Bruges

Bruges is the capital of West Flanders, a small city of canals and brick Gothic that was one of the richest ports of medieval Europe. Then its inlet to the sea silted up, the city fell asleep for four centuries and kept its medieval face; the centre is a UNESCO site.

The belfry rises over the Markt, the Burg square holds the town hall and the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the Groeninge Museum and St John's Hospital keep paintings by Van Eyck and Memling, and the Church of Our Lady has a Madonna by Michelangelo. Boats go round the canals, and the quiet béguinage and the Minnewater lake lie at the southern edge.

It's one of the most visited small towns in Europe: in summer and at weekends the centre is shoulder to shoulder until the day-trippers leave in the evening, so stay the night and walk it early or late. Ghent is half an hour away by train, the sandy coast a quarter of an hour.

Eat stoverij, beef stewed in dark beer, with fries, mussels, waffles and pralines from one of the many chocolatiers, and try Brugse Zot at the brewery in the old town.