Bruges Windmill Walk: Along the Ramparts

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1. 1. Canalview Hotel Ter Reien

   A good place to start a walk along the ramparts. 🏨 The Reien are the canals that give Bruges its shape, and this stretch is one of the quieter ones — mostly residents, a few boats. From here the ring of former city walls is an easy loop on foot, and the windmills sit along the top of it.

2. 2. Bruges by Boat

   All aboard. 🛥️ The canals show you the ramparts from below, which is the angle the city was actually built to be defended from. Boats run roughly half-hourly in season from several jetties in the centre; the trip lasts about half an hour and no booking is needed. Sit on the left going out if you want the canalside houses on your side.

3. 3. Bruges Beer Museum Bar

   Time for a beer break. 🍻 Bruges takes its brewing seriously, and the terrace here looks out over the water. If you want the local answer rather than the tourist one, ask for a Brugse Zot or a Straffe Hendrik — both are brewed in the city itself. Belgian beers run strong; a 9% tripel is normal and will catch up with you on a walking day.

4. 4. Blacksmith's Gate (Smedenpoort)

   The Smedenpoort, the smiths' gate. 🛡️ One of four medieval gates still standing out of the nine Bruges once had, dating in this form to 1368. Look up as you pass under: a small bronze skull is set into the arch, said to mark a man executed for trying to betray the city. Beyond it the ramparts continue as a green walking path.

5. 5. Gentpoort

   Next, the Gentpoort. 🚶 The gate on the road to Ghent, and the most complete of the survivors — you can still read the defensive logic in it: the narrow passage, the slots for the portcullis, the moat in front. It now holds a small museum on the city's fortifications. From here the rampart path runs on towards the windmills.

6. 6. Bonne-Chièremolen

   The Bonne-Chière mill. 🌾 It is the newest arrival on the ramparts and the one that travelled: built in 1888 near Ostend and moved here in 1911, when the city was reassembling the row of mills that once stood along the walls. It does not open to visitors, but it is the most photographed of the four. The embankment beside it is a good place to sit.

7. 7. Sint-Janshuismolen

   The Sint-Janshuismolen, and the one to go inside. ⚙️ Built in 1770 by a guild of local bakers, it has stood on this same spot ever since and still grinds grain when the wind is right. It opens seasonally, usually spring to autumn, and the climb up through the machinery is steep and narrow — worth it to see the millstones turning. The miller will explain the workings if you ask.

8. 8. Koeleweimolen

   Last of the four, the Koeleweimolen. 🏞️ It dates from 1765, was moved here in 1996, and grinds flour on open days in the summer months. This is the quiet end of the rampart walk — fewer people, and the view opens out over the canal and the fields beyond the ring. A good place to stop before turning back into the city.

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