreiskoffer · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

Jerusalem Chapel (Adornes Domain)

Mon–Sat 10:00–17:00 (1 Oct–31 Mar); Sat until 18:00 in summer; closed Sun and holidays · €11

A family estate with a rare Holy Sepulchre-style chapel, a renewed museum in the almshouses and a garden.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Zeisterre · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Frietmuseum (Fries Museum)

Daily 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:15) · €12

Museum on the history of the potato and the fry, in a medieval house, with a fries bar to finish.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Ymblanter, turned & cut by Ulamm (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Lumina Domestica (Lamp Museum)

Daily 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:00) · €20

Museum of indoor lighting from torch to LED with over 6,000 lamps, entered through Choco-Story.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Marc Ryckaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

Diamond Museum

Daily 10:30–17:30 (polishing show 12:15) · €15

Museum on the history of Bruges as a diamond city, with a daily polishing demonstration.

Sint-Anna & Windmills

Photo: ArtProf · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Lace Centre (Kantcentrum)

Mon–Sat 09:30–17:00 (demonstrations 14:00–17:00) · €8

Museum and workshop in the Jerusalem almshouses where lacemakers demonstrate the bobbin craft every afternoon.

Sint-Anna & Windmills

Photo: EvanBrugge · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

Folklore Museum (Volkskundemuseum)

Wed–Sun 09:30–17:00 (also Tue until 2 Nov) · €8

Everyday life in Bruges in the 19th and early 20th century in a row of old almshouses, with a period grocer’s and school.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Marc Ryckaert · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia

BRUSK

Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 (09:30–17:00 from 3 Nov; closed Mon) · €20

Bruges’s new art hall next to the Groeningemuseum, opened in 2026 with large temporary exhibitions and a free-to-enter forum.

Markt & Burg

Photo: rene boulay · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Dalí Exhibition (Belfry Halls)

Daily 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00) · €10

More than 300 surrealist works, sculptures and design objects by Salvador Dalí, in the halls under the Belfry.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia

Brugse Vrije (Liberty of Bruges)

Sat–Sun 09:30–17:00 · €3

The aldermen’s chamber on the Burg with an oak-and-marble Renaissance chimneypiece honouring Emperor Charles V.

Churches

Markt & Burg

Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia

Basilica of the Holy Blood

Daily 10:00–17:15; relic veneration daily 14:00–16:00 (Fri also 10:15–11:00) · Free

Two chapels on the Burg: a Romanesque lower church and an ornate upper chapel holding the relic of the Holy Blood.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Wolfgang Staudt · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia

Church of Our Lady (Michelangelo’s Madonna)

Mon–Sat 09:30–17:00, Sun 13:30–17:00 (museum part with the Madonna) · €10

Brick Gothic church with a 115 m spire, Michelangelo’s Madonna and the tombs of Charles the Bold and Mary.

't Zand & Sint-Jakobs

Photo: Cmcmcm1 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

St Salvator’s Cathedral

Mon–Fri 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–17:30; Sat 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–15:30; Sun 14:00–17:00 · Free

Bruges’s oldest parish church and cathedral, with tapestries and Flemish primitives in its treasury.

Shopping under cover

Museum Quarter

Photo: Piet de Kersgieter · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia

The Chocolate Line

Tue–Sat 09:30–18:30, Sun–Mon 10:30–18:30

Dominique Persoone’s bold pralines, with small-scale bean-to-bar chocolate making to watch in the shop.

Museum Quarter

Photo: Marc Ryckaert (MJJR) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia

Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc

Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00 (closed Mon)

One of the oldest chocolate makers in Bruges, with pralines and truffles handmade in its own atelier.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Marc Ryckaert · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia

Chocolatier Dumon (Eiermarkt)

Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 12:00–17:00

Family chocolatier on the Eiermarkt selling fresh handmade pralines made to old recipes.

Food and drink

Museum Quarter

Photo: Spotter2 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

De Halve Maan brewery

Daily 11:00–18:00; guided tours through the day (book a time slot online) · €16

The family brewery of Brugse Zot and Straffe Hendrik: a 45-minute tour with a rooftop view and a beer at the end.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Queeste · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Bourgogne des Flandres brewery & distillery

Tue–Sun 11:00–18:00 (closed Mon; tours by booking) · €16

City-centre brewery of the red-brown Bourgogne des Flandres, with an immersive visit, a genever still and a canal-view bar.

Markt & Burg

Photo: BLloydT · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

Bruges Beer Experience

Daily 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00; bar and shop to 18:30) · €14

Interactive beer museum on the Markt where you smell, taste and touch the ingredients, then a bar with 16 draught beers.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Marc Ryckaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

The Bottle Shop

Daily 11:00–19:00

Specialist shop with hundreds of Belgian beers from abbey to lambic, plus gift packs and matching glasses.

More to see indoors

Markt & Burg

Photo: Adiel lo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia

Belfry (Belfort)

Daily 09:00–20:00 until 2 Nov (last entry 19:00); 3 Nov–31 Mar Mon–Fri and Sun 10:00–18:00, Sat 09:00–20:00 · €16

The 83 m medieval belfry with 366 steps up to a panorama over the roofs of Bruges, plus its carillon.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Marc Ryckaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

City Hall (Gothic Hall)

Daily 09:30–17:00 · €8

One of the oldest Gothic city halls in the Low Countries, with a painted vaulted hall and a history of Bruges and the sea.

Markt & Burg

Photo: Dominique Uyttenhove · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia

Historium

Mon–Fri and Sun 10:30–17:00 (Story last entry 16:00); Sat 10:30–20:00 · €22

A staged walk back to 15th-century Bruges with painter Jan van Eyck, plus an exhibition and optional VR flight.

Plan your trip → Put these places in a day plan with walking times.