We stopped in Veurne, Belgium on our way back to London from Bruxelles. When we came from London to Bruxelles, I did notice the old church steeples from the freeway and thought that it would be a nice stop on the way back. So, that’s what we did on the way back to London. It ended up being a great place to stop and allow the kids to run around a little bit. We spent about four hours walking between the old building and visiting the old churches in the old center of Veurne. Read on to find out why we liked visiting Veurne, Belgium.
Veurne is second on my list of day trips from Brussels. We found Veurne’s old town simply delightful to visit and very easy to walk through. Let’s go together on a slow walking tour of Veurne.
My favorite tourist attractions in Veurne, Belgium
The main attraction in Veurne is the large and beautiful square in the middle of old town. We enjoyed lunch at one of the beautiful local restaurants and we visited two nearby churches. Veurne is small and easily walkable which makes it for a great tourist stop.
The Big Square – Grote Markt is a beautiful square with beautiful Renaissance type buildings. It has been recognized as one of the most beautiful central squares in Belgium.
The old churches – visit the Saint Walburga and Saint Nicholas churches are beautiful to visit. These churches are great examples of Gothic architecture.
The Walburga Park is a nice quite place right behind the Big Square.
Walking tour map of Veurne, Belgium
See my photos from Veurne
1. Grote Markt (Big Square)
Veurne, Belgium is a small town, and its historical center is even smaller. However, it is only appropriate to start our walking tour of Veurne right in the heart of town, in Grote Markt. It is quiet and not very crowded which was a great change for us coming from Brussels. In particular, Grote Markt is a beautiful medieval square with historical buildings very well preserved. It has been recognized as one of the most beautiful central squares in Belgium, so take time and soak in the architecture.
Veurne, Belgium – Grote Markt is the beautiful main square in Veurne.
See my photos from Veurne
2. Old churches
We continue our walking tour of Veurne by stepping in between the old buildings in Grote Markt you will discover the Church of Saint Walburga and the small and quiet Walburga Park. The Church of Saint Nicholas, located in the other corner of Grote Markt was also a great place to visit. Both churches have beautiful interior, and especially intricate woodworking.
Veurne, Belgium – Saint Walburga church seen from the Walburga Park.
See my photos from Veurne
How to get to Veurne, Belgium
The easiest way to get to Veurne, Belgium is by car. It is located right by the E40 freeway coming from Calais to Bruges or Bruxelles. It takes about 10 minutes from the motorway to get to the center of town.
Map of Veurne, Belgium and surrounding area.
View Larger Map
I need to mention here a word of warning about parking. While parking is free and abundant, you have to get an blue paper clock sign to indicate the time when you parked. You have to display this thing if you don’t want to get a ticket. The only place to get it is in the Tourist Information office which is right there in the Big Square. There were no signs however where to get this piece of paper and I did get a ticket which I couldn’t pay online (even though I tried). They do argue that this parking policy is all over Europe, but I have never seen it in the seven countries I have visited. Just be warned.
Is it worth visiting Veurne, Belgium?
We thought Veurne was a great stop on our way to Bruges or Brussels coming from London. Veurne is definitely not on the tourist path, and the town is quiet and lovely to visit. I don’t think it’s worth spending more than a few hours however, since besides the Grote Markt large square and its medieval buildings, there is not much else to see. But this square in Veurne is indeed remarkable because the old buildings are very well preserved. We loved our walking tour of Veurne!
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What happened abut the ‘parking ticket’? Just asking as I got one too.
I tried paying it online but it didn’t work. I wrote them an email explaining and asking about their confusing signs and they told me it is all over Europe…which is not true. So nothing happened to the ticket in the end since I couldn’t pay it. My suggestion is to simply ignore it.
It is worrying as we have always been so careful about paying for parking when abroad. We went to several other Belgian towns that day and simply put the money in the machine and everything was OK. We’ve never seen this system of parking in any other Belgian town and we’ve been going there for 25 years.