There’s a reason you’ll meet cute old couples on second honeymoons in Bruges: with its picturesque canals and narrow old houses, it looks a little like a fairy-tale land. Romantic Bruges is perhaps the best-preserved medieval city in Europe, with entire blocks dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The cobbled streets are often clogged with tourists wearing fanny packs and toting cameras; most congregate around the museums, which range from the history of the frite to Flemish art. It’s easy to get caught in the tourist-trap side of Bruges, but if you step away from the town center and explore the side streets, you’ll find cheap and tasty Flemish cuisine, shops selling beer glasses and proper Belgian lace, and quirky bars and pubs. Put in a little extra effort, and locals will happily share with you all of Bruges’s ghost stories, weird secrets, and small-town charm.