Nightlife

For information on what to do after dark, get the free monthly brochure Exit and the free monthly newsletter Agenda Brugge from the tourist office, hotels, and performance venues. The monthly newspaper Brugge Cultuurmagazine, also free and available at these locations, is in Dutch, but its performance dates and venue details are fairly easy to follow.

The Performing Arts

The new, ultramodern Concertgebouw, 't Zand (tel. 050/47-69-99; www.concertgebouw.be), which opened in 2002, nicely in time for Bruges's reign as European Capital of Culture, is the main venue for opera, classical music, theater, and dance, all of which take place regularly throughout the year. This has left the Koninklijke Stadsschouwburg (Royal Municipal Theater), Vlamingstraat 29 (tel. 050/44-30-60), from 1869, the former principal venue for these events in Bruges, to back up the new mother-ship by mounting smaller-scale performances. Note that theater at both venues is likely to be in Dutch, or French, and rarely if ever in English.

Another important venue is the Joseph Ryelandtzaal, Achiel Van Ackerplein (tel. 050/44-86-86). Smaller-scale events, such as recitals, are often held at the Prinsenhof, Prinsenhof 8 (tel. 050/34-50-93), which used to be the palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, as well as at Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, Sint-Jakobskerk, and other churches.

Theater pieces -- mostly in Dutch -- are performed at theater Het Net, Sint-Jacobsstraat 36 (tel. 050/33-88-50), which also has a puppet theater, Marionettentheater Brugge, for what is a sophisticated, centuries-old art.

A different kind of theater is on the menu at Brugge Anno 1468 (Bruges Year 1468), Celebrations Entertainment, Vlamingstraat 86 (tel. 050/34-75-72; www.celebrations-entertainment.be), at the corner of Kipstraat. In the atmospheric setting of the neo-Gothic former Heilige-Hartkerk (Sacred Heart Church), from 1885, which belonged to the Jesuit Order, actors reenact the wedding of the duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, to Margaret of York. Jesters, minstrels, dancers, falconers, fire-eaters, and more do their various things while visitors pile into a four-course medieval banquet, "washed down" with copious amounts of beer and wine. Performances are April to October, Friday and Saturday from 7:30 to 10pm; November to March, Saturday from 7:30 to 10pm. Two admission packages are available: "Royal" and "Merchant." These are, respectively, 73€ and 57€ ($91 and $71) from November to March, and Friday April to October; 74€ and 59€ ($93 and $74) Saturday April to October; cost for children ages 11 to 14 is 50% of the adult rate; cost for children ages 6 to 10 is 13€ ($16); free for children under 6.

Live-Music Clubs

The locally renowned Cactus Club, Sint-Sebastiaan 4 (tel. 050/33-20-14; www.cactusmusic.be), presents an eclectic concert schedule of underground, rock, country, funk, jazz, and other music at its new, larger premises opened in 2004, Cactus Club@Ma/Z, Magdalenastraat, in the Sint-Andries district (and occasionally at other venues around town, including at the Concertgebouw). Try De Vuurmolen, Kraanplein 5 (tel. 050/33-00-79), for a raucous dancing-on-the-tables kind of night; it's open nightly 10pm until the wee hours. Ma Rica Rokk, 't Zand 7-8 (tel. 050/33-83-58), is another bar with dancing; it attracts a young techno-oriented crowd nightly 7pm to 4am (9pm-6am weekends). A good gay-friendly place is the bar/disco Ravel, Karel de Stoutelaan 172 (tel. 050/31-52-74), open Wednesday and Friday to Monday from 10pm. Vino Vino, Grauwwerkersstraat 15 (tel. 050/34-51-15), somehow manages to successfully combine Spanish tapas and the blues. For jazz, from bebop to modern, you can't do better than De Versteende Nacht, Langestraat 11 (tel. 050/34-32-93).

Bars

't Brugs Beertje, Kemelstraat 5 (tel. 050/33-96-16), is a traditional cafe that serves more than 300 different kinds of beer. 't Dreupelhuisje, Kemelstraat 9 (tel. 050/34-24-21), does something similar with jenever, stocking dozens of artisanal examples of this deadly art. Gran Kaffee De Passage, Dweersstraat 26 (tel. 050/34-02-32), is a quiet and elegant cafe that serves inexpensive meals.