In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Damme is 5 km from Bruges at the end of the Damse Vaart canal, and it has no railway station. You can cycle, take the Lamme Goedzak boat (35 minutes, €12 one way, €18 return, in the warm season) or join a guided bike tour. The village has a church tower, a Gothic town hall, a Tyll Owlglass museum and a book market on the second Sunday of each month. Or book a tour: the Family-Friendly Countryside Bike Tour to Dammead (from €43, 5 stars from 24 reviews) supplies the bikes, helmets and route, and the E-Bike Tour to the Dutch borderad (from €55, 4.9 stars from 12 reviews) goes on past the windmills. The other trips are in day trips from Bruges.
⚠️ The boat is seasonal and does not take bikes. In 2026 the Lamme Goedzak sailed from 4 April to 1 November, daily until 4 October and at weekends after that, and it did not sail on 27 and 28 June, 30 July or 4 and 5 September. The operator’s price list says bicycles cannot come aboard, so a boat out and a bike back does not work. Check the season on lammegoedzakdamme.com before you plan around it.
Getting to Damme
| Way | Time | Cost | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamme Goedzak boat | 35 minutes | €12 single, €18 return; over-65s €10 and €15; children up to 12 €4 and €7 | From Noorweegse Kaai 31 in Bruges at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00, and back from Damse Vaart Zuid 12B at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 17:00. At weekends after 4 October 2026 the last sailings were 16:00 from Bruges and 15:00 from Damme. Only groups of 10 or more need to reserve |
| Bicycle | The canal is 5 km | Hire price set by the shop | Hire in Bruges at one of the rental points on Visit Bruges, or in Damme through Visit Damme, which rents city bikes and e-bikes. The free Visit Bruges Route App has a “Cycling between Bruges and Damme” route |
| Guided bike tour | 3 hours | From €43 on GetYourGuide | Small group, bikes and helmets provided, with a half-hour stop in Damme |
| Train | None | None | Damme has no railway station. The town names Brugge, Beernem, Knokke and Heist as the nearest |
The canal was planned over 200 years ago under Napoleon as a link between Bruges, Sluis and Breskens, and the boat’s operator describes the rows of poplars along it as among the most majestic in the country (Lamme Goedzak). Damme sits under 10 km from the North Sea coast and the Dutch border (Visit Damme).
The Damse Vaart canal and its poplars between Bruges and Damme. Photo: Marc Ryckaert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Tours worth paying for
A tour saves hiring a bike and finding the way, and the guide talks about the canal and the village as you ride.
Family-friendly bike tour to Damme
From €43 · 5 stars from 24 reviews · 3 hours · small group
Bruges: Family-Friendly Countryside Bike Tour to Dammead cycles through flat countryside and along canals with a local guide. It is run by Quasimundo Bike Tours from Predikherenstraat 28 in Bruges, takes up to ten people, provides bikes and helmets, and includes a half-hour break in Damme for a drink, which is not included in the price.
E-bike tour to the Dutch border
From €55 · 4.9 stars from 12 reviews · 4 hours
From Bruges: Scenic Countryside E-Bike Tour to the Dutch borderad rides by e-bike through farmland, canals and windmills, crosses a hand-operated ferry and ends at the Dutch border. It suits readers who want more than the village and an easier ride than a standard bike.
Church of Our Lady
Kerkstraat · tower climb of 206 steps from April to September
The church dates from 1225 and has a flat-topped tower. After Damme’s decline part of the building was demolished, and the surviving walls between the choir and the aisles show how large it was. Inside, 13th-century wooden apostle statues stand above the nave pillars, and a miracle cross hangs above the altar; the cross is carried each year in the Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges. The climb gives a view of the Damse Vaart, the 17th-century town walls and the polders, but only between April and September (Visit Damme).
The Church of Our Lady in Damme. Photo: User:LimoWreck, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5.
Town hall
Markt 1 · open only during exhibitions and events
The Gothic town hall stands on the site of the old market halls. Stone figures on the façade show Philip of Alsace, Johanna and Margaret of Constantinople, Philip of Thiette, Charles the Bold and Margaret of York, and two punishment stones sit on the corner. The tower clock dates from 1459 and the carillon has 39 bells. Visitors go inside for exhibitions and for the winter book market. Outside, the Walking Museum has ten panels around the centre on the legend of Tijl Uilenspiegel, Bruegel and 16th-century Flanders, free at any time through a smartphone app that starts in the town hall garden (Visit Damme).
Book market and bookshops
Second Sunday of each month, 10:00 to 17:00 · market square from April to September, town hall from October to March
Damme calls itself a book village, and the poet Jacob van Maerlant wrote his main works here in the 13th century. The listed markets are on Sunday 8 November 2026 and on 10 January, 14 February and 14 March 2027 (Visit Damme). On other days Boeken Diogenes (Kerkstraat 22a) sells second-hand books in Dutch, French, German and English, and the Boekhandel Maerlant pop-up shop is open Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00, and daily in school and public holidays.
Tyll Owlglass Museum
Huyse de Grote Sterre, Jacob van Maerlantstraat 3 · €6 adult, €2 aged 6 to 12 · hours follow the Visit Damme office
The museum tells the story of Tyll Owlglass, the prankster whose friend Lamme Goedzak gave the boat its name, and of the novel Charles De Coster wrote about him in 1867. It reopened after a renovation on 29 June 2024, and a family ticket for two parents and three children costs €12. It is on the first and second floors and has no lift, so it is not wheelchair accessible (Visit Damme). The Visit Damme office is in the same building, and its opening hours change with the season.
The Schellemolen windmill
Damse Vaart West · beside the canal
The Schellemolen stands beside the canal at Damse Vaart West. The present mill was built in 1867 on the walls of an older wooden mill, and there has been a mill on the spot for centuries: its rights were sold by Margaret of Constantinople in 1267. It has an oil mill inside (Visit Damme). Cyclists and walkers on the towpath pass close to it.
The Schellemolen beside the Damse Vaart. Photo: Donarreiskoffer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The boat in winter
The Lamme Goedzak moored on the frozen canal. Photo: Zeisterre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The boat holds 120 people and has a bar on board. Outside the season it does not sail, and a canal ride then means cycling or walking the towpath, which the operator says is a favourite with cyclists, walkers and anglers.
Next
Ghent is 22 to 27 minutes by train in the Ghent day trip, and Ostend is 13 to 14 minutes in the Ostend day trip. The full comparison is in day trips from Bruges, and getting around Bruges covers bike hire in the city.
Common questions
How far is Damme from Bruges?
Damme is 5 km from Bruges, at the end of the Damse Vaart canal. It has no railway station, so you reach it by bike, by boat or on a guided bike tour.
How much is the Lamme Goedzak boat from Bruges to Damme?
An adult pays €12 one way or €18 return. Over-65s pay €10 or €15, and children up to 12 pay €4 or €7. The trip takes about 35 minutes and leaves from Noorweegse Kaai 31 in Bruges.
When does the Lamme Goedzak sail?
In 2026 it sailed daily from 4 April to 4 October and at weekends until 1 November, with sailings from Bruges at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00. The operator's site gives the dates for each season.
Can you take a bike on the Lamme Goedzak?
No. The operator's price list says bicycles are not allowed on board, so a boat out and a bike back does not work. Dogs on a lead are allowed.
When is the Damme book market?
On the second Sunday of every month from 10:00 to 17:00, on the market square from April to September and in the town hall from October to March.
