Being in ‘In Bruges’

When planning holidays and short breaks my husband and I draw from our pool of combined interests and ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ list, as well factoring in our budget and time restraints. For our fifth wedding anniversary, in the summer of 2024, we thought we would do a city break in Europe to somewhere neither of us had been to, but very much liked the look of. We chose the Belgian city of Bruges, romantic, plenty of culture and interesting beers – very us.

Being a special occasion, we treated ourselves to a more expensive hotel that we would usually budget for – the 4-star Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce Hotel. Why this hotel? It was the location used in the film ‘In Bruges’ where the two main characters, hit men Ray and Ken, played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, hide out after a botched job. Yes, we chose to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary location spotting a film that features assassins, very black humour, a racist dwarf and a couple of manky hookers… 

‘In Bruges’ is a 2008 film that was written and directed by Martin McDonagh, inspired by his own stay in the Belgian city.  It’s a dark comedy set in a wintery Bruges, with great performances from Farrell, Gleeson and also Ralph Fiennes. I only got introduced to it a few years ago and it’s one of those films you can rewatch and notice something different each time.

The hotel appears throughout the film, and in 2024 is easily recognisable, a little posher perhaps than it appeared back in 2008. I’d been able to book the cheapest, smallest room they had which turned out to be more than adequate. The receptionist was very nice as he gave us the key to “ah, yes, the charming room” (I took that as code for cheap!). I was pleasantly surprised there were elevators in the old 16^th century building and it took us up to the 3^rd floor – they’re so small though the receptionist had to take the stairs to meet us at the door to the room!

Our room can be seen in the picture below – we were right at the top. Through the small window we had a view of the canal and from the bathroom a view of one of the most well-known bars in the city, the 2be Bar with it’s famous ‘beer wall’. With a comfortable bed and even a chaise longue, it was indeed rather “charming”.

The hotel is in a very central location and after only a few minutes’ walk we found ourselves in places already familiar to us from having watched the film. Many of the locations are quite close together, so we bagged a few before on our first evening exploring the city was over. My husband had fun pretending to be Ralph Fiennes’ character as we made our way through the Fish Market and cafes!

The next morning my husband Andy was very keen to get down to breakfast in the hotel early, in the hope of bagging the actual ‘In Bruges’ table where Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson’s characters had breakfast in the film. He was quite chuffed when he took Gleeson’s spot, and I sat opposite where Farrell had sat – it’s the best table in the restaurant as it’s in the corner and overlooks the canal. We opened our anniversary cards as we were served scrambled eggs and bacon, followed by our first Belgian waffles. It was amusing to us that by simply having breakfast at that table we were recreating exactly what the characters were doing in the scene, in the exact same location.

Our first stop of the day was the Belfort clock tower, which we wanted to climb as it features quite significantly in the film. The weather was rather overcast and after climbing to the top we found it was quite wet and windy in the exposed belfry. It was easy to see why the belfry was recreated as a set in the film, it’s quite confined, and you can’t actually see over the balcony to look down on the square, as you do in the film -the wall is too thick. 

We then visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood – which sort of featured in the film, the filmmakers couldn’t get permission to use the actual basilica, so they substituted it with another church that we visited later in the day.

Only a short walk from the centre of the city was Koningin Astridpark. A pleasant enough city park, which wouldn’t have been particularly worth visiting if it wasn’t another ‘In Bruges’ location. We enjoyed finding the bandstand and children’s play area and comparing screenshots as we tried to match up where Colin Farrell’s character Ray nearly commits suicide (did I mention this was our wedding anniversary celebration?) The bandstand, although repainted, was still recognisable but the play area had been replaced with new equipment and was quite different.

We walked out of the main city centre to find the Jerusalem Church which doubled for the Basilica of the Holy Blood. It’s privately owned, which probably explains how they got filming permission. It’s a fascinating chapel with a distinct altar. We took lots of photos when we had it to ourselves. It’s a beautiful space and lovely place to explore. There was also a museum and an unexpected Scottish tearoom in the grounds.

For our anniversary meal we booked a 9pm table at a restaurant called Dilligence Restaurant, of course another ‘In Bruges’ location. It’s in the bar where Ray and Ken encounter the dwarf actor and his ‘companion’ and have a rather drug fuelled evening. We were seated upstairs and enjoyed nothing more exciting than a rather nice bottle of wine and a local beef stew with fries. I managed to grab a picture of the lower bar used in the film.

The restaurant’s menu has a QR code to scan and watch the scene that was shot there. There’s also a small display in the window where they proudly highlight their use as a location.

For our second morning in Bruges we took a boat trip along the canals, as the characters do in the film. Fortunately for us we had glorious sunshine as we cruised along in a packed boat. Lasting about an hour, the trip cost €15 each and was well worth the money. Our Captain, called Sam, was very entertaining – speaking easily in French, English and Belgian. It was fun to cruise past our hotel and have it mentioned in the commentary. The Captain said he’d been working in the restaurant opposite during the filming of ‘In Bruges’ and saw the stunt where Collin Farrell’s character jumps from his bedroom window. 

Back on land we visited the Groeningemuseum art gallery, again mainly because it features in the film. It’s definitely worth a visit solely for the very impressive collection of early Belgian art and some interesting contemporary stuff. We recreated scenes from the film, taking pictures in front of Hieronymus Bosch’s “Last Judgment”. A few months later I was in a gallery in Manchester and caught myself mentally tutting at some young girls posing and taking ‘Instagram pics’ by artworks, not really looking at the art… then I realized, I was being a hypocrite!

After our culture fix, we took a longish walk heading towards the outskirts of the city, looking for the tower and Minnewater Bridge featured in the film. We had to do a detour to go around the ‘Cactus’ music festival which had taken over a large part of the city’s main park. Eventually we got there, but couldn’t go all the way across bridge due to the festival.

Back in the centre of the city we wandered around the outside of the Gruuthusemuseum, which we knew was used as the backdrop for dramatic scenes in the film’s finale. It looked a little different, as there was a large grass mound in the courtyard that was part of an art exhibition, and a small visitor centre appears to have been built by since the 2008 filming. The museum itself is worth a walk around, and it’s included in the 3-day museum pass we used during our stay.

Later in the evening we spotted that the Hotel De Tuilerieën, not far from the entrance to the Gruuthusemuseum and short walk from our hotel, had signed, framed photographs in their entrance. On closer inspection we recognized many of the cast of ‘In Bruge’ so I think it would be fair to assume that they may well have stayed there, as it was a very convenient location.

On our last day we had a late flight, so when we checked out of the hotel we asked to leave our bags at reception, then we were going to grab some breakfast elsewhere. The lady at reception, who I think might have been the manager, asked if we’d like a coffee before we left. We took the opportunity to have one final sit at ‘that’ table. We were offered the remaining pastries from breakfast too, which was a bonus! I asked the manager if she could take our picture at the table. She mentioned it featured in ‘In Bruges’ and we told her it was one of the reasons for our trip. Before we left I flicked through the visitor’s book and saw a few past guests had commented about the film too. It was reassuring to know we weren’t the only ones!

As I was wrote a few lines in the book myself I could see the manager checking something at the reception desk. She then casually asked if we’d like to see the actual bedroom used in the film. Of course we jumped at the chance! Andy had suspected the hotel room scenes had been filmed on a set, like the belfry tower, but no – they had indeed been filmed in a large room on the 1^st floor. The room had changed significantly since filming. It was much more upmarket, with a massive luxurious bed. I would suspect it’s probably the most expensive room in the hotel.

We were reliably informed that Olivia Newton John once stayed in the room when she visited the city. The hotel manager stayed by the door as she let us take pictures and take it all in. Andy was even allowed to open one of the windows that Ray would have jumped out of! The manager said she was working there when they did some of the filming and saw Collin Farrell but she had been far too shy to interact. 

It was a totally unexpected treat, and we were extremely grateful for the generosity of the manager. I think we were just lucky with the time we were leaving and the fact that the room was empty of guests that morning. We can’t recommend the hotel enough, it’s also quite nice to stay in a building that often features on the cover of tour guides and postcards.

We enjoyed a leisurely day wandering the non ‘In Bruges’ parts of the city and then headed to the train station to travel back to Brussels Airport. The train station just happened to also be an ‘In Bruges’ location, it’s where Ken puts Ray on a train to try and get him out of harm’s way. It’s been renovated over the years, so it doesn’t look quite the same.

Would we have enjoyed our time in Bruges if it wasn’t for the ‘In Bruges’ connection? I’ve no doubt we would have, but as film location geeks it was great fun using it as a way of exploring the city. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, you often end up in places you otherwise wouldn’t have ventured to if not for it being used in a film or TV show. Those few nights ‘In Bruges’ were a lovely way to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We need to start planning our next!

Here are a few more ‘In Bruges’ pictures we took in the hotel when it was quiet!

A few other ‘In Bruges’ spots;

The bench scene at Jan Van Eyckplein with the Jan Van Eyck statue behind – there is no bench, it was a prop.  

Market Square – we tried to get a few shots where Ken and Harry talk.

Zwart Huis Bistro – this features in the film when our leads go out for a pint and a “little gay beer”. Sadly it wasn’t open during the time of our visit.

Restaurant Cafedraal – We could have gone, but the menu choices didn’t appeal much (lots of fish). Instead we ended up in an Irish bar watching the Euro 2024 final!

I highly recommend checking out this blog; https://almostginger.com/in-bruges-filming-locations/ which was very useful when planning our location hunting and it has a really good map. Prepare in advance as much as you can, it’s always a good idea to have some screenshots ready for reference when you’re there.

My top 5 tips when visiting Bruges.

• Get the Museum Pass – 72-hour Musea Brugge Card https://www.museabrugge.be/en/museabruggecard
• Be extremely wary of the tourist horse and carts – even when you’re where you should be they don’t really care if you get in their way!
• Use the ‘Kiss & Ride’ bus to and from the train station – it’s so much easier than walking over uneven streets with suitcases – we learnt that on the way back.
• Have a drink in ‘Yesterday’s World’ – a quirky little bar set in an antique shop!
• Have a meal at ‘Delaney’s Irish Pub & Restaurant’ – perfect for watching sports, but when we visited the bar staff couldn’t pour a decent pint of Guinness!