Bruges is the most perfectly preserved medieval city in Europe — a UNESCO World Heritage city of canals, belfries and chocolate shops that has been drawing visitors since the nineteenth century and still manages to feel, in the early morning or the evening, entirely itself.

The Markt and the Burg are the twin hearts of Bruges — the Markt with its belfry and its guild houses, the Burg with the Basilica of the Holy Blood and the Gothic town hall. The canal network that surrounds the old town is best explored by boat, and the view from the top of the belfry — 366 steps — is one of the finest in Belgium.

The Groeningemuseum has the finest collection of Flemish Primitive painting in the world — Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Gerard David and Hieronymus Bosch, in a collection of extraordinary depth and quality. The Memling Museum in the St John's Hospital, where Memling worked and died, is one of the most atmospheric museum experiences in Belgium.

West Flanders beyond Bruges has its own rewards: the battlefields of the Ypres Salient, where the First World War was fought in the mud of Flanders; the coast at De Haan and Knokke; and the hop fields of the Poperinge, where the Belgian beer culture has its roots. Bella Via designs West Flanders itineraries that combine the art of Bruges with the history of the Salient.

Bruges rewards those who arrive in the evening and stay long enough to find the city that the day-trippers never see.