Bruges & Ghent day trip from Brussels

Bruges & Ghent are quite different although they are connected since the early middle ages. Ghent needed Bruges' port to transport the wool imported from England & Zeeland to produce linen; Bruges needed the traffic as the city had direct access to the ocean via the Zwin until about the 16th century. This made Bruges an important Hanseatic city, connected by the north sea with other Hanseatic cities in England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Russia. International trade & commerce was Bruges' core business, while Ghent produced high quality textile products to be exported. Both Flemish towns needed each other badly, but there was also a strong rivalry as Bruges became a sophisticated trading city; Ghent a working man city, the cradle of socialism in Flanders. Come and see for yourself the striking similarities and differences in architecture, attitude and character! Both cities are easy to combine from/to Brussels the same day.