When you enter the Museum of Folk Life, you are immediately transported back to life in Bruges in the 19th and early 20th centuries. You step into the typical workshop environments of artisans of that day. Among other crafts, the museum recreates the settings of a traditional tailor’s workshop, millinery, cobbler shop, clog workshop and cooperage. Apart from artisan workshops, you can also revisit the past in an old classroom, pharmacy, confectionery store and grocery shop.

The rooms are filled to the brim with items from bygone days like old pilgrimage pennants, children’s games, pipe heads, tobacco products and cake and chocolate moulds. Temporary exhibitions are always held on the upstairs floor. The Museum of Folk Life, founded in 1973, also possesses a special atmosphere because it is housed in restored labourers' dwellings from the 17th century. It has a cosy tavern, a cat, and indoor gardens where visitors can play old folk games.