I am planning a day trip to Bruges. I was looking at the map and I saw that the city seems really close by to the sea.
Is it easy to reach? is there public transportation? how long would it take?
I know some may consider this a bit more subjective, but is it worth going to the shore line? what should I expect there (beach, harbour, ...)?
This reply might not be useful to OP any more, but might be useful to someone else in the future.
In general, if you are curious about public transport in Belgium, you could just use Google Maps. The bus and tram schedules shown are pretty accurate. Trains are excluded though, so if you plan on travelling a larger distance, use our National Railway Company's website or our Flemish Bus and Tram company's website. Both include trains, buses, trams, basically all information regarding public transport. Pretty decent apps are available too if you want to search for information on the road. Search for NMBS (train) or De Lijn (bus, tram, subway in Flanders). They give nearby stops, departure times and itineraries can be calculated, basically any information you'd expect from such an app.
After querying it myself, going from Bruges to Blankenberge would take you about 30-40 minutes with bus 33. Bus tickets can be tricky, but you could use SMS tickets (number shown on most stops), buy one on the bus by asking the driver (more expensive and driver might not speak English, but is usually friendly regardless) or buy a 10-session-discount-card at local newsstands.
I'm not from around there, but as far as I know Blankenberge has a beach, Zeebrugge is a harbor, Knokke is the more poche part of the sea with richer people and a Casino, Het Zwin is a nature reserve, Bredene has a nude beach, Ostend is one of the larger sea-cities, etc... I think going to the shore is totally worth it and you could use the Kusttram or "Shore tram" to drive through cities along the shoreline.
Brugge is actually a seeaside town in itself, through Zeebruge, it's harbor, which is a full part of the city. Zeebrugge can be easily reached from Brugge by train, but so can Blankenberge, Knokke, Heist and Oostende. Oostende has the most frequent train service. There is a tram linking all the coastal resorts, so you could just go down to one, and return from another.
For train times: www.nmbs.be.
Maybe this might help someone in the future: I ended up going to Ostend, which is roughly 15 min away from Bruges. That was the last train stop, so instead of leaving in Bruge I just kept going. It's a coastal city as already mentioned. Meanwhile, while there, I discovered there is a Tram from Ostend to Zeebruge which might be an intersting tour. You can then return to Bruge from Zeebruge.
