From the 27th of March till the 21st of July, you can visit a remarquable exhibition about Charles The Bold (Karel De Stoute). The duke who wanted to be a king, was an ambitious man who lived at a crossroads in European history. In his dreams, he saw a new Burgundian empire which stretched from Bruges to Dijon. He raced from one war to the next, but soon became the victim of his own ambition, dying on the battlefield of Nancy at an early age. During his short life, Charles became one of the richest princes in Europe, the personification of the pomp and pageantry of the Burgundian court and a renowned patron and exponent of the most refined culture of his day. The exhibition focuses the spotlight on this important figure in European history. The Bruges Groeninge Museum will once gain show the pomp and pageantry of medieval Burgundy in all its glory, as seen through the eyes of the Flemish Primitives and as reflected in a collection of magnificent Burgundian artefacts, loaned from major museums all over the world. These artefacts include paintings, suits of armour, tapestries, manuscripts and masterpieces of the goldsmith’s (and silversmith’s) art. The Church of Our Lady (containing the monumental tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy) acts as a second exhibition location.

Together with my colleague of fietsroute.org (Belgian Cyclist-site), I created an ‘In Bruges’-walk. It’s a 6 km (3,7 mile) long walk in the historic centre of Bruges along the main filmlocations used in the movie ‘In Bruges’.

You can find the map over here: Bruges-movie-walk

For those people who aren’t familiar with the city of Bruges, here are some pictures from ‘In Bruges’ and a link to maps.live.com where you can see where it’s shot:

• The hotel where Ray and Ken stayed (click to view 3D map). The hotel does really exist, it’s the ‘Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce’-hotel. Not all hotel-scenes were filmed over there, they also made a hotel-set that looked less fancy than the real hotel.
  
  Some pictures of the real ‘in Bruges’ hotel:
  
  
  
  Look at the hotel from the ‘Rozenhoedkaai’ (360° view Rozenhoedkaai):
  




• The ‘Groenige’-museum Ray and Ken visited (they call it ‘Gruuthuuse’ in the movie):
  
  Entrance Groeninge-museum:
  

Photograph rights movie pictures: Focus Features

10 reasons why you really should visit Bruges at least once in your life:

1. It is the most well preserved medieval city in Belgium
2. If you like good food, then Bruges is the place to be. There are a lot of excellent restaurants and it even got one with 3 Michelin-stars (De Karmeliet)
3. If you like good food, then you probably like a good drink too. We can recommend you the local beer ‘Brugse Zot’. It already won a lot of prices. You can visit the brewery (De Halve maan) and taste the beer afterwards in the bar.
4. If you like a good drink, then you certainly need to visit the oldest bar in town (café Vlissinghe). It exists since the 16th century. Really a must-see!
5. If you like (older) art, you can visit the ‘Groeningemuseum‘. It has a worldfamous collection of the Flemish Primitives, with masterpieces by Jan Van Eyck, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling and Gerard David. Here you can find some examples of the collection.
6. For a beautiful panoramic view of the city of Bruges, you need to climb the 366 steps of the Belfry. It has an impressive clock mechanism and a carillon with 47 bells. The Belfry has an important role in the movie ‘In Bruges’.
7. You can make a beautiful walk around the city and visit one of the 4 remaining medieval gates (Ezelpoort, Smedepoort, Gentpoort and Kruispoort)
8. Bruges has a lot of chocolate shops. Take a walk on ‘The Chocolate Walk’ – A chocolate trail that takes in all the finest chocolate shops of Bruges.
9. Probably the most romantic place in Bruges is the ‘lake of love‘ (’Minnewater’ in Dutch). It’s the former harbor of Bruges and now a peaceful and very romantic place.
10. ‘The church of our lady‘ is the tallest structure in the city. It’s also the second tallest brickwork builing in the whole world (122,3m). The altarpiece of the large chapel in the southern aisle enshrines the most celebrated art treasure of the church—a white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo around 1504.