Bruges, verdict by verdict

Bruges is Europe's best-preserved medieval centre, all canals and stepped gables under a skyline the Belfry still rules, and it is exactly as lovely as the photos say. Climb the Belfry for the panorama over the Markt, take the canal boat for the gardens and facades the streets hide, stand in front of van Eyck's Madonna in the Groeninge, and drink the beer at De Halve Maan where it is brewed. The trick is timing: after the day-trippers leave, the city becomes a different, better place.

That is the real caveat. This is one of the continent's most visited small cities and prices match the demand: rooms price like the fairytale they face, the canal landings queue thirty to forty-five minutes at midday, the Belfry staircase narrows to single-file squeezes, and the museum card's spring price rise pushed its break-even to about four sites. Damme, the classic bike ride out of town, is lovely and over in an hour. Travelers wanting nightlife and a lived-in city will find Ghent fits better; Bruges empties after dinner.

One to two days covers everything on foot, and the flat canal towpath to Damme makes the easiest side trip in Belgium. Stay overnight inside the canal ring, walk the waterways at dusk when they belong to you, and accept stairs and cobblestone noise as the price of a canal-house room. Direct airport trains reach Bruges in about an hour and a half. It pairs perfectly with Ghent: the fairytale here, the living city there.