Museums in Bruges: which to choose and what changes in 2027
TL;DR
- A ticket for the Groeninge Museum, St John’s Hospital or the Gruuthuse Museum costs € 15. Children under 13 go free everywhere, at the Belfry up to age 7.
- The Groeninge Museum closes on 11 January 2027 for four years of renovation. The core of the collection will then be on show at the BRUSK art hall.
- The Musea Brugge Card costs € 49 and gives 72 hours of access to all open Musea Brugge locations. From four visits it’s the cheaper option.
- On Mondays the Groeninge Museum, St John’s Hospital and BRUSK are closed. The Gruuthuse Museum closes on Wednesdays, the Belfry is open every day.
According to Musea Brugge, Bruges has one of the finest collections of Flemish Primitives in the world, and the main museums are a few hundred metres apart around the Dijver and Mariastraat. That makes them easy to combine. When it rains, we send our guests to the museums. Here’s what each museum costs in 2026, when it’s closed and what the big renovation of the Groeninge Museum means for your visit.
Groeninge Museum: open until 11 January 2027
The Groeninge Museum at Dijver 12 shows six centuries of Belgian art. The Flemish Primitives are the highlight, with work by Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Gerard David and Hieronymus Bosch. Further on you’ll also find Permeke and Magritte.
On 11 January 2027 the museum closes for four years for a complete renovation. So go this winter. The core of the collection then moves to BRUSK, the new art hall of Musea Brugge. Until then the Groeninge Museum is open in winter from 09:30 to 17:00, closed on Mondays. A ticket costs € 15, under 26 pays € 13, under 18 pays € 7 and children under 13 go free.
St John’s Hospital and Memling
St John’s Hospital on Mariastraat is one of the oldest surviving hospital buildings in Europe and dates back to the 12th century. Hans Memling made four of the seven works by him in the museum especially for this hospital, and the St Ursula Shrine stands in the hospital church.
In the attic, under an oak roof structure that is among the oldest in Europe, the Closer to Memling Experience brings the paintings to life with light and music. Children find their way there too. Afterwards you walk through the 17th-century pharmacy and the herb garden. A ticket costs € 15, the museum is open from 09:30 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays. Everything about the collection is on our page about St John’s Hospital.
Gruuthuse Museum: open on Mondays
The Gruuthuse Museum is the city palace of Louis of Gruuthuse and tells 500 years of Bruges history through tapestries, stained glass, lace and Burgundian manuscripts. The eye-catcher is the late 15th-century prayer chapel that links the palace to the Church of Our Lady and looks out over the church choir. In 2021 the museum won the Portimão Museum Prize as Europe’s most welcoming museum.
The Gruuthuse Museum closes on Wednesdays and is open as usual on Mondays, handy when the other museums are closed. A ticket costs € 15, a combined ticket with the Church of Our Lady Museum € 19.
Climbing the Belfry
The Belfry on the Market Square is 83 metres tall. You climb 366 steps to the top, past the treasury and the keyboard of the carillon with its 47 bells. On Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays the city carillonneur plays from 11:00 to 12:00.
There’s often a queue. Book a time slot online in advance, because the Belfry is the busiest Musea Brugge location. In winter (3 November to 31 March) a ticket costs € 15 on weekdays and € 16 at weekends. Under-18s pay € 13 or € 14, under 7 is free. The Belfry is open every day, Mondays included. More about the tower and the square on our page about the Belfry.
Musea Brugge Card: when does it pay off?
With the Musea Brugge Card you can visit all open Musea Brugge locations once each for 72 hours. The card costs € 49, or € 37 if you’re under 26 and € 25 if you’re under 18. It only starts at your first visit and you can use it up to a year after purchase.
Do the maths. Three museums at € 15 cost € 45 together, so the card is more expensive. From four locations, or three with BRUSK (€ 20) included, you save money. Children don’t need the card. Under 13 they go free everywhere. The card and time slots are sold on the Musea Brugge ticket page.
With a Belgian museum pass you book a time slot in the online ticket shop and show your pass at the desk.
Our rainy day in Bruges
If it rains all day, we combine St John’s Hospital and the Gruuthuse Museum. Both are next to the Church of Our Lady, a few minutes’ walk from each other. Afterwards, the tour at De Halve Maan is a dry way to finish, with a Brugse Zot at the end.
Better skip the boat trip that day. The boats are open, and in a long downpour the operators sometimes stop sailing, more about that in our article about the boat tour. From Den Eenink you take the bus into the centre, so you don’t have to look for a car park in the rain. Our calendar shows which dates are still free.
Frequently asked questions
The Belfry and the Gruuthuse Museum. The Groeninge Museum, St John’s Hospital and BRUSK are closed on Mondays. The Groeninge Museum and St John’s Hospital do open on Easter Monday and Whit Monday.
From 11 January 2027, for four years of renovation. Until then it’s open Tuesday to Sunday. During the works, Musea Brugge shows the core of the collection at the BRUSK art hall.
At Musea Brugge you pay € 15 for the Groeninge Museum, St John’s Hospital or the Gruuthuse Museum, € 15 or € 16 for the Belfry and € 20 for BRUSK. Children under 13 go free, at the Belfry up to age 7.
From four visits within 72 hours. The card costs € 49, a single ticket € 15 to € 20.
Only at the desk of the museum pavilion by the Gruuthuse Museum and in the central museum shop at Dijver 16. In the other museums you pay by card.
Stay 5 km from the museums
Book direct and get 10% off.