My wife and I will be staying in Brugges for 4 days in the middle of July and would like to take a day trip or two to one or more reasonably close breweries and Trappiste abbeys (particularly cafe de Vrede that serves Westvleteren 12). What other breweries or abbeys are within a day trip of Brugges? Thanks.
People tend to grossly over-estimate the size of Belgium. Basically, everything is a day-trip away from Bruges
Belgium is the size of Maryland. I live in Pennsylvania, you could fit four Belgium's in my state. And it helps that Brugge is in the upper part where most of the fun is.
It depends on what you want , the french part is more forest and hills and is a big difference with the flemish part , also has a few nice beers spots The flemish part is more flat and has the coastline , again a big difference with the french part Both have hitorical places , flemish part more medival and historical parts from the first worldwar , french part more from the second worldwar Both have trappist abbeys The most famous beers and bars are in Brussels , Antwerp , west vlaanderen and the rest of the flemish part of Belgium
St. Sixtus is indeed an easy ride. De Struise is close to St. Sixtus but the school is only open on Saturday (of course you can just visit the Struise shop in the Burg square in Brugge if you want takeaways). St. Bernardus is nearby St. Sixtus but you'd need to e-mail them about tour availability since I don't think it's a set schedule. You could also do De Dolle in the small town of Esen but I believe the only English tour is on Sunday. Rodenbach isn't too far away. And, really, even a place like Van Honsebrouck (aka Kasteel) is probably only 45 minutes even though its down near the city of Kortrijk. In sum, you'll have options. Just depends on what days you're visiting and what tastes you like.
In the same vein, are there any Trappist breweries (or others) that are readily accesible via train (or perhaps with a bike thrown in)? I travel solo and imbibe my share, so driving is right out... I will likely be based in Maastricht, in october, fwiw.... Thnx!
Brouwerij De Ranke is an easy day-trip from Brugge (I did it as a day-trip from Antwerp). Not much to see, but if you are a big fan of De Ranke, as I am, it is worth the effort. You will need to contact the brewery in advance to see if a visit is possible on the days in question.
