Bruges lies a short distance from the main E40 motorway connecting Brussels with Ostend and Calais, and the E403 from Lille and Kortrijk to Zeebrugge. It is 100km (60 miles) west of the capital. The access roads from the motorway into the city centre can become extremely busy at times. Visitors arriving in the city by car are best advised to park in the multi-storey car park at the main railway station, which is a 15-minute walk from the centre. A free shuttle bus runs to the city centre; you can obtain tickets from the De Lijn office outside the railway station on production of the car park ticket.

De Lijn (tel: (070) 220 200; website: www.delijn.be) operates regional bus services to and from Bruges - scheduled direct routes connect the city with Ostend, Zeebrugge, Ghent and other destinations, while regular daily connections between Bruges station and Brussels South Station take around two hours. Autocars l'Elan (website: www.voyages-lelan.be) operates a four times daily shuttle bus service between Bruges and the low-cost airlines airport at Charleroi, south of Brussels.