Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals: Best Of Bruges Private Tour

Xavier was our guide. It felt as though we were walking through Bruges with a friend. We came in on the train from Paris. He texted us in advance to confirm our meeting spot. He wove history and current day events together seamlessly. His pride in his hometown was very evident. He was incredibly knowledgeable and would often circle back to connect the threads of what we had already learned. The tour was 2 hours but in reality, he spent at least 3 hours with us. We never felt rushed. He gave us suggestions about where to eat, where to buy the best chocolate, and which beers we should try. We asked lots of questions and he had all the answers. He was also very gracious in taking photos of us when asked. I would book another tour with Xavier in a heartbeat.

Martin, our guide, was fantastic. He was very knowledgeable and proud of Brugge. We did a 3-hour walk around this stunningly beautiful town. Worth it.

Artur was amazing. Very entertaining and engaging! He gave us so much great information on the history of Bruges!

Hugo is a great guide. Took us around pointing out the history and showing us places with very few tourists. Even bought us beer and sausage at the oldest pub in town. Great experience.

Artur was on time and provided interesting information about Brugge. My experience with the With locals team has been excellent across Europe.

Great guide. Really enjoyed.

I received a confirmation by text 24 hours in advance. Apparently at the same time a message was sent to ny trip advisor account canceling the event. We got up early and waited 20 minutes for our tour guide to find out the trip was cancelled when I dug deeper to find out what was happening. Very disappointed in the communications. If they could text me to confirm they can text me to cancel!.

We had an amazing time with Lavigna and would recommend this tour to anyone. She was very knowledgeable and friendly! Both the kids and adults enjoyed this tour.

Our guide Ann communicated with us prior to our tour so she knew all the hidden gems we wanted to see. She was knowledgeable and thorough. She didn’t rush us through our private tour and we stopped for a snack to relax a bit. It was a wonderful experience

Arthur was an excellent guide. He clearly loves the city and enjoyed showing us some of his favorite spots and teaching us some interesting and nontraditional history. He pointed out things we’d already seen, but didn’t realize what we had been looking at which for us is the definition of hidden gems. Some funny stories and a really good few hours. Would definitely recommend.

Great job very knowledgeable and fun. Keep in mind our requests and showed us very interesting places.

This was a really great tour and we enjoyed it a lot. Hugo was very personal and we learned so much. Much better than the huge tour groups. Personalized and really great.

Notwithstanding the crowds we were able to see a good bit of Bruges. Our guide was knowledgeable, professional and friendly.

Great to get out of the busy tourist areas and see where people live. Hitting a great old bar from the early 1900 for a hot chocolate and beer was fantastic.

Artur was a fantastic tour guide. We only had 1/2 a day and one night in Bruges and so we wanted to get the most out of it. Artur knocked it out of the park for us. Before he even met up with us, he’d sent us a list of things we could do with before the tour to maximize time. Then his tour took us through the highlights and gems of Brugge and we felt like we knew the city by the end. He also showed us his favorite spots and helped us avoid the more touristy places. We were able to buy some chocolates and gifts that were great value compared to other places. After the tour, he recommended a few places including an awesome little bar that serves their own beer (awesome) that we would never have found on our own. We actually walked past it and had to double back to find the alleyway leading to the entrance. All in all Bruges has been our favorite place on our trip and Artur is a big part of that.

We had an amazing walking tour with Martin. He kept us captivated for three hours as he explained the history and legends of Bruges. He also gave us recommendations for restaurants, shopping, etc. We will definitely return to Bruges and definitely use Martin as our guide again!

My experience on this tour was wonderful. The tour lived up to its expectations with finding hidden gems in Bruges. Our tour guide Arthur was well informed and knowledgeable about the sights and landmarks seen. I strongly recommend this tour.

Amazing tour with Nathan. You can tell he loves his city and enjoys sharing it with others. Very knowledgeable about the known and quirky history.

We had a fantastic private tour of Brugge with Ann. She arrived on time, provided clear instructions on how to identify her, and even brought a small welcome gift—a thoughtful touch! As a lifelong resident of Brugge, Ann shared her knowledge of the city in a calm and engaging manner that suited our family perfectly. She was incredibly patient, especially with one of our kids who needed frequent bathroom stops. Ann ensured we maximized our single day in Brugge, covering key sights while keeping the pace manageable. The tour wrapped up with a drink and snack, giving us time to chat about her own travels—a delightful ending to a memorable experience. Highly recommend!

Very interesting and enjoyable tour with Tom, thouroughly recommend it.Afterwards you understand its people, it was vey good.

Nathan was very knowledgeable and lives in Bruges so knows it very well. His style of tour is a personal one and he clearly loved doing the tour for us as we did having him show us round. He has a good sense of humour which is also part of the reason why we enjoyed his tour. We found all of the information very useful for the remainder of our stay in Bruges. We would recommend Nathan for your tour.

Ann took us on what felt like a comprehensive tour of Bruges, including the major highlights where many of the visitors were seen, as well as some behind-the-scenes places the different guild houses, etc. from the past history of the city. We walked in to both the Gothic and Romanesque chapels of the Church of the Healing Blood. We also went into St. Mary's Church. Ann gave us restaurant recommendations including catering to our gluten-free needs. We had an enjoyable lunch in the old brewery.

A great personal tour of this amazing city. Artur was very knowledgeable and showed us all the sights with lots of great entertaining g stories. Highly recommend- a great way to experience the city.

Had a great tour and guide (Martin). Showed us around, which was great as it was private so only our small group of 3. Showed us some hidden gems and even ended with a great beer!

Artur was very enthusiastic about Bruges, knowing the history well, and also the fun places to check out

My wife and I had a private guided tour with Artur. Artur is knowledgeable, charming, and accommodating. His wry sense of humor will leave you smiling. Highly recommend. Matt and Marie

Never had the tour as the person who was assigned to do the private tour( and was confirmed in writing over a month in advance) was given a group of 16 people who paid nothing but optional tip and viator cancelled my booking last minute!!! While I was credited the fee I paid- this was terrible!!!

Bruges is a delightful city, full of life and delights. It’s very walkable and easy to navigate. Can’t recommend it highly enough.

I booked a private tour with Artur. He customized it to provide what we needed and for the time we needed. Artur is very attentive and thoughtful. We all appreciated his storytelling skills. He was enthusiastic and engaging. We appreciated everything he prepared for us!

We really enjoyed our tour with Tom. He was friendly and sincere from the moment we met him. We left the tour with so much interesting information about Bruges that left us wanting to return for a visit! The pace of the tour was perfect. The sights were varied and interesting. We can highly recommend Tom as a local guide. He is kind and very good at what he does. Thank you!

Most reviews of this tour are very positive, naming particular guides. But we got a former Occupy Wall Street protester - an American (Mike?) - who gave as the most bizarre “history” of Bruges. He saw Masonic symbols in all the churches, built long before Freemasons came to Belgium, railed at the “mafia” figures he alleged were behind Bruges’ decline (naming as chief villain Louis de Gruuthuse, a fascinating figure of whom he told us nothing). He gave a totally false account of the legend of the city swans and missed pointing out things like the tomb of the wife of Maximilian even when we were in the church in which she lay. Also missed: the significance to the city of the relic of the Holy Blood. Nor did we get an explanation for the astonishing rise of Bruges, or much else, including its art. We were not offered the advertised sample of food or drink, and Mike (?) did not accompany me to the Michelangelo statue because he had forgotten his wallet and presumably free pass. In fact, we even paid for a small gift he wanted for his son. We did get a lengthy account of his own history, which was not what we paid for, and he was a couple of minutes late besides. All that said, Bruges is so lovely that nothing can spoil it and Mike showed us some nice things and was perfectly pleasant. In fact, he googled for answers to questions we asked about what we saw, and adopted the tour to our wishes as we went. My tip: I’d you take this tour, see if you can get one of he guides who gets the rave reviews.

Sebastian was a wonderful guide. His experience and stories truly brought Ghent to life for us. The private tour was an incredible way to learn the history of not only Ghent but also Belgium and more! It was such a special day!!!

Ann, our guide was very knowledgeable and personable. She brought Brugge to life. She recommended spending more time at the sights we only had time to pass by.

Our guide was fabulous. We learned so many interesting details about Bruges. Great tour. Highly recommended. .

Nathan was wonderful. He catered the tour to our preference, but also told us so many interesting facts about the history of the city and its people. We feel in love with Bruges by watching the movie “In Bruges” so we came from the United States to see it firsthand. Nathan showed us where scenes from the movie were filmed and also told us things about the filming of the movie. He surpassed our expectations! Thank you, Nathan!!

Artur was very knowledgeable and pleasant. He brought history to life. He also pointed out great restaurants and places to visit our next day.

Artur was friendly and his enthusiastic delivery of the history of Brugge was a pleasure to behold. Artur made us welcome and we had a great time. I'd been to Brugge a couple of times before but he took us places and gave us the history of areas I had never explored. He was happy to answer any questions and a change to his timetable was accommodated by Artur contacting me well in advance and offering to pick us up at the station if necessary. To top it all off he took us to a fantastic waffle house as a result I've had my mind changed about this Belgian delicacy. Thank you Artur and if we are ever here again we'll certainly book another of your tours.

Arthur was a delightful and informed guide through the historic center of Bruges. We tasted lovely chocolates and waffles!

We booked two tours with 'With Locals' and what a great decision that turned out to be!! Such passion and story telling from Artur, our host, throughout the tour and beyond with many suggestions for great places for dinner and beers! Artur is a very interesting character and we enjoyed his company very much and looked forward to our beer tour on the following day! Would very much recommend getting to know both Bruges and Artur when visiting this beautiful city.

Tom took me and my daughter on a three-hour tour of the city on our first morning in Bruges. It was the perfect start to our 3-day visit. He was expert, enthusiastic, friendly and delightful. His English is perfect. We could not recommend the experience more highly. It certainly was the Best of Bruges

Our guide, Ann, was very knowledgeable with the culture & history of Brugge and showed us many of the popular locations, as well as a few off the beaten path. We enjoyed our tour very much.

Ann was such a wonderful tour guide and I learned so much about her beautiful city of Bruges from her! I had her all to myself on this tour and sometimes that can be a bit tricky. I truly felt like I was having a personal tour with a friend during the entire time with Ann! She is very knowledgeable about the city as well as warm, friendly, and clearly has a love of her city. I highly recommend Ann and would have absolutely no doubt in saying you will have a great experience with her!! Thank you man for everything, she even drove me to the train station!

We loved the private to ur with Patrick...especially taking us to the non-touristy areas of the city where we could really appreciate the history and architecture in a peaceful setting.

Patrick was so knowledgeable and walked us through the streets, explained everything about Michael Angelo. The hotel and many many other interesting facts about the buildings and structures he was worth his money and top notch.

We had a great, interesting Tour of Bruges with Nathan, we can highly recommend to take tours with hin. He knows a lot about his hometown and points out unique points we would have missed without him! he is very friendly and Funny, perfect guide!

Nathan was an excellent guide He was knowledgeable about Bruges and the sites we visited His friendly manner, his sense of humor and his attention to our group made for an outstanding experience We did a lot of touring on our trip and Nathan was the best guide we worked with We recommend him without hesitation

We are so glad we booked this tour with Patrick. We easily found him at the designated meeting location. We saw so many incredible sites and learned so much we never would have on our own. Our time was so well spent. His tour was a definite highlight of our vacation and I highly recommend him. You will not regret it!

Understanding the history from the Vikings to the change in the sea. It was nice having a private guide to go at our pace and see as much as possible

We enjoyed our visit with Patrick and the walking tour he guided. He is very knowledgeable and friendly. We found him to be very informative, patient, and shared with us many of the highlights Bruges had to offer. We’ll be at Christmas, per his recommendation!