Cemetery Tour of Bruges.

You really would think that a medieval city would have more than one graveyard to offer, but it turns out not only does Bruges seem to only have one, but its also very hard to find either online OR when you get into town. I'm not sure if maybe its just assumed no one would be interested, or if Belgium in general isn't big on cemeteries but it took me the better part of an hour to find any information on this beautiful graveyard anywhere online (eventually I found the address on a geocaching website?!) which is a shame because its a beautiful spot that I think more people should visit.

Beautiful copper beech and yew trees are everywhere, some patches are overgrown, some patches are beautifully manicured. I was touched by the impressive war memorial section and found a Harper amongst the Commonwealth Graves which was pretty amazing.

Not sure if we're related or not though.

It really is a shame more people don't make it out here. Its about a 20 minute walk from the Market Square and a really lovely break from the stressful tourist trap that is that part of town. We didn't really see a single other person on our walk out to or during our time in the cemetery. Bliss.

I feel obliged to give directions after the mission it took me to find them when researching this myself, so write this down. We took the scenic route down past the Minnewater and through the park to cross the bridge at the end of Katelijnestraat . Cross at the lights and follow Baron Ruzettelaan (keeping to the left hand side of the road) down through the suburbs and turn left onto Brugs-Kerkhofstraat - the Cemetery is right at the end of that road. (also look out for the bunnies and chickens on Brugs-Kerkhodstraat!) You need to turn right at the end of the street and follow the path along the wall to the entrance (which is actually on Kerkhofblommenstraat.)

Its a bit of a walk but well worth it. Considering how well kept it is and how informative some of the signs in the War Memorial section were I am really very surprised that it isn't on any of the 'to do in Bruges' lists, especially considering the list of things to actually do in Bruges runs out after a day or two.

100% my #1 Bruges pro-tip.
More info HERE