Minnewater (Lake of Love) Tours and Tickets

There are plenty of ways to experience Minnewater (Lake of Love). Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

• Historical Walking Tour: Legends of Bruges

• Private Historical Tour: The Highlights of Bruges

• Highlights & Hidden Gems With Locals: Best of Bruges Private Tour

• Bruges by Bike with Friends and Family!

• Bruges Day Trip from Brussels

While it’s free to visit Minnewater on your own, there are plenty of affordable tours that can help you learn more about the area with an expert guide, many of which cover a range of city highlights. Bruges cycling tours that pass the lake start around US$45, while walking tours begin at about US$25.

While you can’t swim or take a boat ride on Minnewater, it’s a lovely place to explore on foot or by bike and soak up the atmosphere of the leafy Minnewater Park that surrounds it. You can cross the lake bridge, feed the white swans that glide over the water, and photograph the quaint Belgian brick houses on its shores.

Yes, there are several restaurants and cafés near Minnewater. Kasteel Minnewater overlooks the water and serves Belgian classics, while ONE Restaurant, near the bridge, offers a high-end selection of contemporary Belgian cuisine and tasting menus. There are plenty more eateries within a short walk of the lake.

Yes, as its name suggests, Minnewater—known as the Lake of Love—is renowned for being a romantic place for walks and picnics, thanks to the tragic romantic legend that it's famous for. Benches are dotted around the shores of the lake, which are the ideal place to pause for a picnic.

Minnewater is within easy reach of several top Bruges attractions. Adjacent to the park is the Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde (Begijnhof), a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the Middle Ages. Also close is the Church of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk), home to a marble sculpture by Michelangelo.