Bruges

[miss lumpy]

We too went from hull.
It cost £9 per night to park (or it did)
We've been in march, Oct and Dec for the Christmas atmosphere

they have a Costa Coffee Shop too

[Echo18]

Originally Posted by hols2florida

Its a 2 night P&O mini cruise from Hull. Boarding at tea time, travelling overnight & arriving in Bruges the following morning. Leaves again the sane night, back in Hull the next morning.

Just thought it would be something different.

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Ignore my comments they relate to P&O cruises. Have a fab time

[jdybnsn]

I can recommend the Segway tours - especially if you have kids - easy way to see & learn about the city ... and won't have the kids moaning !

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Echo18

If it's a two day P&O mini cruise my only word of warning would that these aren't like normal cruises. They tend to be booze cruises with lots of big parties of hen/stags/birthdays and having done a couple I probably wouldn't do with my kids. They actually take you to zeebrugge so you need to pay for an excursion to Bruges or take the shuttle bus to the next town and get a train and then walk into Bruges.

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Agree completely, we tagged on a 2 day mini-cruise before a 2 week med cruise. We were seriously considering going home after the first day it was so awful (ASBO families! ).

If we hadn't been on a number of cruises before this would have put us off for life. We will never do a min cruise again. Even the staff hate them!

If you like partying, drinking, large groups and "lively" banter you may enjoy it.

Bruges itself is lovely, very nice and we have visited a number of times.

[Darwen Bird]

Originally Posted by jdybnsn

I can recommend the Segway tours - especially if you have kids - easy way to see & learn about the city ... and won't have the kids moaning !

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Do they do Segway tours in Bruges now? I'll have to investigate that my next visit. I know they do them in Amsterdam though.

[jdybnsn]

Originally Posted by Darwen Bird

Do they do Segway tours in Bruges now? I'll have to investigate that my next visit. I know they do them in Amsterdam though.

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We went in 2012 - and they had them then (booked in advance via their website).
For anyone staying in Bruge they accept the (free) Bruges discount card, that you find at the Tourist Info Centre, and also at most hotel receptions. Even on pre bookings. Every little helps !

Segway was fun for the kids and informative for adults - its also a great way to cover alot of ground & orientate yourself quickly in a short space of time.

[Darwen Bird]

Originally Posted by jdybnsn

We went in 2012 - and they had them then (booked in advance via their website). )

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It's been a bit longer than that since I was last in Bruges

[LittleTibbs]

We've done the 2 4 1 deal to Bruge a few times now. I've never really felt like it was too noisy but maybe we go at a different time and are lucky. We don't drink so like the peacefulness - we've never really had a bad experience with it.

I would advise to upgrade to a cabin with a porthole rather than the inside ones as they are very very small. I suppose this depends on how you are with sleeping, my bf can sleep anywhere and he slept all through the night, I'm not as good at sleeping and was awake a few times.

Once you get to Zeebrugge you can get the coach transfer into the centre. It drops you off normally at the train station and it's a short walk into the centre. Last year we went in December and they had changed the pick up point on the way back (we normally stay one night in Bruge itself) and it was a little hit and miss to get to the port on time.

It's a great place to visit. Beautiful at Xmas also. The chip vans are awesome. We're waiting for the 2 4 1 to come back on and there's hopefully a few of us going - can't wait. Enjoy it

[ally1966]

Although we've never done a mini cruise, we did take DD & DS to Bruges when they were 5 & 7. There is quite a bit to do in the city itself. We climbed the Bell Tower, went on a horse & carriage ride, did a boat trip on the canal and a tour of the chocolate museum, all of which the kids enjoyed. They also loved the waffles and looking round the chocolate shops. We were there for 2 days and on the second day we went on one of the organised Battlefield tours. I wasn't sure that this was really for the children but it was something that DH wanted to do. They were actually really interested and I was glad that we'd done it!

I don't know what time of year you are planning to go but if it's later on, there is a Christmas market in the main square. However we preferred Summer as it was lovely to just wander round in the sunshine taking in the atmosphere and seeing the sites.

[hols2florida]

Such mixed opinions! Good to hear the positive ones from those who have taken children.

Would be looking at going in either October or April school hols. Think I just need to get it booked.

Thanks everyone.