I think we’re terrific travellers, but terrible tourists.

We don’t like crowds, can’t seem to find much enthusiasm for museums, and the thought of standing in a queue usually has us walking straight past. Boats, buses, horse and carts… they’re just not really our thing.

Maybe it’s because we arrive by bike.

When you cycle through a country, you don’t just see the destination, you get to experience everything in between. The villages, the back streets, the canals, the people going about their everyday lives. By the time you arrive, you already feel connected to the place.

We quickly felt at home in Bruges. Yes, the Market Square was busy and beautiful, but within a few minutes you could wander along the canals, through quiet cobbled streets, discover little cafés, local bars and neighbourhood parks, and quickly leave the crowds behind. It felt like a city that still belongs to the people who live there, not just the people who visit.

After a couple of days off the bike, we’re rested, refreshed and ready to roll again.

Tomorrow we head north into Holland, following the coast and exploring the roads to Amsterdam.