Last year, I sampled Ambassador Cruise Line for the first time, with a repositioning sector between Dundee and Tilbury via Newcastle onboard their smaller ship, Ambition. You can read about my experience last year onboard Ambition here – nothing has really changed apart from the fact that the ship has been in dry dock for nearly a month and now features some new fabrics in the restaurants.
Being onboard inspired the thought of going on a short Christmas market cruise this year, which was actually cheaper than getting the train to Bruges and staying a couple of nights in Bruges. Once again, as do most Ambassador cruises, leave from London International Terminal at Tilbury – relatively easy to get to from here (not really that much more so than going to St Pancras). If you go by car, there is a large car park – bookable at the time of booking the cruise, right opposite the cruise terminal, no distance at all.
For this cruise, it was over three nights – with a day in Bruges (actually docking in Zeebrugge), and a day in Amsterdam (actually docking in Ijmuiden – which is pronounced I-moo-den).
Ambassador Ambition
Arriving in Zeebrugge
When you arrive in Zeebrugge, you have a few different options. One being that you can book an organised excursion with the cruise line (there was also an MSC ship in port all day belching out black smoke!), which takes you away from heading through the main cruise terminal. With Ambassador, a day in Bruges, which is essentially just a coach, is around £50 each. Alternatively, the port offers a free shuttle bus from the port to Blankenberge, in order to connect to the railway network from there. I opted to just get the shuttle from the cruise terminal (as you can’t walk to the cruise terminal), where you can then go onwards from there. There is a coach to Bruges which you can prebook, or do as I did by walking to Zeebrugge train station, and getting the train from there, which takes about 20 minutes. In comparison, it cost E8.
Central Bruges
Bruges isn’t a very large place to visit, the walk from the train station to the centre takes about 15 minutes. I would note that many of the roads in the area are cobbled, just in case that’s a problem for you. The main route into the centre is also the main shopping street, with a number of big-name chains including Zara, H&M, C&A (if you remember them), along with a number of independent stores and chocolate shops. Of course, you’re in Belgium, so there are loads of Chocolate shops!
The main square in Bruges is where the main Christmas market is held. In comparison to the German ones I have been to its fairly modest in size, but there are the usual gifts, food and craft stalls. It’s quite atmospheric with the horses and carts making their way around the square – especially at my favourite time of day when the sun starts to go down.
Cafe Culture
Once you get outside the main tourist area, you really get a sense of how the locals live in Bruges. Although Belgium and Bruges have a long-held tradition of both beer and chocolate, it was the number of upmarket-looking coffee shops and cafes that struck me. There was something for everyone, and various different styles as well, but all looking as upmarket as Gails, or my favourite WatchHouse in London.
What you do also notice is how perfect everything looks. Outside of the central area, it’s lines of terraced houses, some two-storey, some three, all looking perfect, nothing run-down or unkept. There’s also no litter, no graffiti and from what I could see, nobody sleeping homeless either, which was a sharp contrast to Amsterdam. You get the sense that this is a lovely place to live, and therefore a lovely place to spend a few days.
The Windmills
If you venture a little further outside the centre of Bruges, you’ll find a canal and the Kruispoort, the old city gates and a collection of windmills. They sit on the old ramparts area in the Sint-Janshuismolen area on the Eastern edge of the city, which are spaced out along a grassy embankment overlooking the canal. There are four surviving historic mills – Sint Janshuismole, which is the oldest, Koeleweimolen – a corn mill rebuilt in the 18th century, Nueuwe Papegaai – a reconstruction from the 1970’s, and Bonne-Chieremolen, which was moved there in the 20th century.
They form part of Bruges’ medieval defence line, positioned as to where the mills once stood to serve the city, of course, without taking up real estate within the city walls, and a glimpse as to what Bruges was like before it became a major trading city.
Canals
Bruges grew around a natural tidal inlet, that once connected the city to the North Sea – of course that’s one of the attractions as to visiting the city on a cruise. As trade expanded, the waterways grew, which leaves the network we have today. Like you can have in many touristic cities, you can explore the canals for yourself on short boat rides – giving you a glimpse of private gardens, hidden courtyards and old warehouses that you can’t see from the streets.
If you’re interested in a mini-cruise with Ambassador, either during the winter like this to the Christmas markets, or one of their summer short cruises, contact us on:
☎️ 01442 879787
📧 yourdreamholiday@traveltimeworld.co.uk
🧑🏼💻 traveltimeworld.co.uk
📍 254 High Street, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 1AQ
