The 5 Best Chocolatiers of Bruges, Belgium
Few cities offer as much history, fun activities, and food experiences as Bruges. This UNESCO protected site is a treat for both the mouth and the eye, with its stone-built canals, traditional restaurants, and art museums.
A great weekend destination for all types of travelers, Bruges offers its fair share of chocolatiers which does not simplify first-time visitors’ task to choose the best ones.
Find below a shortlist of 5 of the tastiest chocolate places in Bruges amateurs from all over the world cannot miss during their stay in the city.
Pralines, truffles, mendiants, orangettes, seashells, bars, biscuits, and other waffles, Bruges is home to the best pastry and chocolate makers in Belgium.
Read on to find out where to eat and drink chocolate, one of the best things to do in Flanders’ most romantic town.
1. Chocolate & Happiness
Chocolate & Happiness is one of the best chocolate shops in Bruges. Located 100 meters away from the famous Belfort in the center of the city, Chocolate & Happiness offers some of the tastiest pralines in town.
Operated by Gino and Sofie, the chocolates are made in their special workshop where chocolatiers select only the best ingredients and transform them into truffles, orangettes, and other delicious
Belgian chocolates. The cherry on top of the cake is Gino’s always on-point recommendations for the undecided!
2. Olivier’s Chocolate Shop & Bar
Olivier’s Chocolate Shop & Bar is as its name indicates, both a shop and a “bar” which makes the place an ideal spot for amateurs of beer, chocolate…and both!
Olivier crafts and sells all of the chocolates one can rightfully expect in a Belgian chocolate shop as well as small waffles and other biscuits dipped in chocolate.
Should they desire to sit, customers will have the chance to enjoy a real Belgian hot chocolate with dark, milk, or white chocolate as well as beers drowned from the 50+ list of Belgian beers Olivier proposes. A must-try in Bruges!
3. The Chocolate Line
The Chocolate Line is unarguably one of the most famous chocolatiers of Bruges. The particularity of this chocolatier is the fact that they make some of their chocolate entirely by themselves, from the cocoa bean grown in their own plantation, to the finished chocolate bar.
The secret ingredients they use in their recipe make The Chocolate Line’s chocolate bars a must-try for any chocolate amateur visiting Bruges. Their delicious hot chocolate is certainly worth the try as well.
4. The Old Chocolate House
The Old Chocolate House boasts itself as “the place to be to drink the best hot chocolate”. While plenty of pralines, truffles, handmade biscuits, and other gingerbreads are available in the shop, The Old Chocolate House originally started as a hot chocolate-only place.
The dedication of the local owner Françoise Thomaes has made The Old Chocolate House a reference in Bruges, where people from all over the world come to taste the chocolates and enjoy hot chocolate in the tea room.
5. Bruges’s Chocolate Workshop
Not exactly a chocolate shop, but much better!! The Bruges’s Chocolate Workshop is a 2h30 practical and concise course on chocolate making.
Accessible to anyone above 12 years old, participants learn the craft of pralines making and mendiant design.
Dynamic and informative, the workshop is interspersed with stories and fun facts about chocolate and chocolate making in Belgium.
At the end of the workshop, participants have the chance to taste and enjoy a delicious Belgian hot chocolate before going home with 30+ chocolates in their “ballotin” (boxes), a solid skill set to make their own pralines, and plenty of funny stories to impress their friends on Friday night.
Opened both during the week and the weekend, the Bruges Chocolate Workshop is a must-do for chocolate lovers in Bruges and one of the best activities proposed in the city.
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Photo credits: Photo by Salah Ait Mokhtar on Unsplash