Chocolate Shops in Bruges: Where to Buy Pralines

What Bruges chocolate shops sell

Most shops in the centre sell the same core range: pralines sold loose or by the box, truffles, chocolate tablets and slabs, and gift packaging aimed at visitors. Beyond that, the shops diverge. Some are praline makers with a production kitchen behind the counter, some are retail chains with branch-standard ranges, and others lean on novelty shapes, hot chocolate or chocolate beer to pull people in. Knowing which type you are walking into saves both money and suitcase space.

The useful distinction is between chocolate made in Bruges and chocolate brought in from elsewhere. The Guild of Bruges Chocolatiers groups shops whose chocolate is made in the city, while non-Guild shops may sell chocolate made elsewhere; one chocolate-focused blog uses exactly that divide to organise its Bruges coverage. That does not make a non-Guild shop poor, but it tells you what you are buying. If origin matters to you, ask at the counter whether the pralines are made on site.

The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein

The Chocolate Line is the flavour-led stop, run by Dominique Persoone and known for pushing chocolate into unexpected territory — the source of the Chocolate Shooter for The Rolling Stones, edible chocolate paint and chocolate lipstick — alongside classic pralines and bars. It sits at Simon Stevinplein 19, a short walk from the Markt, and it is the shop to choose for something you will not find in a supermarket at home.

The family side of the business is visible too: Julius Persoone runs the workshop and production, and in July 2025 opened Julius Chocolate Bar, where chocolate desserts go beyond the usual shop-counter offer. Treat The Chocolate Line as the stop for experimentation and edible souvenirs with a story, and the bigger heritage names for classic pralines. Add it to a wider plan of things to do in Bruges if you are building a day around the centre.

The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat

The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat is a family business opened by Françoise Thomaes in 1997, with three of her children later joining; the tea room followed around 2008. The format is the draw: a busy little shop downstairs and a narrow wooden staircase up to a hot chocolate room with stained glass and small tables. It is the one Bruges chocolate stop where the sit-down experience is as much the point as the purchase.

The menu is long: house favourites, single-origin hot chocolates, chocolate chips and a small whisk for mixing your own, plus a short food menu that includes waffles. The blogger who wrote it up advises reading past the first page before ordering. Hot chocolate is served here, so it is a sensible cold-weather stop; the shop floor downstairs is tightly packed with bars and boxes for gifts.

Mary, Neuhaus and Leonidas

Mary, founded in 1919, supplies the Belgian royal family and presents its boxed chocolates in an elegant, formal shop; prices are high and the appeal is presentation and heritage rather than browsing. Neuhaus, which opened in 1857, is the oldest of the well-known names in the centre, and its history runs from a pharmacy whose medicines were coated in chocolate to a full chocolate business. Leonidas, trading since 1913, is the accessible high-street option, with pralines, spreads, drinks and ice cream.

Choose by purpose. Mary suits a carefully wrapped gift for someone who will recognise the name. Neuhaus suits travellers who want a classic praline box with history attached. Leonidas suits volume buying, sharing and lower budgets, and its airport and high-street presence means it is rarely the souvenir that surprises anyone. Godiva and Galler complete the familiar set: Godiva is easy to find at home, while Galler tablets turn up in Belgian supermarkets as well as its own shop.

Pralinette, The Chocolate Kiss and the novelty shops

Pralinette, established in 1992, is the useful middle ground: handmade chocolates made in store, one wall of packaged chocolate and slabs for gifting, and a long counter of individual pralines and truffles sold loose. It is the kind of shop where you can assemble a small mixed bag to try before committing to a box. A hot chocolate-dipped waffle to take away is the other reason to stop.

The Chocolate Kiss goes further into novelty: hot chocolate on a stick in flavours such as gin lemon and strawberry pink pepper, fondue in a can, chocolate beer and a cafe menu with more than 30 hot chocolate flavours. Chocoladehuisje is the window-display shop, with chocolate in every shape and size. Both are fun to browse; neither is where to go if praline quality is the priority, and a mixed pack from Chocoladehuisje compared unfavourably with Guild-approved chocolates in the same tasting notes.

Chocoholic stacks the opposite way, with large slabs, truffles, sea shells, Florentines, marzipan, Flemish cuberdons and chocolate paste. La Belgique Gourmande and Le Comptoir de Mathilde are self-service shops where you take a pair of pincers and fill a bag from bowls of chocolate, biscuits and sweets, which makes them efficient for gifts for several people at once. If chocolate is only part of your shopping, the wider shopping in Bruges covers the rest of the centre.

How to tell a Bruges chocolatier from a reseller

Shop the counter, not just the window. A short, rotating range of pralines and truffles suggests fresh production; a wall of identical boxed slabs suggests retail. The shops that combine both, such as Pralinette, let you buy a few loose pieces to test before spending on a box.

Choco-Story Bruges is a chocolate museum rather than a shop, useful for the history of chocolate in Belgium and a sensible stop if the weather turns or you are travelling with people who want context rather than another counter.

Chocolate museum and experiences

The sit-down experiences are concentrated in the shops: the hot chocolate room at The Old Chocolate House and the flavoured hot chocolate cafe at The Chocolate Kiss. Both work as walk-ins fitted around a walk through the centre. If you would rather spend the afternoon on the water, a Bruges canal tour runs from several jetties near the centre, and pairing the two is easy.

The sit-down experiences are concentrated in the shops: the hot chocolate room at The Old Chocolate House and the flavoured hot chocolate cafe at The Chocolate Kiss. Book neither in advance; both work as walk-ins fitted around a walk through the centre. If you would rather spend the afternoon on the water, a Bruges canal tour runs from several jetties near the centre, and pairing the two is easy.

Buying chocolate as a gift

Boxed pralines travel well in cool weather and badly in heat, so buy them towards the end of a trip rather than on the first morning. Tablets and slabs are the most durable choice, followed by sealed boxes of pralines and truffles; loose chocolates from a counter are for eating within a few days. If you are carrying chocolate home, keep it out of a hot car or a sunny train carriage.

For generous, low-risk gifts, the self-service shops such as La Belgique Gourmande and Le Comptoir de Mathilde let you buy biscuits, sweets and chocolate in one pass. For something more personal, a small box from a Guild chocolatier beats a large one from a chain. If you are in Bruges in October, cooler days make transporting pralines far easier than in high summer.

A short chocolate walking route

Start at Simon Stevinplein for The Chocolate Line, then walk the few minutes to the Markt and on to Mariastraat for The Old Chocolate House. Pralinette, The Chocolate Kiss, Chocoladehuisje and Chocoholic sit in the same compact tangle of streets around the centre, so you can drift between them without a map. The whole loop is short enough to combine with the Markt, the Belfort and a wander along the canals.

For an easy made-in-Bruges praline buy, start with Pralinette and pick a small mixed bag before committing to a box. For invention and a story, go to The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein. For the sit-down experience, climb the stairs at The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat and work through the hot chocolate menu.

Which Bruges chocolate shop should you choose?

For praline quality and a made-in-Bruges label, start with a Guild chocolatier such as Pralinette and buy a small mixed bag before committing to a box. For invention and a story, go to The Chocolate Line on Simon Stevinplein. For the sit-down experience, climb the stairs at The Old Chocolate House on Mariastraat and work through the hot chocolate menu.

Leave the heritage names for gifts: Mary for presentation, Neuhaus for history, Leonidas for volume. Treat the novelty shops as browsing stops and the self-service shops as the efficient way to buy for several people at once. Whichever you pick, buy chocolate near the end of the trip and keep it cool on the way home.