The counters in Bruges worth queuing for: bread, pastry, and the morning ritual.
Bakery counters in Bruges worth queuing for: levain breads, laminated pastry, regional bakes and the morning ritual.
The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein in Bruges is Dominique Persoone's lab, where pralines run from caramelised shrimp-head to tree-to-bar Criollo cacao.
Tip: Watch the workshop through the back glass. Gault&Millau voted it Belgium's best chocolaterie in 2023.
Worth the queue: Tree-to-bar Criollo chocolate and unusual pralines
Dumon on the Eiermarkt in Bruges is a family chocolatier making fresh pralines daily from old family recipes. Small shop, short queues, serious chocolate.
Tip: Buy a small box fresh rather than a sealed tin; the pralines are best within days. Several Dumon shops exist; this is the flagship.
Worth the queue: Daily fresh pralines from old family recipes
Sukerbuyc on Katelijnestraat in Bruges makes its chocolates in the workshop behind the shop, so you watch the pralines finished, with a tearoom alongside.
Tip: The attached tearoom serves a proper hot chocolate. The workshop is visible from the counter.
Worth the queue: Pralines from the workshop behind the shop
Pol Depla on Mariastraat in Bruges has made chocolate since 1958 and produces the Brugs Swaentje, a praline tied to the Gruuthuse history of the city.
Tip: Ask for the Brugs Swaentje, the praline the shop is known for. Near the Church of Our Lady.
Worth the queue: Brugs Swaentje praline
Pralinette on Wollestraat is a family chocolatier behind one of Bruges' oldest facades, where master chocolatier Fangio De Baets hand-makes more than 80 pralines and truffles in the open workshop.
Tip: Watch the pralines being filled in the workshop at the back, then build a mixed box of the fresh-cream specialties.
Worth the queue: Hand-filled fresh-cream pralines
Maison La Confiance on Wollestraat in Bruges is a speculoos specialist, baking the spiced biscuit in eight variations alongside shortbread and butter cakes.
Tip: The plain speculoos is the classic; the variations make easy gifts. A short walk from the Belfry.
Worth the queue: Speculoos in eight variations
The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat in Bruges pairs a praline shop with a tearoom, where you stir your own hot chocolate from warm milk and cocoa buttons.
Tip: The make-your-own hot chocolate is the order; pick your chocolate by cocoa percentage. Near the Church of Our Lady.
Worth the queue: Build-your-own hot chocolate
Patisserie Schaeverbeke on Schaarstraat in Bruges is a neighbourhood patissier rated among the city's best, with laminated pastries, cakes and viennoiserie.
Tip: It sits east of the centre toward Sint-Gillis. Get there in the morning for the full pastry case.
Worth the queue: Seasonal patisserie and viennoiserie
Carpe Diem near the Begijnhof in Bruges is a long-running bakery and tearoom, with a case of cakes and pastries and some of the city's best waffles.
Tip: Buy a loaf or a pastry at the counter, or sit in the wood-panelled tearoom for a waffle.
Worth the queue: Brussels waffles and pastries