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Brussels   Travel Guide

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Why Go To Brussels

The capital of Belgium, but also the de facto capital of the European Union, Brussels is one of Europe's most underrated destinations. The city's Gothic- and Baroque-style squares, set between medieval streets, are the playgrounds of international politicians and adventurous tourists alike. Authentic brasseries offer hearty Belgian comfort food, and daily doses of chocolate and beer are worth every euro. Brussels is cosmopolitan in ways other cities are not – it's truly multilingual (French, German and Dutch). The multicultural influences have led to an explosion of museums, marketplaces, restaurants and boutiques that make it far more than just a sleepy alternative to some of its busier neighbors like Paris or Amsterdam .

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• # 11 in Best Day Trips from London
• # 12 in Best Cheap European Honeymoon Destinations

Best of Brussels

Best hotels in brussels.

• # 1 in Hotel Amigo, a Rocco Forte Hotel
• # 2 in Sofitel Brussels Europe
• # 3 in Stanhope Hotel Brussels by Thon Hotels

Best Things to Do in Brussels

• # 1 in Grand-Place
• # 2 in Atomium
• # 3 in Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert

Popular Tours

Bruges and Ghent - Belgium's Fairytale Cities - from Brussels

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Hungry Mary's Famous Beer and Chocolate Tour in Brussels

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Brussels Travel Tips

Best months to visit.

The best time to visit Brussels is between March and May and September and October, the shoulder seasons; this is when room rates are cheaper, there are fewer tourists and the weather is mild. This city experiences all four seasons and rain is a possibility year-round. Average lows range from the mid-30s in winter to the low 70s in summer.

No matter when you're in town, you can count on something going on at the Grand-Place , from street performances and floral displays to nightly light shows during the holiday season, when the square is illuminated by a massive Christmas tree. Another great time to visit is around the Ommegang festivities (the first week in July). This Renaissance-style festival recreates the celebration held when Emperor Charles V first entered the city in the 16th century.

Weather in Brussels

Data sourced from the National Climatic Data Center

What You Need to Know

Brussels is a melting pot Dutch, French and English are all spoken in the city.

Take a look at the architecture Belgium is known for its architecture, especially Art Nouveau. Keep your eyes peeled as walk around town.

Plan a weekend day trip Day trips to Belgian locales like Bruges , Antwerp and Ghent are fast and easy thanks to the country's extensive train system. Plus, since Brussels is a business hub, it's half as expensive to travel to nearby hot spots on the weekends than it is during the work week.

How to Save Money in Brussels

Buy a Brussels Card Available in 24-, 48- and 72-hour versions, this card gets you free entry to more than 40 museums, as well as discounts at shops, bars, restaurants, select tourist attractions and tours.

Rent a bike Belgians are mad about cycling: Instead of paying taxi fares or the cost of public transport, rent a bike and make your way around the city on the cheap.

Get the prix-fixe or "plat du jour" Belgian dining can get expensive, so stick to the fixed price menus or the “dish of the day” instead. Your wallet and stomach will thank you.

Culture & Customs

The official currency in Brussels is the euro. Since the euro to U.S. dollar exchange rate fluctuates often, be sure to check what the current exchange rate  is before you go. Major credit cards may not be accepted at all restaurants, hotels and shops, so it's useful to carry some cash.

Belgium is also largely Catholic and celebrates many Catholic holidays. In Brussels, three languages are commonly spoken: French, Dutch and German. You'll also want to be sure to shake everyone's hand when you greet them and before leaving.

When dining in Brussels, it's considered polite to keep both hands (not elbows) above the table while eating. It is also polite to finish all the food on your plate; if you find yourself too full to finish, indicate that you have finished eating by placing both your knife and fork on your plate with the handles facing outward. Gratuity is normally included in the bill, but you should feel free to round up the total or leave a few extra euros for exceptional service.

What to Eat

Brussels brims with Michelin-starred restaurants: for a decadent meal, try century-old Comme chez Soi , a classy Art Nouveau-style venue less than a mile south of the Grand-Place . Just as fun is a trip to one of the city's many atmospheric brasseries, where meat and fish take center stage: Classics include moules-frites (mussels and French fries), waterzooi (a broth of fish or chicken and vegetables) and hearty stoofvlees (beef stew cooked in brown beer). To keep food costs down, avoid the area by the Grand-Place, and venture to foodie neighborhoods Sainte-Catherine, home to famous seafood spot Noordzee Mer du Nord , or the communes of Ixelles and neighbouring Saint-Gilles. Many restaurants offer prix fixe two- or three-course menus, but another wallet-friendly option is a cornet of fries. Given that some believe Belgium actually invented French fries, frietkots (fries stands) aren't hard to find. A good choice is the iconic Maison Antoine , where you should ask for the samourai sauce, a spicy mayo and chili combination that's popular locally.

Probably the three things for which Belgium is most famous are beer, chocolate and waffles. The latter come in two versions: Brussels and Liège, with the Brussels version a little less indulgent. For chocolate fans, a pilgrimage to the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert is a must. Here, you'll find the first ever outpost of Neuhaus , who are credited with inventing the praline back in 1912. If you're on the hunt for chocolate you wouldn't be able to source easily at home, try Laurent Gerbaud , who also offers chocolate-making workshops. Finally, you'll want to set aside time for a glass or two of Belgian beer; the country boasts more than 1,500 varieties, and its whole beer scene has UNESCO World Heritage status. Time-worn “brown bars” (traditional pubs) cluster near the Grand-Place, but if you venture about a half-mile east, you'll hit a major pilgrimage spot: Delirium Café, which offers more than 2,000 beers. For a trendier craft beer option, Brussels Beer Project  has several outposts across town.

The U.S. Department of State warns visitors to Belgium of possible terrorist activities, especially in crowded areas or at high-profile events. You should also watch out for purse-snatchers and pickpockets. Oftentimes, these criminals work in groups in crowded tourist areas, as well as at train and metro stations. The Department of State advises drivers to park in garages and not on the street. Keep your bags with you when traveling by train, and don't wear expensive jewelry or watches. Only use bank ATMs and ask restaurants to swipe your card in front of you.

Getting Around Brussels

The best way to get around Brussels is on its extensive public transit system, the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company (usually referred to by its double acronym, STIB/MIVB, or simply as STIB). Trains run up to six times an hour from Brussels Airport (BRU) to central Brussels. There are three major train stations: Brussels-Central Station, located in the heart of the city; Brussels-South, which sits southwest of the city center; and Brussels-North, just north of the city center.

Biking is also popular in Belgium, with bike rentals available across the city through companies like Villo! and Pro Velo. There are even water buses that operate from May through October, which will take you along the canal between Brussels, Sainctelette (handy for the KANAL-Centre Pompidou art musuem, due to launch in 2025) and Vilvoorde.

Entry & Exit Requirements

A valid passport is required for United States citizens to travel to Belgium. U.S. citizens can stay for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. At customs, you'll have to present a return airline ticket, as well as a passport that is valid for at least three months after the date of return. If you're planning to stay in Belgium for more than 90 days, you'll have to obtain the proper visa before leaving the U.S. For more information, visit the U.S. Department of State's website .

Brussels is a beautiful city to explore both during the day and night.

Explore More of Brussels

Things To Do

Best hotels.

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The bright beating heart of Belgium

Brussels is the vibrant capital of Belgium and the European Union. From the stunning Grand Place to the picturesque Mont des Arts and the fascinating museums, Brussels offers a rich blend of history, culture, and modernity.

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Ultimate Brussels Itinerary: How to Spend 2 days in Brussels

First time in Brussels? Here is everything you need to know to spend two perfect days in Brussels. Know where to eat in the best restaurants and see the best Brussels has to offer with this detailed Brussels travel guide.

Brussels is Belgium’s capital and bilingual heart of the country with street signs written in both French and Flemish Dutch . Brussels might be home to the headquarters of the European Union but its most famous landmark (and favourite amongst locals) is a small statue of a boy peeing (Mannekin Pis).  Beyond its many world-class musuems, Brussels is also a culinary hub that must be savoured. Start with a sweet Belgian waffle, enjoy  moules-frites  for lunch, try Waterzooi  for dinner and wash it all down with a Belgian beer. Don’t forget to take home some delicious Belgian chocolate.

Are you ready to explore Brussels? Here’s how to spend 2 days in Brussels.

Looking for something in particular? Use this table of contents below to jump around using the links.

Table of Contents

• Map of Brussels Itinerary

1. Brussels Comic Book Route

• 2. Manneken Pis

3. Jeanneke Pis

4. het zinneke, 5. la grand-place of brussels, 6. brussels city museum, 7. galeries royales saint-hubert, 8. brussels cathedral of st. michael and st. gudula, 9. mont des arts & the whirling ear.

• 10. National Basilica of the Sacred Heart
• 11. Parc Élisabeth

12. Palace of Justice (Palais de Justice)

13. brussels royal palace (palais royal de bruxelles), 14. park of the fiftieth anniversary (parc du cinquantenaire), 15. place du petit sablon, 16. atomium of brussels, 17. royal greenhouses of laeken (serres royales de laeken), what to eat in brussels – typical belgian food to eat.

• Where to Eat in Brussels
• How to Get to Brussels from the airport

Where to Stay in Brussels

• Got more time? Here are more things to do and see in Brussels

Map of Brussels, Belgium

This map shows you all the locations mentioned in this guide. Click on the pins for more information.

Blue Pins – Day 1 – Things to see in Brussels Pink Pins – Day 2 – Things to see in Brussels Green Pins – Where to eat in Brussels Yellow Pins – Extra things to do in Brussels if you have more time

Tip: For a larger view of the map, click on the icon in the top right corner.

How to Spend 2 Days in Brussels, Belgium

Day 1 – things to do in brussels (blue pins).

See Tintin by Hergé on Rue de l’Étuve

See ‘Le Passage’ by François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters on by Rue du Marché au Charbon 19

See ‘Broussaille’ by Frank Pé at Plattesteen

See ‘Victor Sackville’ by Francis Carin on Rue du Marché au Charbon 60

See ‘Olivier Rameau’ by Dany on Rue du Chêne 9

See ‘Benoit Brisefer’ by Peyo on Rue Haute 119

I’ve been to Brussels three times now and my absolute favourite thing to do in Brussels is still to scout out the street art murals that make up the Comic Book Route.

Belgium, especially Brussels, has a wonderful history and love for comic books and their creators. Did you know that Brussels was the birthplace of Tintin? To honour Belgium’s most famous comics the city of Brussels collaborated with the Belgian Comic Strip Center to install more than 50 large comic strips murals across the city.

These vibrant motifs show Tintin, Gomer Goof, the gauls Asterix and Obelix, Lucky Luke, Spirou and many others. Most of the murals are located inside the ‘Pentagon’, a local term used to describe the city centre due to its geometrical shape.

I’m mentioning this first on the itinerary because as you explore the city, you may want to take a few detours to see these incredible murals. Plus, hunting down these comic strips mural is a fantastic way to discover Brussels and explore some neighbourhoods that are less crowded by tourists.

How many can you find? Here is a complete list of the Comic Book Route.

2. Manneken-Pis

This small bronze statue of a little boy peeing boy was designed by Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the Elder between 1618 and 1619. When the Manneken-Pis was first put in place, it played an important role is the distribution of drinking water.

When Brussels’ water network changed in the 19th century, Manneken-Pis slowly became a symbol for the people of Brussels representing their sense of humour and independence.

What many people don’t know is that the real name of the statue is Menneke Pis . In the local Brussels dialect, een manneke means a small man, whereas een menneke means a little boy.

During special events and festivities, this little boy peeing is dressed up in clothes in celebration. The current statue you see is a copy made in 1965, however, you can see the original in the Museum of the City of Brussels

Location: Corner of Rue de L’Etuve and Rue du Chêne, and Rue des Grands Carmes Metro: Bourse and Gare Centralle Tram: Annessens

Location: Rue des Bouchers Metro: Gare Centralle and De Brouckère

Going to Brussels? Get my free Flemish and French travel phrase guides.

To create a trilogy, there is a third statue called Het Zinneke, which depicts the dog of Manneken and Jeanneke peeing next to the road just like his owners. As the legends goes, Manneken and Jeanneke trained their dog to pee the only way they knew how – in public.

Location: Rue des Chartreux 35, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium Bus: Bourse

La Grand-Place was almost completely destroyed after it was bombarded by the French army in 1695. There is a wonderful mix of architectural styles including baroque, neoclassical and neo-gothic. Some of Belgium’s most opulent examples of 17th-century architecture can be found in the square with many buildings decorated in gold gilt.

The most impressive building of them all is City Hall built in the Gothic style and with a tower that stands 96 meters tall.

Don’t miss the monument to local boy Everard t’Serclaes, famous for helping to successfully push Flemish troops out of the city and named a liberator of Brussels.

In 1388 Sweder d’Adcoude, Lord of Gaesbeek, sent his men to attack t’Serclaes, a move that sadly cost Everard his tongue and his life. Everard breathed his last breath in La Grand Place in the Maison de l’Etoile. To ensure your return to Brussels, be sure to rub the arm of his statue.

Metro: Bourse Tram: Bourse

Opening Hours Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Closed on Mondays, January 1st, May 1st, November 1st, November 11th, December 25th

Admission: Adults: €8 <18 years old: free Seniors: €6 Students: €4

Split into two major sections, this is the oldest commercial galleries in Europe opening in 1847. Today is it still one of the most elegant. Each gallery is a hundred metres long and covered by a high glass dome that naturally lights the arcade.

Up until 1892, the Café des Arts that was located here was a meeting place for painters and writers of the time including Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Edgar Quinet.

Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert is definitely one of the highlights in Brussels and a great place sit in a cafe, sip on a Belgian hot chocolate and watch the world go by.

Location: 5 Galerie du Roi Opening Hours: Shops close at different hours but are open every day from 9:00 til late. Metro: Gare de Bruxelles-Central Tram: Royale

Due to its importance and location in Belgium’s capital, Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula is often used for important ceremonies that are of national interest including royal weddings and state funerals. The “Treasure” of the cathedral is in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, guarded by a wrought iron gate originating from the 18th century.

Location: Parvis, Sainte-Gudele. Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 07:00 – 18:00 Saturday, 08:30 – 15:30 Sunday, 08:30 – 14:00 Metro: Gare Centrale and Parc Tram : Parc

There are wonderful views over Brussels city from up here where you can see Brussels City Hall in La Grand-Place.

Metro: Gare de Bruxelles-Central Tram: Royale

10. National Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Cœur)

Inspired by the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris, the basilica stands 90 metres tall and 167 metres wide making it the fifth largest church in the world.

The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart was built to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Belgium’s independence. Its most attention-grabbing feature is the enormous green dome.

Make sure you head to the terrace of the basilica for panoramic views over Brussels from 53 metres up. You can also access the museum and other semi-hidden parts of the basilica from the dome.

Location: 1 Parvis de la Basilique.Koekelberg. Opening Hours: Summer Opening Hours: 09:00 to 17:00. Winter Opening Hours: 10:00 to 16:00. Metro: Simonis (Leopold II). Tram: Bossaert-basilique.

11. Parc Élisabeth

Located in front of the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the largest urban public park in the centre of Brussels. Be sure to take a stroll along its beautiful promenades lined with trees and flower-beds or sit on the lawn and relax. The park even has an outdoor gym, a resting area and playground.

Day 2 – Things to do in Brussels (Pink Pins)

The Palace of Justice or Law Courts of Brussels is the most important court building in Belgium. This monumental building is said to be the largest building constructed in the 19th century, covering 260,000 square feet (24,000 square meters) and bigger than St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This angered locals for a long time and the word “architect” became a derogatory term.

The Palace of Justice is visible from almost the everywhere in the city plus there is an impressive view from the Palace itself in Place Poelaert. You’ll definitely want to head inside to see its gorgeous staircases.

Location: 1 Poelaert Square Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 – 17:00 Metro: Louise Tram: Poelaert and Louise

Location: Place du Palais, Paleizenplein. Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:30 – 17:00 last entry at 15:45, Open from 21st July to September Admission: Free as part of an official guided tour. Metro: Parc Tram: Palais

The Parc du Cinquantenaire, literally ‘Park of the fiftieth anniversary’ is more than just a large public park, it’s a national landmark in Brussels. The park was built during the reign of Leopold II to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Belgium’s independence in 1880.

Covering approximately thirty hectares, the park features various spacious gardens, a large arch, and three museums including Cinquantenaire Museum, Autoworld (a collection of more than 350 cars from different eras), and the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces.

For epic views over Brussels and the European Quarter, head to the top of the arch via the entrance at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces. Admission is free!

Throughout summer the city holds numerous events in the park including concerts, club nights, festivals, drive-in cinemas, environmental days, aperitifs, and even the starting line to Brussels marathons.

Location: 11 Jubelpark Metro: Schuman and Mérode Tram: Place Saint Pierre

Location: 11 Jubelpark Metro:  Porte de Namur Tram: Royale

The Atomium stand 102 metres tall and is composed of nine spheres of 18 metres in diameter connected to each other by tubes with escalators. Inside the spheres are permanent and temporary exhibitions with the top-most sphere including a restaurant with wonderful panoramic views of the city.

The nine spheres of the Atomium represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. They symbolise the faith one had in the power of science and in nuclear power.

Initially, the Atomium was only meant to be dismantled after for six months but thanks to its huge popularity it was left standing and soon became a symbol of ideas of the future and universality.

Location: Atomium Square. Opening Hours: Everyday from 10:00 to 18:00. The restaurant opens until 23:00. Admission: Adults (18-65): €15 Senior citizens(>65): €13 Teens (>115cm-17): €8 Kids (≤115cm) : €0 Buy tickets online here Metro: Heysel Tram: Heysel

Located near the Atomium are the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, a complex of huge tropical, subtropical and cold greenhouses. The flora collections are a veritable feast for the senses. You’ll have to time your trip perfectly because the Royal Greenhouses are only open to the public for three weeks during Spring.  This is an excellent and rare opportunity to see the wonderful architecture of Alphonse Balat, the mentor of Victor Horta, and the many plants in the greenhouses.

Location : Avenue du Parc Royal 61 Metro: Stuyvenbergh Tram: Araucaria

Belgian waffle with banana and ice-cream

Here are local culinary specialities to try in Brussels:

• Carbonade flamande: Stew made with meat, beer, carrot, onion and panela (brown sugar).
• Mitraillette : It consists of half a baguette with meat, sauce, salad and fries, all of it inside the bread!
• Fricadelle : Deep-fried sausage served with French fries.
• Waterzooi : Dish made of chicken or fish swimming in a vegetable broth (onion, leek, celery, carrot) and cream. Usually served with potatoes or rice.
• Lapin à la bruxelloise: Slow stove-cooked rabbit with Geuze, a typical Brussels beer that is brewed with sour cherries.
• Stoemp : Potato puree mixed with one or more types of mashed vegetables (it can be carrot, leek, spinach, Brussels sprouts…). Commonly served with sausages or pan-seared bacon.
• Chicon au gratin : This dish is made of endives wrapped in a slice of cooked ham and covered in béchamel; all of it oven gratinated.
• Faisan à la Brabançonne : Typical Belgian dish that’s made of young pheasant, butter, peanut oil, chicory (endive) and parsley.
• Moules frites: Cooked mussels and French fries.
• Caricoles : A speciality of Brussels, caricoles are sea snails cooked with chopped celery, parsley leaves, pepper seeds, ground pepper and a dash of salt.
• Pâté gaumais : Pie filled with pork marinated in white wine or vinegar with spices and local herbs.
• Belgian chocolate.
• Cramique: Raisin brioche.
• Speculoos : Crunchy chunky-textured biscuit made with brown sugar.
• Gaufres de Bruxelles: The Brussels waffle is a rectangular-shaped pastry that’s eaten warm and can be served with whipped cream and powdered sugar.
• And, of course, all Belgian beers .

Where to Eat in Brussels (Green Pins)

‘T Kelderke in La Grand Place

Wondering where to eat in Brussels? I recommend dining in typical bistros for your best chances of trying the dishes mentioned above.

This is one of Brussels’ most emblematic restaurants, founded in 1893. The star of the menu is “moules frites”, the quintessential Belgian dish. These can come in a variety of sauces: marinara, white wine, tomato or garlic, just to name a few.

Location: Rue des Bouchers 18, Brussels 1000

Nuetnigenough

In this brasserie restaurant, some of the best “Carbonades Flamandes” can be found, served with a beer picked from the great selection on offer.

Location: Rue du Lombard 25, Brussels 1000

La Roue d’Or

Traditional brasserie of Brussels, located next to the Grand Place, that serves “Waterzooi”, which originates from Ghent and has spread all over Belgium.

Location: Rue des Chapeliers 26, Brussels 1000

‘T Kelderke

Typical restaurant housed inside an old 17th-century beer cellar. All the food is fresh from the same day’s market and an excellent place to try “Chicon au gratin”.

Location: Grand-Place 15, Brussels 1000

Au Brasseur

Belgian beer is as world-famous, probably more, as Belgian food. Belgium is the world’s number 1 beer producer and Belgians are said to drink an average of 100 litres of the stuff per year. Here, you will find all the most popular beers in Belgium.

Location: Rue des Chapeliers 9, Brussels 1000

How to get to Brussels City from the Airport and Back

From sur charleroi (crl) to brussels and back.

Bus (shuttle bus) The best way to reach Brussels from the airport is by shuttle bus. The company Flibco runs buses that connect Charleroi Airport with Brussels-Midi (on Rue de la France) every 20-30 mins. The journey takes 1 hour and costs 14,20 EUR one-way ticket costs £15 and the return ticket costs 28,40 EUR. These can be purchased at the terminal or onboard the bus. Buying a ticket online is slightly cheaper and will give you priority if the buses are busy.

Once you reach Brussels-Midi station, you can take the metro, tram or train to get to other stations in the city. On the way back to the airport, arrive at the bus stop 15 minutes before its scheduled departure to get a good spot in the queue.

Bus and train From Charleroi Airport you can catch a bus to Charleroi Train Station and take a train to Brussels from there. The combined bus & train ticket to/from Brussels costs around 9,90 EUR (depending on train fares).

From National Zaventem (BRU) to Brussels and back

Train: Quickest and cheapest The train is a good option to reach central Brussels from Zaventem. Trains stop at all the stations in Brussels and tickets start from 7,20 EUR . The journey only take 20 minutes. The train station is located on the lower ground floor of the airport. Check the latest times and prices here.

Bus: recommended for the European zone The company De Lijn connects the airport with the centre of Brussels and the company STIB does with the European Parliament. The ride time is between 30 and 40 minutes and it’s the recommendable option for business travellers or tourists who live in the European district. Check the lastest times and prices here.

For an alternative accommodation option, I would also recommend renting out one of these apartments or rooms through Airbnb . Cute Airbnb options are popping up all over the city so you’ll find some really beautiful places at very affordable prices. If it’s your first time get US$65 OFF here or get £50 OFF your first stay here , when you sign up using my unique reader referral link.

Got more time in Brussels? Here are more things to see in Brussels and Belgium (Yellow Pins)

In brussels.

• Mini Europe – Located next to the Atomium is Mini Europe Park. Inaugurated in 1989, see over 350 reproductions on a 1 to 25 scale that represent 80 cities of the European Union. 
• Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts De Belgique) – Explore the size museums that make up the Royal Museums. Not to be missed is the Oldmasters Museum with its famous “Rubens Room”, which houses more than 20 paintings by the artist and Magritte Museum with the richest collections of paintings by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte.
• Hergé Museum – Immerse yourself in the world of Tintin.  Fans of Tintin won’t want to miss visiting Hergé Museum to see exclusive illustrations of the beloved detective and his dog Snowy. Even though the museum runs a shuttle service to the museum, this tour includes museum entry and round-trip transportation from Brussels for slightly cheaper.

Beyond Brussels

• Belgium’s Cutest City: 10 Wonderful Things to Do in Bruges
• Ghent Day Trip Itinerary: Top 10 Things to See in Ghent in One Day
• Day trip to Antwerp from Brussels

I hope this guide has answered all your questions and helped you plan your two days in Brussels. If you still have any questions or concerns, please reach out and leave a comment below. I’d be happy to help where I can. If not, then I wish you a wonderful trip!

Merci / dank je (thank you) for reading! ;)

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Sources Visit Brussels |  Visit Flanders

Over to you!

Do you have a question about this guide to Brussels? Have you visited Brussels before? What else would you recommend doing? Tell me below! Let me know using the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.

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Michele creates language learning guides and courses for travel. What separates her from other instructors is her ability to explain complex grammar in a no-nonsense, straightforward manner using her unique 80/20 method. Get her free guide 9 reasons you’re not fluent…YET & how to fix it! Planning a trip? Learn the local language with her 80/20 method for less than the cost of eating at a tourist trap restaurant Start learning today!

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Hello, Michele. Very interesting article, as always. Just a little comment: it says the French army bombarded the Grand Place in 1965…obviously it’s a typo since the right date is 1695. ;) Greetings and keep up the good work!

Ah! Yes, a silly typo. I appreciate the feedback. Thank you!

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Wherever else you go in Belgium, allow at least a little time for BRUSSELS , which is undoubtedly one of Europe’s premier cities. Certainly, don’t let its unjustified reputation as a dull, faceless centre of EU bureaucracy deter you: in postwar years, the city has become a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis, with top-flight museums and architecture (including a well-preserved late seventeenth-century centre), a superb restaurant scene and an energetic nightlife. Moreover, most of the key attractions are crowded into a centre that is small enough to be absorbed over a few long days, its boundaries largely defined by a ring of boulevards – the “petit ring”, or less colloquially, the “petite ceinture”.

Around Brussels: Waterloo

Bilingual brussels, the brussels card, east of the centre: the eu quarter and le cinquantenaire, eating and drinking, the grand-place, guided tours, the lower town, nightlife and entertainment, north of the centre: jette, laeken and heysel, south of the centre: st-gilles, avenue louise and ixelles, train station names, the upper town.

First-time visitors to Brussels are often surprised by the raw vitality of the city centre. It isn’t neat and tidy, and many of the old tenement houses are shabby and ill-used, but there’s a buzz about the place that’s hard to resist. The city centre is divided into two main areas. The larger westerly portion comprises the Lower Town , fanning out from the marvellous Grand-Place , with its exquisite guildhouses and town hall, while up above, on a ridge to the east, lies the much smaller Upper Town , home to the finest art collection in the country in the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts.

Since the eleventh century, the ruling elite has lived in the Upper Town, keeping a beady eye on the workers and shopkeepers down below – a state of affairs that still – in part – remains. In recent times, this fundamental class division, so obvious in the layout of the centre, has been further complicated by discord between Belgium’s two main linguistic groups, the Walloons (the French-speakers) and the Flemings (the Dutch- or Flemish-speakers), and to add to the communal stew, these two groups now share their city with many others, including EU civil servants and immigrants from North and Central Africa, Turkey and the Mediterranean. Each of these communities tends to live a very separate, distinct existence, and Brussels’ compact nature heightens the contrasts: in five minutes you can walk from a chichi shopping mall into an African bazaar, or from a depressed slum quarter to a resplendent square of antique shops and exclusive cafés. This is something that increases the city’s allure, not least by way of the sheer variety of affordable cafés and restaurants – Brussels is a wonderful place to eat, its gastronomic reputation rivalling that of Paris. It’s also a great place to drink, with bars ranging from designer chic to rough and ready with everything in between.

The city’s specialist shops are another pleasure. Everyone knows about Belgian chocolates, but here in the capital there are also huge open-air markets, contemporary art galleries and establishments devoted to anything from comic books to costume jewellery and clubland fashion. Furthermore, Belgium is such a small country, and the rail network so fast and efficient, that Brussels also makes the perfect base for a wide range of day-trips. An obvious target is the battlefield of Waterloo , one of the region’s most visited attractions.

Brief history

Brussels takes its name from Broekzele, or “village of the marsh”, the community which grew up beside the wide and shallow River Senne in the sixth century, allegedly around a chapel built here by St Géry, a French bishop turned missionary. A tiny and insignificant part of Charlemagne’s empire at the end of the eighth century, it was subsequently inherited by the dukes of Lower Lorraine (or Lotharingia – roughly Wallonia and northeast France), who constructed a fortress here in 979. Protected, the village benefited from its position on the trade route between Cologne and the burgeoning towns of Bruges and Ghent to become a significant trading centre in its own right. The surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion, and in 1229 the city was granted its first charter by the dukes of Brabant , the new feudal overlords who controlled things here, on and off, for around two hundred years. In the early fifteenth century, marriage merged the interests of the Duchy of Brabant with that of Burgundy, whose territories passed to the Habsburgs in 1482 when Mary, the last of the Burgundian line, died; she was succeeded by her husband, Maximilian I, who was anointed Holy Roman Emperor in 1494.

The first Habsburg rulers had close ties with Brussels, and the Emperor Charles V (1519–55) ran his vast kingdom from the city for over a decade, making it wealthy and politically important in equal measure. By contrast, his successor Philip II (1527–98) lived in Spain and ruled through a governor (for the whole of the Low Countries) resident in Brussels. It could have been a perfectly reasonable arrangement, but Philip’s fanatical Catholicism soon unpicked the equilibrium. Horrified by the Protestant leanings of many of his Low Country subjects, the king imposed a series of anti-Protestant edicts, and when these provoked extensive rioting , he dispatched an army of ten thousand men – led by a hardline reactionary, the Duke of Albe – to crush his opponents in Brussels absolutely. Albe quickly restored order and then, with the help of the Inquisition, set about the rioters with gusto, his Commission of Civil Unrest soon nicknamed the “ Council of Blood ” after its habit of executing those it examined. Goaded into rebellion by Albe’s brutality, Brussels, along with much of the Low Countries, exploded in revolt, and in 1577, the one-time protégé of the Habsburgs, William the Silent , made a triumphant entry into the city and installed a Calvinist government. Protestant control lasted for just eight years, before Philip’s armies recaptured Brussels – and the king wasn’t a man to forgive and forget. Seeing which way the religious wind was blowing, hundreds of Protestants left the city and the economy slumped, though complete catastrophe was averted by the conspicuous consumption of the (Brussels-based) Habsburg elite, whose high spending kept hundreds of workers in employment. Brussels also benefited from the digging of the Willebroek Canal, which linked it to the sea for the first time in its history in 1561.

By the 1580s, the Habsburgs had lost control of the northern part of the Low Countries (now the Netherlands) and Brussels was confirmed as the capital of the remainder, the Spanish Netherlands (broadly modern Belgium). Brussels prospered more than the rest of the country, but it was always prey to the dynastic squabbling between France and Spain: in 1695, for example, Louis XIV bombarded Brussels for 36 hours merely to teach his rivals a lesson, though the guilds , those associations of skilled merchants and workers who were crucial to the economy of Brussels, rebuilt their devastated city in double time, and it’s this version of the Grand-Place that survives today.

In 1700 Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs, died without issue. The ensuing War of the Spanish Succession dragged on for over a decade, but eventually the Spanish Netherlands were passed to the Austrian Habsburgs, who ruled – as had their predecessors – through a governor based in Brussels. It was during this period as capital of the Austrian Netherlands (1713–94) that most of the monumental buildings of the Upper Town were constructed and its Neoclassical avenues and boulevards laid out – grand extravagance in the context of an increasingly industrialized city crammed with a desperately poor working class.

The French Revolutionary army brushed the Austrians aside at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and the Austrian Netherlands promptly became a département of France. This lasted until the defeat of Napoleon when, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna which ended hostilities, the great powers decided to absorb the country into the new Kingdom of the Netherlands , ruled by the Dutch King William I. Brussels took turns with The Hague as the capital, but the experiment was short-lived, and in 1830 a Brussels-led rebellion removed the Dutch and led to the creation of an independent Belgium with Brussels as capital.

The nineteenth century was a period of modernization and expansion, during which the city achieved all the attributes of a modern European capital under the guidance of Burgomaster Anspach and King Léopold II . New boulevards were built; the free university was founded; the Senne – which by then had become an open sewer – was covered over in the city centre; many slum areas were cleared; and a series of grand buildings were erected. The whole enterprise culminated in the golden jubilee exhibition celebrating the founding of the Belgium state in the newly inaugurated Parc du Cinquantenaire.

Following the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, the modernization of Brussels has proceeded inexorably, with many major development projects – not least the new métro system – refashioning the city and reflecting its elevated status as the headquarters of both NATO and the EU.

Top image © Sira Anamwong/Shutterstock

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With over seventy hotels dotted within its central ring of boulevards, Brussels has no shortage of convenient places to stay , but even so finding hotel accommodation can still prove difficult, particularly in the spring and autumn when the capital enjoys what amounts to its high seasons – July and August are much slacker as the business trade dips when the EU (pretty much) closes down for its summer recess. The same cautions apply to the city’s B&Bs , though these are thin on the ground. If you do opt for a B&B, don’t expect UK-style hospitality – in effect you get a self-contained room in a private house – but do expect to be on the peripheries of town, a good way from the action. The city has half a dozen hostels , of which we have listed the best options.

At peak times, it’s prudent to reserve a bed at least for your first night, but if you do arrive with nowhere to stay, the city’s two main tourist offices operate a free same-night hotel booking service . Hotel prices vary hugely. Many have both deluxe and more standard rooms, with charges adjusted accordingly, and regular special and weekend discounts bring prices down by about fifteen percent, with some places occasionally halving their rates.

Brussels lies at the centre of Brabant , one of Belgium’s nine provinces. The Flemings claim the lion’s share of the province with their Vlaams Brabant (Flemish Brabant) actually encircling the capital – a noticeably narrow corridor of Flemish-speaking communities runs round the southern edge of Brussels. WATERLOO is easily the most popular attraction in Brabant Wallon (French-speaking Brabant) and is best seen on a day-trip from the capital. A run-of-the-mill suburb about 18km south of the centre of Brussels, the town has a resonance far beyond its size. On June 18, 1815, at this small crossroads town on what was once the main route to Brussels from France, Wellington masterminded the battle that put an end to the imperial ambitions of Napoleon. The battle turned out to have far more significance than even its generals realized, for not only was this the last throw of the dice for the formidable army born of the French Revolution, but it also marked the end of France’s prolonged attempts to dominate Europe militarily.

Nevertheless, the historic importance of Waterloo has not saved the battlefield from interference – a motorway cuts right across it – and if you do visit you’ll need a lively imagination to picture what happened and where – unless, that is, you’re around to see the large-scale re-enactment which takes place every five years in June; the next one is scheduled for 2015. Scattered round the battlefield are several monuments and memorials, the most satisfying of which is the Butte de Lion , a huge earth mound that’s part viewpoint and part commemoration. The battlefield is 3km south of the centre of Waterloo, where the Musée Wellington is easily the pick of several Waterloo museums.

The battlefield – Le Hameau de Lion

Some 4km south of town, the Waterloo battlefield is a landscape of rolling farmland, interrupted by a couple of main roads and more pleasingly punctuated by the odd copse and farmstead. The ridge where Wellington once marshalled his army now holds a motley assortment of attractions collectively known as Le Hameau du Lion (Lion’s Hamlet). This comprises four separate sites all within a few metres of each other, with the added offering of a 45-minute battlefield tour in a four-wheel-drive. Of the four sites, the worst are the Centre du Visiteur , which features a dire audiovisual display on the battle, and the Musée de Cires (same hours), a dusty wax museum. The best is the 100m-high Butte de Lion (same hours), built by local women with soil from the battlefield. The Butte marks the spot where Holland’s Prince William of Orange – one of Wellington’s commanders and later King William II of the Netherlands – was wounded. It was only a nick, so goodness knows how high it would have been if William had been seriously injured, but even so the mound is a commanding monument, surmounted by a regal 28-tonne lion atop a stout column. From the viewing platform, there’s a panoramic view over the battlefield, and a plan identifies which army was where. Also enjoyable is the Panorama de la Bataille (same hours), where a circular, naturalistic painting of the battle, on a canvas no less than 110m in circumference, is displayed in a purpose-built, rotunda-like gallery – to a thundering soundtrack of bugles, snorting horses and cannon fire. Panorama painting is extremely difficult – controlling perspective is always a real problem – but it was very much in vogue when the Parisian artist Louis Dumoulin began this effort in 1912. Precious few panoramas have survived and this one is a bit past its best, but it does at least give a sense of the battle. You can also venture out onto the battlefield under your own steam by following the old track that cuts south across the fields from beside the Panorama.

The Battle of Waterloo

Napoleon escaped from imprisonment on the Italian island of Elba on February 26, 1815. He landed in Cannes three days later and moved swiftly north, entering Paris on March 20 just as his unpopular replacement – the slothful King Louis XVIII – high-tailed it to Ghent. Thousands of Frenchmen rallied to Napoleon’s colours and, with little delay, Napoleon marched northeast to fight the two armies that threatened his future. Both were in Belgium. One, an assortment of British, Dutch and German soldiers, was commanded by the Duke of Wellington , the other was a Prussian army led by Marshal Blücher . At the start of the campaign, Napoleon’s army was about 130,000 strong, larger than each of the opposing armies but not big enough to fight them both at the same time. Napoleon’s strategy was, therefore, quite straightforward: he had to stop Wellington and Blücher from joining together – and to this end he crossed the Belgian frontier near Charleroi to launch a quick attack. On June 16, the French hit the Prussians hard, forcing them to retreat and giving Napoleon the opportunity he was looking for. Napoleon detached a force of 30,000 soldiers to harry the retreating Prussians, while he concentrated his main army against Wellington, hoping to deliver a knockout blow. Meanwhile, Wellington had assembled his troops at Waterloo , on the main road to Brussels.

At dawn on Sunday June 18 , the two armies faced each other. Wellington had some 68,000 men, about one third of whom were British, and Napoleon around five thousand more. The armies were deployed just 1500m apart with Wellington on the ridge north of – and uphill from – the enemy. It had rained heavily during the night, so Napoleon delayed his first attack to give the ground a chance to dry. At 11.30am , the battle began when the French assaulted the fortified farm of Hougoumont, which was crucial for the defence of Wellington’s right. The assault failed and at approximately 1pm there was more bad news for Napoleon when he heard that the Prussians had eluded their pursuers and were closing fast. To gain time he sent 14,000 troops off to impede their progress and at 2pm he tried to regain the initiative by launching a large-scale infantry attack against Wellington’s left. This second French attack also proved inconclusive and so at 4pm Napoleon’s cavalry charged Wellington’s centre, where the British infantry formed into squares and just managed to keep the French at bay – a desperate engagement that cost hundreds of lives. By 5.30pm , the Prussians had begun to reach the battlefield in numbers to the right of the French lines and, at 7.30pm , with the odds getting longer and longer, Napoleon made a final bid to break Wellington’s centre, sending in his Imperial Guard. These were the best soldiers Napoleon had, but slowed down by the mud churned up by their own cavalry, the veterans proved easy targets for the British infantry, and they were beaten back with great loss of life. At 8.15pm , Wellington, who knew victory was within his grasp, rode down the ranks to encourage his soldiers before ordering the large-scale counterattack that proved decisive.

The French were vanquished and Napoleon subsequently abdicated , ending his days in exile on St Helena, where he died in 1821. Popular memory, however, refused to vilify Napoleon as the aggressor – and not just in France, but right across Europe, where the Emperor’s bust was a common feature of the nineteenth-century drawing room. In part, this was to do with Napoleon’s obvious all-round brilliance, but more crucially, he soon became a symbol of opportunity: in him the emergent middle classes of western Europe saw a common man becoming greater than the crowned heads of Europe, an almost unique event at the time.

The Musée Wellington

The Musée Wellington , chaussée de Bruxelles 147 ( w www.museewellington.com ), occupies the old inn where Wellington slept the nights before and after the battle. It’s an enjoyable affair, whose displays detail the build-up to – and the course of – the battle via plans and models, alongside an engaging hotchpotch of personal effects. Room 4 holds the bed where Alexander Gordon, Wellington’s principal aide-de-camp, was brought to die, and here also is the artificial leg of Lord Uxbridge, another British commander: “I say, I’ve lost my leg,” Uxbridge is reported to have said during the battle, to which Wellington replied, “By God, sir, so you have!” After the battle, Uxbridge’s leg was buried here in Waterloo, but it was returned to London when he died to join the rest of his body; as a consolation, his artificial leg was donated to the museum. Such insouciance was not uncommon among the British ruling class and neither were the bodies of the dead soldiers considered sacrosanct: tooth dealers roamed the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars pulling out teeth, which were then stuck on two pieces of board with a spring at the back – primitive dentures known in England as “Waterloos”.

In Wellington’s bedroom, Room 6 , there are copies of the messages Wellington sent to his commanders during the course of the battle, curiously formal epistles laced with phrases like “Could you be so kind as to …”. Finally, an extension at the back of the museum reprises what has gone before, albeit on a slightly larger scale, with more models, plans and military paraphernalia plus a lucid outline of the immediate historical background.

As a cumbersome compromise between Belgium’s French- and Flemish-speaking communities, Brussels is the country’s only officially bilingual region . This means that every instance of the written word, from road signs and street names to the Yellow Pages , has by law to appear in both languages. Visitors soon adjust – though on arrival the names of the main train stations can be confusing – but for simplicity we’ve used the French version of street names, sights etc.

The good-value Brussels Card ( w www.brusselscard.be ) provides free access to most of the city’s key museums, unlimited travel on the STIB public transport network, and discounts of up to 25 percent at specified restaurants and bars. There are three versions – 24hr (€24), 48hr (€34), and 72hr (€40) – and each is valid from the first time it is used, rather than the day of issue. The card is on sale online via the website and at both main tourist offices; there are no concessionary rates for seniors or children. It’s issued with a booklet detailing all the concessions and discounts.

Brussels by no means ends at the petit ring . King Léopold II pushed the city limits out beyond the course of the old walls, grabbing land from the surrounding communes to create the irregular boundaries that survive today. To the east , he sequestered a rough rectangle of land across which he ploughed two wide boulevards to link the city centre with Le Cinquantenaire , a self-glorifying and markedly grandiose monument erected to celebrate the golden jubilee of Belgian independence, and one that now houses three sprawling museums, two specialists and the more general Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire . There’s no disputing the grandness of Léopold’s design, but in recent decades it has been overlaid with the uncompromising office blocks of the EU. These high-rises coalesce hereabouts to form the loosely defined EU quarter , not a particularly enjoyable area to explore, though the strikingly flashy European Parliament building is of passing interest, especially as it is just footsteps from the fascinating – and fascinatingly eccentric – paintings of the Musée Antoine Wiertz . If, however, you’ve an insatiable appetite for the monuments of Léopold, then you should venture further east to Tervuren , where the king built the massive Musée Royal de L’Afrique Centrale on the edge of the woods of the Forêt de Soignes.

The EU in Brussels

The three main institutions of the European Union operate mainly, though not exclusively, from Brussels. The European Parliament carries out its committee work and the majority of its business in Brussels, heading off for Strasbourg for around twelve, three-day plenary sessions per year. It’s the only EU institution to meet and debate in public, and has been directly elected since 1979. There are currently 736 MEPs, and they sit in political blocks rather than national delegations; members are very restricted on speaking time, and debates tend to be well-mannered consensual affairs, controlled by the President , who is elected for a five-year period by Parliament itself – although this mandate is often split in two and shared by the two biggest political groups. The Conference of Presidents – the President of the Parliament and Leaders of all the political groups – meet to plan future parliamentary business. Supporting and advising this political edifice is a complex network of committees from agriculture to human rights.

The European Council consists of the heads of government of each of the member states and the President of the European Commission; they meet twice every six months in the much-publicized “European Summits”. However, in between these meetings, ministers responsible for different issues meet in the Council of the European Union , the main decision-making structure alongside the European Parliament. There are complex rules regarding decision-making: some subjects require only a simple majority, others need unanimous support, some can be decided by the Council alone, others need the agreement of Parliament. This political structure is underpinned by scores of Brussels-based committees and working parties, made up of both civil servants and political appointees.

The European Commission acts as the EU’s executive arm and board of control, managing funds and monitoring all manner of agreements. The 27 Commissioners are political appointees, nominated by their home countries, but their tenure has to be agreed by the European Parliament and they remain accountable to the MEPs. The president of the Commission is elected by the European Parliament for a five-year period of office. Over twenty thousand civil servants work for the Commission, whose headquarters are in Brussels, mainly in the Berlaymont and adjacent Charlemagne building on rue de la Loi as well as other buildings in the Schuman area.

Brussels can hold its own with any international city when it comes to eating out , and whatever your taste, price range or preferred type of cuisine there is almost always something that will suit. Look out particularly for traditional Bruxellois dishes, canny amalgamations of Walloon and Flemish ingredients and cooking styles, whether rabbit cooked in beer, steamed pigs’ feet or waterzooi (for more on Belgian specialities). As for where to eat, the distinction between the city’s cafés , café-bars and restaurants is fairly elastic, and there are great places over the city, with particular concentrations on place Ste-Catherine and rue du Flandre in the Lower Town and place Boniface and place du Châtelain in Ixelles.

Drinking in Brussels, as in the rest of the country, is a joy. The city boasts an enormous variety of café-bars and bars : sumptuous Art Nouveau establishments, traditional bars with ceilings stained brown by a century’s smoke, speciality beer bars with literally hundreds of different varieties of ale and, of course, more modern hangouts. Many of the more distinctive bars are handily located within a few minutes’ walk of the Grand-Place and also in Ixelles, but really you’ll be spoiled for choice.

There’s no smoking in any establishment that sells food, along with bars and clubs.

Restaurants

Restaurant opening times are pretty standard – a couple of hours at lunchtime, usually noon to 2pm or 2.30pm, and again in the evening from 7pm to around 10pm; precise hours are given with the reviews below. At all but the cheapest restaurants, advance reservations are recommended, especially on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Bars and cafés

Belgians make little – or no – distinction between their bars and cafés : both serve alcohol, many stay open late (until 2am or even 3am) and most sell food as well. What you won’t find (thank goodness) are lots of the coffee house chains which beleaguer so many big cities.

The obvious place to begin any tour of Brussels is the Grand-Place , one of Europe’s most beautiful squares, which sits among a labyrinth of narrow, cobbled alleys and lanes at the heart of the Lower Town. Here, the Gothic extravagance of the Hôtel de Ville (town hall) presides over the gilded facades of a full set of late seventeenth-century guildhouses , whose columns, scrolled gables and dainty sculptures encapsulate Baroque ideals of balance and harmony. Inevitably, such an outstanding attraction draws tourists and expats in their droves, but there’s no better place to get a taste of Brussels’ past and Eurocapital present.

Originally marshland, the Grand-Place was drained in the twelfth century, and by 1350 covered markets for bread, meat and cloth had been erected, born of an economic boom that was underpinned by a flourishing cloth industry. Later, the Grand-Place’s role as the commercial hub of the emergent city was cemented when the city’s guilds built their headquarters on the square and, in the fifteenth century, it also assumed a civic and political function with the construction of the Hôtel de Ville. The ruling dukes visited the square to meet the people or show off in tournaments, and it was here that official decrees and pronouncements were proclaimed.

During the religious wars of the sixteenth century, the Grand-Place became as much a place of public execution as trade, but thereafter resumed its former role as a marketplace. Of the square’s medieval buildings, however, only parts of the Hôtel de Ville and one or two guildhouses have survived, the consequence of an early example of the precepts of total war, a 36-hour French artillery bombardment which pretty much razed Brussels to the ground in 1695; the commander of the French artillery gloated, “I have never yet seen such a great fire nor so much desolation”. After the French withdrew, the city’s guildsmen dusted themselves down and speedily had their headquarters rebuilt, adopting the distinctive and flamboyant Baroque style that characterizes the square today.

The health of Charles II

Philip IV of Spain (1605–65) had no fewer than fourteen children, but only one of his sons – Charles II (1661–1700) – reached his twenties. With women banned from the succession, the hapless, sickly Charles became king aged just four and, much to everyone’s surprise, survived to adulthood. After his first marriage in 1679, there were great hopes that he would sire an heir , but none arrived, allegedly because Charles suffered from premature ejaculation. A second marriage, twenty years later, was equally fruitless and, as it became increasingly clear that Charles was unable to procreate, Europe focused on what was to happen when Charles died and the Spanish royal line died out. Every ambassador to the Spanish court wrote long missives home about the health of Charles, none more so than the English representative, Stanhope , who painted an especially gloomy picture: “He (Charles) has a ravenous stomach and swallows all he eats whole, for his nether jaw stands out so much that his two rows of teeth cannot meet…His weak stomach not being able to digest the food, he voids it in the same (whole) manner.”

In the autumn of 1700, it was clear that Charles was dying and his doctors went to work in earnest, replacing his pillows with freshly killed pigeons and covering his chest with animal entrails. Not surprisingly, this didn’t work and Charles died on November 1, an event which triggered the War of the Spanish Succession .

The Hôtel de Ville

From the south side of the Grand-Place, the scrubbed and polished Hôtel de Ville (town hall) dominates proceedings, its 96m spire soaring high above two long series of robust windows, whose straight lines are mitigated by fancy tracery and an arcaded gallery. The edifice dates from the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the town council decided to build itself a mansion that adequately reflected its wealth and power. The first part to be completed was the east wing – the original entrance is marked by the twin lions of the Lion Staircase, though the animals were only added in 1770. Work started on the west wing in 1444 and continued until 1480. Despite the gap, the wings are of very similar style, and you have to look hard to notice that the later one is slightly shorter than its neighbour, allegedly at the insistence of Charles the Bold who – for some unknown reason – refused to have the adjacent rue de la Tête d’Or narrowed. The niches were left empty and the statues seen today, which represent leading figures from the city’s past, were added as part of a nineteenth-century refurbishment.

By any standard, the tower of the Hôtel de Ville is quite extraordinary, its remarkably slender appearance the work of Jan van Ruysbroeck , the leading spire specialist of the day, who also played a leading role in the building of the cathedral. Ruysbroeck had the lower section built square to support the weight above, choosing a design that blended seamlessly with the elaborately carved facade on either side – or almost: look carefully and you’ll see that the main entrance is slightly out of kilter. Ruysbroeck used the old belfry porch as the base for the new tower, hence the misalignment, a deliberate decision rather than the miscalculation which, according to popular legend, prompted the architect’s suicide. Above the cornice protrudes an octagonal extension where the basic design of narrow windows flanked by pencil-thin columns and pinnacles is repeated up as far as the pyramid-shaped spire , a delicate affair surmounted by a gilded figure of St Michael , protector of Christians in general and of soldiers in particular. The tower is off-limits, and guided tours in English are confined to a string of lavish official rooms used for receptions and town council meetings. Tours begin at the reception desk off the interior quadrangle; be prepared for the guides’ overly reverential script.

Guided tours are big business in Brussels; everything from a quick stroll or bus ride round the city centre to themed visits is on offer, and both Brussels International tourist offices have the details of – and take bookings for – about twenty operators. As a general rule, the more predictable tours can be booked on the day, while the more exotic need to be booked ahead of time, either direct with the company concerned or with the tourist office, who normally require at least two weeks’ advance notice. Among the many more straightforward options, Brussels City Tours , rue de la Colline 8 ( w www.brussels-city-tours.com ), operates the Visit Brussels Line, a hop-on, hop-off bus service which loops round the city, visiting twelve of its principal sights.

More promising is ARAU (Atelier de Recherche et d’Action Urbaines), blvd Adolphe Max 55 ( t 02 219 33 45, w www.arau.org ), a heritage action group which provides tours exploring the city’s architectural history – with particular emphasis on Art Nouveau – from April through to December; prices vary with the length of the tour and the itinerary, but average about €10 per person for walking tours, €15 if there’s some transport involved.

Cramped and populous, the Lower Town fans out from the Grand-Place in all directions, bisected by one major north–south boulevard, variously named Adolphe Max, Anspach and Lemonnier. Setting aside the boulevard – which was ploughed through in the nineteenth century – the layout of the Lower Town remains essentially medieval, a skein of narrow, cobbled lanes and alleys in which almost every street is crimped by tall and angular town houses. There’s nothing neat and tidy about all of this, but that’s what gives it its appeal – dilapidated terraces stand next to prestigious mansions and the whole district is dotted with superb buildings, everything from beautiful Baroque churches through to Art Nouveau department stores.

The Lower Town is at its most beguiling to the northwest of the Grand-Place, where the churches of Ste-Catherine and Ste-Jean-Baptiste au Béguinage stand amid a cobweb of quaint streets and tiny squares. The streets to the north of the Grand-Place are of less immediate appeal, with particularly dreary rue Neuve, a pedestrianized main drag that’s home to the city’s mainstream shops and stores, leading up to the clumping skyscrapers that surround the place Rogier and the Gare du Nord. This is an uninviting part of the city, but relief is at hand in the precise Habsburg symmetries of the place des Martyrs and at the Belgian Comic Strip Centre, the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée. To the south of the Grand-Place, almost everyone makes a beeline for the city’s mascot, the Manneken Pis , but much more enjoyable is the museum dedicated to Belgium’s most celebrated chansonnier, Jacques Brel .

Éditions Jacques Brel

From the Manneken Pis, it’s a short stroll to place de la Vieille-Halle aux Blés, where the Éditions Jacques Brel ( www.jacquesbrel.be ) is a small but inventive museum celebrating the life and times of the Belgian singer Jacques Brel (1933–78), who was born and raised in Schaarbeek, a suburb of Brussels, though he lived most of his life in France. A legend in his own musical lifetime, Brel became famous in the 1960s as a gravelly voiced singer of mournful chansons about death, loss, desire and love, all of which he wrote himself. Inside the museum, a sequence of life-size tableaux give the impression that you have just missed Brel – a cigarette still burns in the replica bar – and you can watch films of the man in concert in the small and cosy theatre-cum-cinema. Brel’s performances were famous for their intensity and if you watch a show you can’t fail to be affected, though actually liking the music is another thing altogether.

Jacques Brel playlist

If you like what you hear at the Éditions Jacques Brel, you might want to check out some songs from the playlist below, which covers the very best of Brel’s work.

Brel’s deliberately repetitive, climactic tale of sailors in seedy ports is a fantastically evocative song, and was one of his most intense live numbers.

Les Bonbons

This is Brel at his wittiest and most unforgiving, poking fun at 1960s hippies.

Le chanson de Jackie

Brel in autobiographical mode, looking back in fantastically rumbustious fashion on his career and forward into his future.

One of Brel’s greatest love songs, brilliantly covered by Scott Walker.

Le Moribond

The tormented and yet curiously upbeat lament of a dying man that gave rise to the Terry Jacks hit of 1974.

Ne me quitte pas

Brel’s most anguished love song, and perhaps one of the most affecting ever written, memorably covered by Nina Simone.

Quand on n’a que l’amour

One of Brel’s earliest songs, When we have only Love was his first hit single.

The Impossible Dream has been covered by just about everyone and is quite rightly one of Brel’s best-known songs, but his version stands out.

Je suis un soir d’été

This late and very atmospheric study of summer ennui in small-town Belgium is one of Brel’s most beautiful songs.

Brel is typically satirical in this biting rant against war, militarism and middle-class bourgeois values.

Tintin was the creation of Brussels-born Georges Remi , aka Hergé (1907–83). Remi’s first efforts (pre-Tintin) were sponsored by a right-wing Catholic journal, Le XXième Siècle , and in 1929 when this same paper produced a kids’ supplement – Le Petit Vingtième – Remi was given his first major break. He was asked to produce a two-page comic strip and the result was Tintin in the Land of the Soviets , a didactic tale about the evils of Bolshevism. Tintin’s Soviet adventure lasted until May 1930, and to round it all off the director of Le XXième Siècle decided to stage a PR-stunt reception to celebrate Tintin’s return from the USSR. Remi – along with a Tintin lookalike – hopped on a train just east of Brussels and when they pulled into the capital they were mobbed by scores of excited children. Remi and Tintin never looked back. Remi decided on the famous quiff straight away, but other features – the mouth and expressive eyebrows – only came later. His popularity was – and remains – quite phenomenal: Tintin has been translated into sixty languages and over twenty million copies of the comic Le Journal de Tintin , Remi’s own independent creation first published in 1946, have been sold – and that’s not mentioning all the Tintin TV cartoon series. Remi’s life and work are also celebrated at the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve.

As far as nightlife goes, it’s likely you’ll be happy to while away the evenings in one of the city’s bars or café-bars – there are plenty in which you can drink until sunrise. If that isn’t enough, Brussels also has a clutch of established clubs , though most of the action revolves around club nights with moveable locations. It’s a fast-moving scene, so the best bet is to check out local websites to see what’s on. Brussels is a good place to catch live bands , with a number of especially appealing smaller venues such as Ancienne Belgique and Botanique . Along with Antwerp, the city is also a regular stop on the European tours of major artists, the big venue being Forest Nationale . Jazz is well catered for too, with several bars playing host to local and international acts, as well as the internationally acclaimed Jazz Marathon held every May ( www.brusselsjazzmarathon.be ).

The classical musical scene is excellent. The Orchestre National de Belgique ( www.nob.be ) enjoys an international reputation and the city showcases a number of excellent classical music festivals. Cream of the crop are the Ars Musica festival of contemporary music held in March ( www.arsmusica.be ), and May’s prestigious Concours Musical Reine Elisabeth ( www.concours-reine-elisabeth.be ), a competition for piano, violin and voice. Opera lovers should make a beeline for the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, which is much praised for staging contemporary interpretations of classic operas, as well as offering a more eclectic repertoire of music and dance. Indeed, the city’s dance scene has been impressing visitors ever since Maurice Béjart brought his classical Twentieth Century Ballet here in 1959. Now the main dance venues are the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwberg and the Kaaitheatre, but the innovative legacy of Béjart lives on, with his old company (now called Rosas and led by Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker) regularly performing at Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.

The big players in the Brussels theatre scene are the Francophone Théâtre National and the Flemish Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwberg, but the city also has an abundance of small theatres providing an eclectic programme from experimental theatre to political pieces and comedy. Most productions are performed in French and Flemish, but several American, Irish and British theatre groups put on high-quality amateur productions too.

The free, trilingual Agenda has the most comprehensive listings of concerts and events. Published every Thursday, it can be picked up in all main métro stations, plus some bars and cafés.

To the north of the city centre lies Jette , a well-heeled suburb that wouldn’t merit a second glance if it weren’t for the former home of René Magritte, now turned into the engaging Musée René Magritte , which pays detailed tribute to the artist, his family and friends. East of here is leafy Laeken , where the Belgian royal family hunker down, and next door again is Heysel , with its trademark Atomium , a hand-me-down from the 1958 World’s Fair.

Brussels has a supreme selection of small, independent shops , a smashing range of open-air markets and a number of charming galeries , covered shopping “streets” dating back to the nineteenth century. The main downtown shopping street is rue Neuve , but this is dominated by chain stores; the Galeries St-Hubert , near the Grand-Place, are much more distinctive, accommodating a smattering of upmarket shops and stores, while the nearby Galerie Agora peddles bargain-basement leather jackets, incense, jewellery and ethnic goods. Behind the Bourse, rue Antoine Dansaert caters for the young and fashionable, housing the stores of upcoming designers as well as big Belgian names like Strelli, and in neighbouring St-Géry , rue des Riches Claires and rue du Marché au Charbon are good for streetwear. More than anything else, however, Brussels is famous for three things: comic strips , beer and chocolate .

Generally speaking, shops and stores are open from 10am to 6pm or 7pm Monday through Saturday. On Fridays, most department stores stay open till 8pm, and some tourist-oriented shops open on Sundays too.

Cobwebbed by tiny squares and narrow streets, home to a plethora of local bars and many of the capital’s finest Art Nouveau houses, the neighbouring areas of St-Gilles and Ixelles, just south of the petit ring, make a great escape from the razzmatazz of the city centre. St-Gilles , the smaller of the two communes , does have patches of inner-city decay, but it gets more beautiful the further east it spreads, its run-down streets soon left behind for attractive avenues interspersed with dignified squares. Ixelles , for its part, is one of the capital’s most interesting and exciting outer areas, with a diverse street-life and café scene. Historically something of a cultural crossroads, Ixelles has long drawn artists, writers and intellectuals – Karl Marx, Auguste Rodin and Alexandre Dumas all lived here – and today it retains an arty, sometimes Bohemian feel. Ixelles is cut into two by avenue Louise , a prosperous corridor that is actually part of the city – a territorial anomaly inherited from Léopold II, who laid it out and named it after his eldest daughter in the 1840s. Some of Brussels’ premier hotels, shops and boutiques flank the northern reaches of the avenue and further along is the enjoyable Musée Constantin Meunier , sited in the sculptor’s old house.

More than anything else, however, it’s the superb range of Art Nouveau buildings clustering the streets of St-Gilles and Ixelles that really grab the attention. Many of the finest examples are concentrated on and around the boundary between the two communes – in between chaussée de Charleroi and avenue Louise – and it’s here you’ll find Horta’s own house and studio, now the glorious Musée Victor Horta , one of the few Art Nouveau buildings in the country fully open to the public. Access to most of the city’s Art Nouveau buildings is restricted, so you can either settle for the view from outside, or enrol on one of ARAU’s specialist Art Nouveau tours.

Musée Victor Horta

The best place to start a visit to St-Gilles is the delightful Musée Victor Horta ( w www.hortamuseum.be ), just off the chaussée de Charleroi at rue Américaine 25 and reachable by tram #92 from place Louise. The museum occupies the two houses Horta designed as his home and studio at the end of the nineteenth century, and was where he lived until 1919. The exterior sets the tone, a striking re-working and re-ordering of what was originally a modest terraced structure, the fluidity of the design incorporating almost casually knotted and twisted ironwork. Yet it is for his interiors that Horta is particularly famous. Inside is a sunny, sensuous dwelling exhibiting all the architect’s favourite flourishes – wrought iron, stained glass, ornate furniture and panelling made from several different types of timber. The main unifying feature is the staircase , a dainty spiralling affair, which runs through the centre of the house illuminated by a large skylight. Decorated with painted motifs and surrounded by mirrors, it remains one of Horta’s most magnificent and ingenious creations, giving access to a sequence of wide, bright rooms. Also of interest is the modest but enjoyable selection of paintings, many of which were given to Horta by friends and colleagues, including works by Félicien Rops and Joseph Heymans.

Horta’s progress

The son of a shoemaker, Victor Horta (1861–1947) was born in Ghent, where he failed in his first career, being unceremoniously expelled from the city’s music conservatory for indiscipline. He promptly moved to Paris to study architecture, returning to Belgium in 1880 to complete his internship in Brussels with Alphonse Balat, architect to King Léopold II. Balat was a traditionalist, partly responsible for the classical facades of the Palais Royal – among many other prestigious projects – and Horta looked elsewhere for inspiration. He found it in the work of William Morris, the leading figure of the English Arts and Crafts movement, whose designs were key to the development of Art Nouveau . Taking its name from the Maison de l’Art Nouveau, a Parisian shop which sold items of modern design, Art Nouveau rejected the imitative architectures which were popular at the time – Neoclassical and neo-Gothic – in favour of an innovatory style characterized by sinuous, flowing lines. In England, Morris and his colleagues had focused on book illustrations and furnishings, but in Belgium Horta extrapolated the new style into architecture, experimenting with new building materials – steel and concrete – as well as traditional stone, glass and wood.

In 1893, Horta completed the curvaceous Hôtel Tassel , Brussels’ first Art Nouveau building (“hôtel” meaning town house). Inevitably, there were howls of protest from the traditionalists, but no matter what his opponents said, Horta never lacked work again. The following years – roughly 1893 to 1905 – were Horta’s most inventive and prolific. He designed over forty buildings, including the Hôtel Solvay , the Hôtel Max Hallet , and his own beautifully decorated house and studio, now the Musée Victor Horta . The delight Horta took in his work is obvious, especially when employed on private houses, and his enthusiasm was all-encompassing – he almost always designed everything from the blueprints to the wallpaper and carpets. He never kept a straight line or sharp angle where he could deploy a curve, and his use of light was revolutionary, often filtering through from above, with skylights and as many windows as possible. Horta felt that the architect was as much an artist as the painter or sculptor, and so he insisted on complete stylistic freedom; curiously, he also believed that originality was born of frustration, so he deliberately created architectural difficulties, pushing himself to find harmonious solutions. It was part of a well-thought-out value system that allied him with the political Left; as he wrote, “My friends and I were reds, without however having thought about Marx or his theories”.

Completed in 1906, the Grand Magasin Waucquez department store was a transitional building signalling the end of Horta’s Art Nouveau period. His later works were more Modernist constructions, whose understated lines were a far cry from the ornateness of his earlier work. In Brussels, the best example of his later work is the Palais des Beaux Arts (BOZAR) of 1928.

When you first arrive, the city’s bilingual signage can be very confusing, especially with regard to the names of the three main train stations : Bruxelles-Nord (in Flemish Brussel-Noord), Bruxelles-Centrale (Brussel-Centraal) and, most bewildering of the lot, Bruxelles-Midi (Brussel-Zuid). To add to the puzzle, each of the three adjoins a métro station – respectively the Gare du Nord (Noordstation), Gare Centrale (Centraal Station) and Gare du Midi (Zuidstation).

From the heights of the Upper Town , the Francophile ruling class long kept a beady eye on the proletarians down below, and it was here they built their palaces and mansions, churches and parks. Political power is no longer concentrated hereabouts, but the wide avenues and grand architecture of this aristocratic quarter – the bulk of which dates from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – have survived pretty much intact, lending a stately, dignified feel that’s markedly different from the bustle of the Lower Town.

The Lower Town ends and the Upper Town begins at the foot of the sharp slope which runs north to south from one end of the city centre to the other, its course marked – in general terms at least – by a wide boulevard that’s variously named Berlaimont, L’Impératrice and L’Empereur. This slope is home to the city’s cathedral , but otherwise is little more than an obstacle to be climbed by a series of stairways. Among the latter, the most frequently used are the covered walkway running through the Galerie Ravenstein shopping arcade behind the Gare Centrale, and the open-air stairway that climbs up through the stodgy, modern buildings of the so-called Mont des Arts . Léopold II gave the area its name in anticipation of a fine art museum he intended to build, but the project was never completed, and the land was only properly built upon in the 1950s.

Above the rigorous layout of the Mont des Arts lie the rue Royale and rue de la Régence , which together make up the Upper Town’s spine, a suitably smart location for the outstanding Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts , the pick of Belgium’s many fine art collections, the surprisingly low-key Palais Royal , and the entertaining Musée des Instruments de Musique ( MIM ). Further south, rue de la Régence soon leads to the well-heeled Sablon neighbourhood, whose antique shops and chic bars and cafés fan out from the medieval church of Notre Dame du Sablon . Beyond this is the monstrous Palais de Justice , traditionally one of the city’s most disliked buildings.

Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts

On the edge of place Royale, the Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts ( w www.fine-arts-museum.be ) holds Belgium’s most satisfying all-round collection of fine art, a vast hoard that is exhibited in three interconnected museums, one displaying modern art from the nineteenth century onwards, a second devoted to René Magritte, and a third to older works. Finding your way around is made easy by the English-language, colour-coded museum plan issued at the information desk behind the entrance. The museum also hosts a prestigious programme of temporary exhibitions (colour-coded red on the museum plan) for which a supplementary admission fee is usually required.

Musée d’Art Ancien

In the Musée d’Art Ancien , the blue area displays paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, including the Flemish primitives and the Bruegels, and the brown area concentrates on paintings of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with the collection of Rubens (for which the museum is internationally famous) as a particular highlight.

The museum owns several paintings by Rogier van der Weyden (1399–1464), who moved to Brussels from his home town of Tournai (in today’s southern Belgium) in the 1430s, becoming the city’s official painter shortly afterwards. When it came to portraiture, Weyden’s favourite technique was to highlight the features of his subject – and tokens of rank – against a black background. His Portrait of Antoine de Bourgogne is a case in point, with Anthony, the illegitimate son of Philip the Good, casting a haughty, tight-lipped stare to his right while wearing the chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece and clasping an arrow, the emblem of the guild of archers.

Weyden’s contemporary, Leuven-based Dieric Bouts (1410–75) is well represented by the two panels of his Justice of the Emperor Otto . The story was well known: in revenge for refusing her advances, the empress accuses a nobleman of attempting to seduce her. He is executed, but the man’s wife remains convinced of his innocence and subsequently proves her point by means of an ordeal by fire – hence the red-hot iron bar she’s holding. The empress then receives her just desserts, being burnt on the hill in the background.

One of the museum’s most interesting paintings is a copy of Temptations of St Anthony by Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516); the original is in Lisbon’s Museu Nacional. No one is quite sure who painted this triptych – it may or may not have been one of Bosch’s apprentices – but it was certainly produced in Holland in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The painting refers to St Anthony, a third-century nobleman who withdrew into the desert, where he endured fifteen years of temptation before settling down into his long stint as a hermit. It was the temptations that interested Bosch – rather than the ascetic steeliness of Anthony – and the central panel has an inconspicuous saint sticking desperately to his prayers surrounded by all manner of fiendish phantoms. The side panels develop the theme – to the right Anthony is tempted by lust and greed, and on the left Anthony’s companions help him back to his shelter after he’s been transported through the skies by weird-looking demons.

Another leading Flemish artist, Quinten Matsys (1465–1530) is well represented by the Triptych of the Holy Kindred . Matsys’ work illustrates a turning point in the development of Low Country painting, and in this triptych, completed in 1509, he abandons the realistic interiors and landscapes of his Flemish predecessors in favour of the grand columns and porticoes of the Renaissance. Each scene is rigorously structured, its characters – all relations of Jesus – assuming lofty, idealized poses.

René Magritte

René Magritte (1898–1967) is easily the most famous of Belgium’s modern artists, his disconcerting, strangely haunting images a familiar part of popular culture. Born in a small town just outside Charleroi, he entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in 1915, and was a student there until 1920. His appearances were, however, few and far between as he preferred the company of a group of artists and friends fascinated with the Surrealist movement of the 1920s. Their antics were supposed to incorporate a serious intent – the undermining of bourgeois convention – but the surviving home movies of Magritte and his chums fooling around don’t appear very revolutionary today.

Initially, Magritte worked in a broadly Cubist manner, but in 1925, influenced by the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico, he switched over to Surrealism and almost immediately stumbled upon the themes and images that would preoccupy him for decades to come. His work incorporated startling comparisons between the ordinary and the extraordinary, with the occasional erotic element thrown in. Favourite images included men in bowler hats, metamorphic figures, enormous rocks floating in the sky, tubas, fishes with human legs, bilboquets (the cup and ball game), and juxtapositions of night and day – one part of the canvas lit by artificial light, the other basking in full sunlight. He also dabbled in word paintings, mislabelling familiar forms to illustrate (or expose) the arbitrariness of linguistic signs. His canvases were devoid of emotion, deadpan images that were easy to recognize but perplexing because of their setting – perhaps most famously, the man in the suit with a bowler hat and an apple for a face.

He broke with this characteristic style on two occasions, once during the war – in despair over the Nazi occupation – and again in 1948, to revenge long years of neglect by the French artistic establishment. Hundreds had turned up to see Magritte’s first Paris exhibition , but were confronted with crass and crude paintings of childlike simplicity. These so-called Vache paintings created a furore, and Magritte beat a hasty artistic retreat behind a smokescreen of self-justification. These two experiments alienated Magritte from most of the other Surrealists, but this was of little consequence as he was picked up and popularized by an American art dealer, Alexander Iolas, who made him very rich and very famous.

Magritte and his family lived in Jette, a suburb of Brussels, until the late 1950s, and the house is now the Musée René Magritte . He died in 1967, shortly after a major retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York confirmed his reputation as one of the great artists of the twentieth century.

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Brussels Travel Guide

Last Updated: August 27, 2024

Brussels is a bit of an underdog city in Europe . Most travelers speed through on their way to Paris or Amsterdam. Or they skip the city altogether.

I think that’s a mistake.

As the administrative center of the European Union, Brussels can feel a bit “stuffy” — but don’t let that fool you. The city is hip, filled with history, (many museums have free entry on the first Sunday of the month), and boasts tons of cutting-edge restaurants. With its countless restaurants and bars devoted to beer, Brussels is a foodie’s dream.

Spend at least a couple of nights here. Enjoy the beer, devour some Belgian fries, and experience this often-overlooked European capital. It might just surprise you (it did me).

This travel guide to Brussels can help you plan your trip, save money, and make the most of your time in this underrated city!

Table of Contents

• Things to See and Do
• How to Stay Safe
• Where to Stay
• Typical Costs
• Suggested Budget
• Money-Saving Tips
• How to Get Around
• Best Places to Book Your Trip
• Related Blogs on Brussels

Click Here for City Guides

Top 5 things to see and do in brussels.

1. Visit the European Parliament

Founded in 1952, the EU parliament is where all 705 members (from 27 countries) meet to debate the future of the EU. You can watch a parliamentary session in the debating chamber (known as the Hemicycle) or tour the building (with an audio guide) when parliament isn’t in session. Space is limited so book in advance (it’s free). On Mondays at 11am and 3pm, there are in-depth guided tours offered in both English and French.

2. Hang out at Grand Place

Brussels’ most popular tourist attraction is its Grand Place. This is the heart of the city and includes the Town Hall, the famous Breadhouse, and, every two years in August, displays a huge floral arrangement. The Grand Place is a bustling part of Brussels and a popular meeting spot for locals.

3. Visit St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral

Built in 1047, this cathedral is the official site of all royal Belgian weddings, funerals, and coronations. It houses a lot of medieval artifacts, including stained-glass windows donated by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Entrance is free but it’s 3 EUR to see the Romanesque crypt, 1 EUR for the church’s archaeological site, and 2 EUR for the Treasury.

4. See Manneken Pis

Manneken Pis is a bronze sculpture fountain of a young boy urinating. It was put in place to distribute drinking water in the 15th century and now it’s a local icon. Each day he wears a new costume (and all the old costumes are kept in a museum). Nearby you can also find Jeanneke Pis, which is of a little girl urinating (it’s as weird as it sounds), and Het Zinneke, a statue of a urinating dog.

5. Drink beer at Delirium Café

This is easily the most famous bar in Brussels, thanks to its selection of some 2,000 beers from around the world (it made the Guinness Book of World Records). They brew their own beer as well, and the enormity of the menu draws a fun-loving, talkative crowd.

Other Things to See and Do in Brussels

1. Take a free walking tour

One of the first things I do in a new city is to take a free walking tour. It’s the best way to get the lay of the land, see the main sights, and connect with a local guide who can answer all my questions. New Europe runs regular free tours that cover all the highlights. Just remember to tip your guide at the end!

2. Explore The Horta Museum

The Horta Museum was once the house of famous art nouveau architect, Victor Horta, who built the property in the late 1890s. It is an excellent example of the art nouveau style that made Horta one of the most acclaimed architects in Belgium. The unique orange-and-yellow glass ceiling and the detailed curlicues of the wrought iron railings are beautiful. Admission is 12 EUR.

3. See the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower

Located at the end of the Royal Estate at Laeken, the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower were constructed between 1901-1910 on the orders of King Leopold. The pavilion has a museum dedicated to Chinese porcelain and furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries. NOTE: The Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower are currently closed due to safety reasons until further notice.

4. Learn about beer at the Cantillon Brewery

Cantillon Brewery was founded in 1900 and is the last surviving lambic brewery (a Belgian beer brewed with raw wheat and wild yeast and fermented for at least a year) in Brussels. The brewery still makes use of its original 19th-century equipment, including its wooden barrels, where the beer matures for up to three years. Guided tours are offered on Saturdays only for 10 EUR, or you can take a self-guided tour throughout the week for 7 EUR. You’ll learn a lot about the production process and you’ll get a free beer at the end. If visiting one brewery isn’t enough for you, you can also take this beer tasting tour where you’ll visit a number of different breweries and enjoy some traditional Belgian snacks with your beers.

5. Gorge at the Gare du Midi market

If you are in Brussels on a Sunday morning, there is no better place to be than the Gare du Midi Market. This is the biggest market in the city and the third-largest food market in Europe, so you can expect to find tasty food like crepes from North Africa, Mediterranean spices, meats, cheese, and pretty much any type of food you desire. Bring an appetite!

6. Eat chocolate

Aside from beer, one of Belgium’s most famous exports is chocolate. Chocolatiers’ shops dot the city, each with its unique recipes (and price tags). My favorite chocolate shop is Maison Pierre Marcolini, as Pierre Marcolini is one of the only chocolatiers in the city to personally select the cocoa beans to roast himself. A close runner-up is Galler Chocolatier, where Jean Galler has perfected some interesting flavor combinations (including an apricot praline). If you want to dive even deeper into Belgian chocolate, visit Choco-Story, the chocolate museum where you can also take a chocolate-making workshop to design your very own chocolate.

7. Learn some history at Waterloo

Just south of the city is Waterloo, the site of Napoleon’s final battle against Europe in 1815. The battle pitted Napoleon against Wellington and the Prussians, marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Some 200,000 soldiers were involved and tens of thousands were killed over the course of the day. Although the fields are empty now, at the center of it all is a 40-meter-tall (131 feet) Lion’s Mound, which you can climb to look out across the whole battlefield. There’s also a visitor center where you can watch films that explain the battle and what it meant for world history. Admission to the museum is 17-19 EUR.

8. Admire the view from the Basilique de Koekelberg

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the 5th largest church in the world, standing 89 meters tall (291 feet) and measuring 167 meters long (548 feet). It was built to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Belgium’s independence, and King Leopold II laid the first stone in 1905. The art deco style contrast of its green dome against red terracotta stones is a striking sight, but the best part is the view over the city from the church’s terrace. It costs 8 EUR to reach it.

9. Hang out at the Grand Salon

The Grand Salon is a square ringed by old mansion houses. The Gothic-style Church of Notre Dame du Sablon can also be found here, but one of the best things to do is sit at a sidewalk cafe, people-watch, and take in the local pace of life. There’s also a fun book and antique market during the weekend if you want to browse.

10. Visit AutoWorld

AutoWorld is a car museum that has over 250 vintage European and American automobiles from the late 19th century up to the 1970s. It has limousines used by the royal family, Belgian-produced Minervas (a defunct car manufacturer that went out of business in the 1950s), and all kinds of prototype vehicles. Admission is 13 EUR. You can buy tickets online in advance here .

11. Climb the Atomium

The Atomium is a giant iron crystal that stands 102 meters (335 feet) tall, magnified 165 billion times its normal size. The structure was originally built for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 and was never meant to be permanent. But it quickly became so beloved by Belgians that it was kept standing. Today, you can go inside the six spheres for panoramic views over the city. There’s even a restaurant in the top sphere. Admission is 16 EUR. It’s recommended to buy tickets online in advance .

12. Explore Mini-Europe

While you’re visiting the Atomium, you can also explore the nearby Mini-Europe, a theme park featuring incredibly detailed miniature replicas of famous European monuments, including Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and the Berlin Wall. There are over 350 monuments in the park, including live-action ones, such as an erupting Mt Vesuvius. Admission to Mini-Europe is 17.30 EUR , while joint tickets that also include entry to the Atomium are 29.40 EUR.

13. See some comic strip art

Located in an Art Nouveau home designed by Victor Horta, The Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art is a must for comic lovers or anyone who’s interested in seeing a different kind of art museum. There are permanent as well as temporary exhibitions with prints, drawings, books, and an entire exhibit dedicated to telling the history of the comic. There’s also a massive comic book shop and library with the biggest collection of comic books globally. Admission to the museum is 12 EUR.

For more information on specific cities in Belgium, check out these guides:

• Bruges Travel Guide

How to Stay Safe in Brussels

Brussels is very safe to visit. Violent crime is very rare here. However, pickpocketing and petty theft can occur so always keep your valuables secure and out of reach (especially in crowded areas and on public transportation).

In the evenings, avoid wandering through certain areas alone due to increased chances of crime, including Schaerbeek, Brussels North, Molenbeek, and Anderlecht.

Solo female travelers should feel safe here for all those reasons. However, the standard precautions you take anywhere apply here too (never leave your drink unattended at the bar, never walk home alone intoxicated, etc.). There are numerous solo female travel blogs that can provide more specific tips.

Scams in Brussels are rare, however, if you’re worried about getting ripped off you can read about common travel scams to avoid here.

If you experience an emergency, dial 112 for assistance.

Always trust your gut instinct. Make copies of your personal documents, including your passport and ID. Forward your itinerary along to loved ones so they’ll know where you are.

The most important piece of advice I can offer is to purchase good travel insurance. Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. You can use the widget below to find the policy right for you:

Where to Stay in Brussels

There are a lot of hostels in Brussels to help keep your budget intact. My recommended places to stay are:

• Brussels 2GO4 Quality Hostel City Centre
• Sleep Well Youth Hostel
• easyHotel Brussels
• Meininger Brussels City Center

Brussels Travel Costs

Accommodation

• Hostel Dorms – 27-39 EUR per night
• Hostel private rooms – 95-155 EUR per night
• Budget hotels – 100-130 EUR per night
• Airbnb private rooms – 50-75 EUR per night
• Airbnb apartments -115 EUR per night
• Campsite – 13 EUR per night
• Cafe meal – 7-11 EUR
• Street food – 3-4 EUR
• Sit-down restaurants – 15-60 EUR
• Casual take-out places – 8-14 EUR
• Fast food (think McDonald’s) – 9 EUR
• Beer – 4-5 EUR
• Glass of wine – 4-5 EUR
• Cappuccino/latte- 3-4 EUR
• Bottled water – 2 EUR
• Groceries for a week – 60 EUR

Some of my favorite places to eat are Delirium Cafe, Wolf (which is a food hall with tons of different stalls), and Maison Antoine (for frites).

Brussels Suggested Budgets

Backpacker – 65 eur per day.

If you’re backpacking, this budget covers a hostel dorm, cooking most of your meals, taking public transportation, limiting your drinking, and doing mostly free activities like free walking tours, visiting the markets, and touring the EU parliament.

Midrange – 150 EUR Per Day

On a mid-range budget, you can stay in a private Airbnb or private hostel room, enjoy a few drinks, eat out for some meals, take the occasional taxi to get around, rent a bike, and do more paid activities like visiting museums and going to AutoWorld.

Upscale – 270+ EUR Per Day

On a “luxury” budget, you can stay in a hotel, eat out for all your meals, drink as much as you want, take more taxis, and do whatever activities you want. This is just the ground floor for luxury though. The sky is the limit!

Brussels Travel Guide: Money-Saving Tips

Brussels is a city of diplomats and they have big expense accounts. That means the city is not a super budget-friendly place to visit. However, it’s not impossible to save money here. Here are some of my suggestions to help you keep costs down:

• Bring a water bottle – The tap water here is safe to drink so bring a reusable water bottle to save money and reduce your plastic use. LifeStraw is my go-to brand as their bottles have built-in filters to ensure your water is always clean and safe.
• Get the plat du jour – Many restaurants offer a dish of the day or a fixed menu at lower prices during lunch so this is the best time to eat out if you plan on doing so. That said, cooking your food is still the cheapest option here.
• Eat Belgian fries – For an inexpensive and quick snack, try Belgian fries, or frites (usually eaten with mayonnaise). A large cone of fries costs no more than 4-5 EUR and are available everywhere. It’s not healthy, but it’s filling and delicious!
• Rent a bicycle – As taxis are so expensive, consider renting a bike to get around. Companies like Villo! and Blue-bike have low rates starting from 3.50 EUR per 24 hours (with the first half-hour often being free).
• Use student discounts – Students can receive discounts into many attractions upon presentation of an ISIC card, including half-price entry to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts.
• Stay with a local – Couchsurfing connects you with locals who can give you a free place to stay. Not only does it save you money but they can share their insider tips with you too. It’s the best way to connect with a local while saving money.
• Take a free walking tour – Free walking tours are the best way to see the city on a budget. Just remember to tip your guide at the end!
• Visit museums when they are free – Many museums offer free entry on the first Sunday of the month. If you time your visit, you can take advantage of this and save some euros. Some of the museums that offer this are the Brussels Museum of The Resistance, the Spontaneous Art Museum, the Belgian Museum of Freemasonry, the Jewish Museum of Belgium, and the Brussels Museum of Industry and Work.

How to Get Around in Brussels

Public transportation – Brussels’ extensive public transportation system includes trams, buses, and subway (metro) lines. The city is pretty spread out so you’ll find yourself on public transportation often. It’s the best way to get around.

A single metro ticket costs 2.40 EUR when purchased inside the vehicle, or 2.10 EUR when using contactless payment methods. You can get a ten-journey pass for 15.60 EUR. A one-day ticket is 7.80 EUR (7.50 EUR daily cap when using contactless payment) and gives you unlimited travel across all public transportation.

Remember to validate your ticket every time you take public transportation. Failing to do so can result in a significant fine!

The airport bus is 7 EUR each way.

Bicycle – There are a handful of bicycle rideshare companies in Brussels, including Villo! and Blue-bike, with incredibly low rates starting from 3.50 EUR per 24 hours. Villo! Rentals are free for rides under 30 minutes.

Taxi – Taxis are very expensive. With the base rate starting at 4.98 EUR and then 1.94 EUR for each additional kilometer, they add up fast. With great public transportation, there’s few times you’ll need a taxi!

Ridesharing – After a brief ban, Uber is back in operation in Brussels. But, like taxis, it’s expensive, so skip the ridesharing if you’re on a budget.

Car rental – Car rentals are expensive here, costing at least 50 EUR per day. However, the city is easy to get around via public transportation so you definitely don’t need a car here unless you are leaving the city to explore the rest of the country/region. Divers need to be at least 21 years of age.

To find the best car rental prices, use Discover Cars .

When to Go to Brussels

The best time to visit Brussels is during the shoulder seasons, between March-May and September-October. Room rates are much cheaper, and you won’t have to compete for space at all the city’s top attractions. The average daily high in March-May is about 16°C (62°F), while it’s around 18°C (66°F) from September-October.

The summer is the busiest and most popular time to visit. I would avoid visiting during this time, when average daily temperatures are about 23°C (73°F), as prices are inflated and the city’s attractions are very busy.

Winter can be frigid, averaging 6°C (43°F) during the day but often dropping lower. That said, Brussels is alive with Christmas markets and prices are much lower so it’s a fun time to visit if you’re going to be browsing markets and enjoying the museums.

If you come during February you can attend Brussels’ Carnival. It’s a bit of a booze fest and there are lots of costumes and parades, but if you’re in the mood to have fun, this is an ideal time to do it.

Brussels weather can also change on a dime all year round so make sure you pack a light sweater and rain jacket no matter what time of year you visit.

Brussels Travel Guide: The Best Booking Resources

These are my favorite companies to use when I travel. They consistently have the best deals, offer world-class customer service and great value, and overall, are better than their competitors. They are the companies I use the most and are always the starting point in my search for travel deals.

• Skyscanner – Skyscanner is my favorite flight search engine. They search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites tend to miss. They are hands down the number one place to start.
• Hostelworld – This is the best hostel accommodation site out there with the largest inventory, best search interface, and widest availability.
• Booking.com – The best all around booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. In all my tests, they’ve always had the cheapest rates out of all the booking websites.
• Get Your Guide – Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions. They have tons of tour options available in cities all around the world, including everything from cooking classes, walking tours, street art lessons, and more!
• SafetyWing – Safety Wing offers convenient and affordable plans tailored to digital nomads and long-term travelers. They have cheap monthly plans, great customer service, and an easy-to-use claims process that makes it perfect for those on the road.
• LifeStraw – My go-to company for reusable water bottles with built-in filters so you can ensure your drinking water is always clean and safe.
• Unbound Merino – They make lightweight, durable, easy-to-clean travel clothing.
• Top Travel Credit Cards – Points are the best way to cut down travel expenses. Here’s my favorite point earning credit cards so you can get free travel!
• BlaBlaCar – BlaBlaCar is a ridesharing website that lets you share rides with vetted local drivers by pitching in for gas. You simply request a seat, they approve, and off you go! It’s a cheaper and more interesting way to travel than by bus or train!

GO DEEPER: Nomadic Matt’s In-Depth Budget Guide to Europe!

There’s a lot of free information online but do you want to spend days searching for information? Prob not! That’s why guidebooks exist.

While I have a lot of free tips on Europe, I also wrote an entire book that goes into great detail on everything you need to plan a trip here on a budget! You’ll get suggested itineraries, budgets, even more ways to save money, my favorite restaurants, prices, practical information (i.e. phone numbers, websites, prices, safety advice, etc etc), and cultural tips.

I’ll give the insider view of Europe that I got from years of traveling and living here! The downloadable guide can be used on your Kindle, iPad, phone, or computer so you can have it with you when you go. Click here to learn more about my book on Europe!

Brussels Travel Guide: Related Articles

Want more tips for your trip? Check out all the articles I’ve written on Brussels travel and continue planning your trip:

The Best Things to Do and See in Brussels

My Step-By-Step Guide to Backpacking Europe

How to (Legally) Stay in Europe for More Than 90 Days

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Home » Europe » Belgium » Brussels

Insider Brussels Itinerary (2024 • Glow Up)

Brussels . A city where the waffle scene is completely off the rails and bureaucracy is so efficient that nothing ever really gets done…

In short, the perfect EU headquarters! ( ED: Bit far?)

ANYWAY, Brussels is packed full of wonderful attractions, and you’re gonna be hard-pressed to catch ’em all. Hence, I have written this top class Brussels Itinerary , perfect for putting all your timing concerns at ease.

I’ll cover all the main visitor essentials, starting from ‘how to not sound French’ and ‘being exceptionally lost’ all the way to ‘getting Koreans to take your photos’. I might even repent my European Union joke too.

Let’s jump into Brussels!

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A Little Bit About this 3-Day Brussels Itinerary

Where to stay in brussels, brussels itinerary day 1, brussels itinerary day 2, brussels itinerary day 3, what to do with more than 3 days in brussels, the best time to visit brussels, getting around in brussels, faq on brussels itinerary, final thoughts.

• Buy Us a Coffee!

So you’re heading over for a quick visit to Belgium and telling your friends that Belgian delicacies are simply divine (whilst spending all of your money on local brew)?

Outstanding work. However, your time is precious! Exceptional things to do seem to spring out of every corner, and you are starting to see why the Belgian Capital was selected as the European Union’s headquarters…

This 3-days in Brussels Itinerary is going to sweep you with ease through the top attractions, places to visit , and general ambience of this city. I might even try and keep it entertaining for ya too…

There’s a lot to cover, so take this guide as a general base upon which you can structure your own personalised itinerary. I’ve slipped in some hidden gems (like chocolate shops, royal palaces and the Brussels Stock Exchange) so pay attention…

3-Day Brussels Itinerary Overview

• Day 1:  The Grand Place | Brussels City Museum | Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert | Mont Des Arts | Mannekin Pis | Choco Story | Brussels Beer Tour
• Day 2:  Atomium | Mini Europe | Musical Instruments Museum | Royal Palace of Brussels | Museum of Fine Arts | Notre Dame Du Sablon
• Day 3: Parc Du Cinquantenaire | Museum of Natural Science | Belgian Comic Strip Centre | Le Botanique

And so the first day passes. You’re going to need an EPIC place to stay ! Never fear, because I have curated an excellent selection of accommodation that even the choosiest shan’t fail to love…

City Centre

Brussels’ City Centre is a magnet for tourists, with dazzling architecture, interesting attractions, and a good choice of places to eat, drink, shop, and sleep.

The Marolles

The Marolles is one of the best neighbourhoods in Brussels for people looking for budget accommodation. Soak up the local vibe and discover the working class side of the Belgian capital.

Saint Gery was previously an island in the River Senne. There’s no water crossing needed today, though; the river was covered up and Saint Gery joined with the rest of the city.

Saint Gilles

Our choice for the coolest place to stay in Brussels, Saint Gilles is a youthful, bohemian, trendy, multicultural, and lively part of the city.

Ixelles is an arty and trendy neighbourhood with a good selection of shops, restaurants, bars, and attractions. Lakes, parks, and forests are within easy reach and the area is well connected by public transport.

The Grand Place | Brussels City Museum | Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert | Mont Des Arts | Mannekin Pis | Choco Story | Brussels Beer Tour

Today we’re literally just going to be covering in and around the Grand Place. There is so much to see! If you’re wondering what to see in Brussels in two days, here’s the start to any good 2-day Brussels Itinerary .

8:00 am – Visit the Grand Place

Visiting the Grand Place is one of the best ways to kick off your Brussels itinerary. This impressive square is considered the central point of the main area in Brussels, and walking around it will leave anyone completely inspired!

The square is lined with some magnificent buildings, offering possibly the best architectural display in the city! These buildings all have rich histories, and exploring them will give you a good idea of what life in Brussels would have looked like many years ago! The main focal point when visiting the Grand Place is the 15th-century city hall in the centre.

The Grand Place always has something fun going on. This square is full of cool cafes, bars, and shops. Sometimes there is a flower market in the centre of the square, and at night there is always a great vibe here!

Walking around the Grand Place is an essential first stop to help you get your bearings, and take in some of the best buildings in the city.

Take the time to grab a coffee and some breakfast while you’re here!

Insiders Tip: For a new and beautiful perspective of the Grand Place, visit at night when it is all lit up!

• Cost:  Free
• How long should I spend here?  Around an hour.
• Getting there: There are a literal bucket load of bus stops, the metro, and trams! Grand Place ought to do it.

9:00 am – Take a Visit to The Broodhuis

The Broodhuis, found on the Grand Place, is an old building with a long and interesting history as a bread market. Today, it is the site of the Brussels City Museum which has got to be the best place to learn all about this city’s amazing past.

The Brussels City Museum is dedicated entirely to the history of this city. The displays and exhibitions date back to the middle ages and take you through time right up until the present. If you want to learn more about Brussels and what’s going on around you, then a stop at this museum is a brilliant idea.

Insiders Tip: If you get a Brussels Card when arriving in the city, you will be able to access discounted rates on many museums and attractions- including this one!

• Cost:  $9
• How long should I spend here?  1 hour or less.
• Getting there: You should already be in the right place! Just stroll over to the right side!

10:00 am – Go Shopping at the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert

The Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert is an ensemble of brilliantly glazed shopping arcades in the heart of Brussels. If you want to experience some of the best shopping that this city has to offer, all in a fantastic setting, then this is the place!

One of the best things to do in Brussels is to simply walk around the streets, popping into the interesting shops and appreciating the amazing architecture around you. The Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert has got to be one of the best places to experience this during your Brussels itinerary!

If you are staying in a top-tier Brussels hostel , I guess you can look or something. (haha)

• How long should I spend here?  Try 1.5 hours
• Getting there: It’s 1 minute’s walk. Literally just down the street!

12:00 pm – Explore the Mont Des Arts

If you want to explore more of the amazing museums and historical-cultural collections in Brussels, then consider visiting the Mont Des Arts.

Aside from being such a beautiful place in Belgium , this city is a cultural hub with prominent museums dedicated to art, history, and culture.

When exploring the Mont Des Arts, you could visit the Royal Library of Belgium, the National Archives of Belgium and the Brussels Meeting Center square, a beautiful public garden (more commonly known as the Mont Des Arts Gardens)!

Central Brussels is popping, so be sure to check out if something is happening when you travel to Brussels. However, you don’t need an event going on to attract you to this exciting part of the city!

Besides all of the art and culture available here, the Mont Des Arts boasts a fantastic public garden -the perfect place to catch some fresh air in the city. The buildings and architecture around here are also well worth admiring!

Take the time to stop for some lunch close by. Belgian food is fantastic!

• How long should I spend here?  Around 2 hours.
• Getting there: It’s a 6-minute walk South-East from the last stop.

2:30 pm – Experience Manneken Pis

The Manneken Pis is a funny little statue of a young boy urinating into a fountain. While the statue is small, it plays a massive role in Brussels. The Manneken Pis is an iconic landmark of the city, and when taking yourself on a Brussels walking tour, stopping here is a must!

The Mannekin Pis statue dates back to the 17th century where it was designed by James Duquesnoy. This statue may be fun to look at, but finding it is half the adventure. On your way to the Manneken Pis, you will wander through some stunning little streets and lanes around the old town. This is a must-see sight when in Brussels!

Insiders Tip: If you enjoyed the Manneken Pis, you can find the famous trio of urinating statues in Brussels, including the Jeanneke Pis and Het Zinneke.

• How long should I spend here?  Half an hour or less
• Getting there: Another 6-minute walk! Easy…

3:00 pm – Visit Choco-Story Brussels

When visiting Brussels, eating is definitely going to be one of the highlights! Your itinerary for Brussels will be full of amazing food, with lots of chocolate included.

If you want to learn all about the famous and delicious chocolate of Belgium, visit the awesome Choco-Story. This is a small museum in the city dedicated to all things chocolate! When visiting, you will get to learn all about the history and heritage behind Belgian chocolate, as well as some good insight into the production!

Fun live demonstrations take place here, guided by a master chocolatier. There are also plenty of interesting exhibits. Of course, your trip will also involve tasting some amazing sweets!

• Cost:  $15
• How long should I spend here?  Around 2 hours
• Getting there: Just next to the last stop!

8:00 pm – Tackle a Belgian Beer Tasting Tour

Visiting Belgium just wouldn’t be complete without sampling some of the country’s amazing beers. Consider taking a Belgian beer tasting tour to explore the interesting brews that this country has to offer!

Guided by a knowledgeable local, a beer tour will take you to some of the best bars that the city has to offer. These are historical old places, and as you sample the pruduce, you will learn all about the rich history and heritage behind the beers.

Your tour will teach you all about what many consider to be the world’s greatest beer culture. You will learn about the different Trappist beers, their history , and what makes them so unique.

This is a great tour to learn about a new side of Brussels culture, taste amazing and unique beers, see some fun places in the city, and meet new people! If you are a beer fan then a tour like this is a must during your Brussels itinerary.

• Cost:  $$$
• How long should I spend here?  All day, All night?
• Getting there: Different tours will start in different places. Make sure to double check!

Wanna know how to pack like a pro? Well for a start you need the right gear….

These are packing cubes for the globetrotters and compression sacks for the  real adventurers – these babies are a traveller’s best kept secret. They organise yo’ packing and minimise volume too so you can pack MORE.

Or, y’know… you can stick to just chucking it all in your backpack…

Atomium | Mini Europe | Musical Instruments Museum | Royal Palace of Brussels | Museum of Fine Arts | Notre Dame Du Sablon

Spending a couple of days in Brussels will have you enjoying some of the best landmarks, gardens, museums, food, and experiences in the city! Here is your day two itinerary:

8:30 am – Experience The Atomium

When looking at what to do in Brussels, a visit to the Atomium is a must! This massive atom shaped sculpture is found in the city’s Heysel Park. The sculpture stands at 100m tall, and it dates back to 1958.

You can get inside this huge structure and enjoy some amazing views from its glass roof lift. At the top, there is a brilliant spot to enjoy a drink or something to eat while inside the amazing Atomium!

When visiting this Brussels landmark, it is advised to take some time to explore the surrounding Heysel Park, as there is plenty to see here as well. Witnessing the enormous atom though will definitely be an unforgettable moment!

Insiders Tip: This Brussels attraction is very popular and it can get pretty busy, so try to arrive early if you want to avoid the crowds.

• Cost:  $16
• How long should I spend here?  Around an hour (unless you’re breakfasting at the top)
• Getting there: Take the tram! The number 3 will get you within reach from Grand Place.

10:00 pm – Take a Trip Through Mini Europe

If you don’t have the time to travel across Europe, then adding a stop at Mini Europe to your Brussels itinerary is a good option! This park is a really fun place to experience Europe’s best and most famous landmarks, all built to scale in a miniature form.

Walking through Mini Europe is a unique thing to do when touring Brussels. Seeing all of the little landmarks really is such fun, and it is also really informative too!

Insiders Tip: This attraction is very child-friendly, and can be fun for the whole family!

• How long should I spend here?  Around 1.5 hours
• Getting there: It’s just a short walk from the Atomium. They’re a real pair!

12:00 pm – Experience the Musical Instruments Museum

This art nouveau museum is housed in one of the most famous buildings in the city (the Old England Building). Many people are attracted to this museum for the fantastic building, but the museum itself has some interesting displays that are well worth the visit!

This museum is focused on musical instruments, and a stop here will show you so much on the subject! With over 8,000 instruments in the collection, you will get to see, hear, and witness all kinds of musical history. This is a unique and interesting stop to add to your Brussels itinerary!

• Getting there: Back to the centre! The number 6 metro will do it.

2:00 pm – Admire the Palais Royal (or Royal Palace)

The Palais Royal is the official residence of the Belgian royal family, and it is a beautiful building to walk around and admire. The palace is open for exploring with no entrance fee, and it is definitely worth the visit!

Walking around here is a great way to take in one of the older and most stunning buildings in the city. It is also a really interesting place to learn about the history of Belgian royals.

Besides the building, the palace has an impressive royal garden. Spend some time exploring this area, and enjoying the royal side of Brussels!

• Getting there:

3:30 pm – Pay a Visit to the Musee Royaux Des Beaux-Arts

The Musée Royaux Des Beaux-Arts, or the Royal Museum of Fine Arts is a paradise for lovers of art and culture. This impressive museum houses some world-class art, spanning various collections of modern and ancient art!

Some of the most famous artists on display in this museum include Peter Rubens, Anthony Van Dyke, and Hans Memling. However, there are countless works of incredible European art that will have you awestruck!

This museum is pretty big, and there really is so much on display. If you love art, then be sure to allocate a good amount of time to this museum.

• Getting there: It’s just a short walk from the Royal Palace.

5:00 pm – Witness the Notre Dame Du Sablon

The spectacular Notre Dame Du Sablon cathedral is an important historic and architectural site in the city. Dating back to the 14th century, this cathedral is a really well-preserved example of Gothic architecture!

There was once a famous Madonna statue inside the cathedral that was supposed to have had incredible healing properties. The original statue was stolen by a team of thieves, and its whereabouts are still unknown. There is however a replica statue up in place.

This cathedral is a beautiful building to walk around and appreciate. A great stop to add to your Brussels itinerary! We’re sure that this is a long day, so take the evening to relax and chill out, or head to an amazing restaurant!

• How long should I spend here?  Less than 1 hour
• Getting there: Walking!

Parc Du Cinquantenaire | Museum of Natural Science | Belgian Comic Strip Centre | Le Botanique

The final day. Here are some things that you will love doing on your last day in Brussels! There’s a big arch, some big dinosaurs, some big cartoons, and some big plants. A top day. Or you could sit in your sexy Brussels Airbnb .

9:00 am – Stroll Through the Parc Du Cinquantenaire

The Parc Du Cinquantenaire is a great addition to your Brussels itinerary for a number of reasons. You can visit this lovely green space to either take a break from the city, enjoy a picnic under a tree, marvel at the old architecture in the park, or visit some of the surrounding museums.

This park was built during the reign of King Leopold II, and it should be an essential stop on your trip to Brussels. Take some time to wander through the well-kept gardens, and enjoy the impressive arches and statues found in the park.

If you love history or art, then explore the surrounding museums. These are all world-class, and they cater to all kinds of interests. Collectively, these museums have a whopping 35,000 artefacts on display!

You can grab breakfast from a cafe or restaurant nearby (and coffee, although that kind of goes without saying). The Brussels Autoworld Museum is located inside too. Car fanatics, this means you!

Insiders Tip: Try to visit the Parc du Cinquantenaire on a sunny day, as relaxing under a tree on the grass here is a truly special experience.

• How long should I spend here?  You could easily spend all day (don’t though). Try 1.5 hours.
• Getting there: Bus, Metro or Tram! It’s pretty easy to find!

11:00 am – Museum des Sciences Naturelles

Are you interested in stepping into the largest dinosaur gallery in Europe? A mix of exciting temporary exhibits and carefully curated permanent ones? Then you’re going to want to head to the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences!

This is a great thing to do with kids, who will love the history, reality, and interactive exhibits. In a city where many museums are rather static, this one is more hands-on and amusing. As a bonus, your children might even learn something, because it is all geared towards educating (yes, even you adults). It is a museum after all. The Museum of Natural Sciences is a great place to stop before lunch, which I’m sure you will be needing after the morning’s excitement!

• Cost:  $14 (13 euros)
• Getting there: You can stroll over from the Parc du Cinquantenaire . It’s around a 15-minute walk, but it is a very pretty one.

2:30 pm – Visit the Belgian Comic Arts Museum

Before embarking on the afternoon of Day 3, you might want to return to the Brussels Grand Place for a bit of lunch. You’ve seen it once, how about twice?

Brussels has a fascinating history and culture, but many don’t realize that comic books have played a big role in this! If you want to explore a new side of Belgian and learn all about the interesting role of comic books in this country, then head to the Belgian Comic Strip Center.

This museum has some brilliant displays, all dedicated to comic books. You will get to see some really fun objects, as well as valuable comic books and collectables!

If you want to discover more about the importance of comic books to Brussels, take a walk through the city spotting the huge comic murals found on many buildings.

• Cost:  $11
• Getting there: It’s half an hour’s walk from the Natural Science Museum. Definitely time for some lunch!

5:00 pm – Explore Le Botanique

Le Botanique is the old botanical gardens of Brussels, now a stunning urban park! If the city is getting a bit much, this is the perfect place to quickly escape to for some greenery, peace, and quiet.

Le Botanique is a terraced park with many impressive gardens around it. There are some peaceful benches and playgrounds for the kids!

The old Greenhouse in the garden has been converted into a kind of cultural center, offering some brilliant performances and concerts at night. This can be a really fun thing to do in the evening.

Whether you come for the stunning terraced gardens, the quiet, or the fun greenhouse performances, Le Botanique is a lovely escape from the city.

Insiders tip: The museum here is well worth a visit, and it has constantly changing exhibitions. Be sure to check out what’s on before you visit!

• Cost:  $6
• How long should I spend here?  Around 1.5 hours.
• Getting there: Le Botanique is just a short walk from the Comics Art Museum

So you’re stuck in Brussels for three months while your family moves into the new house? Here are some extra things you can fill your time with, including some top-class Brussels day trips!

Take a Brussels Walking Tour

If you are planning a trip to Brussels, definitely consider taking part in one of the amazing walking tours which operate around the city. It’s one thing following a map around and guiding yourself, but when you are part of an informative tour you will see, learn and experience so much more!

Free walking tours of Brussels will teach you the interesting stories behind some of the city’s most famous monuments! You will get to witness many major landmarks up close, and you will be guided through it all by passionate and well-informed locals.

Besides history and architecture, you will also get to learn all about the local food and beer. As you walk along with your tour, you will pass many different street food stands and local delicacies!

If you’re spending a weekend in Brussels, adding a walking tour to your Brussels itinerary is a great way to really see most of the city!

• Cost:  Around $20
• Getting there: Most Tours will leave from Grand Place

Enjoy the Brussels Nightlife

While Brussels is famous for its art, history, museums, and architecture, they still know how to party in this city! If you are looking for some exciting ways to fill out your Brussels itinerary, definitely consider diving into some of the vibrant nightlife in this city!

You could visit a central area such as the Grand Place to enjoy some popular bars, pubs, and fun local hangouts. This is a great place to meet loads of new people and see the city in a new light.

If you are looking for more of a dancing scene, then head out to Rue du Marche au Charbon. This area is famous for its exciting clubs and many super trendy bars!

Brussels is a city that has loads on offer- both during the day and by night. So, be sure to check out the nightlife here if you want to experience all that this city has to offer!

• Cost:  $$$+
• How long should I spend here?  Not a legitimate question here.
• Getting there: Rue du Marche au Charbon is where you want to be…!

Antwerp Day Trip From Brussels

Brussels is an amazing city, but if you have the time, why not explore more of Belgium? This day trip from Brussels takes you to Antwerp- one of the most loved cities in this country.

Antwerp is famous for being the fashion capital of Belgium, and is often referred to as “Belgium’s Diamond.” Your day trip will take you through the many important areas of Antwerp, including the diamond district where you will learn all about the diamond history and the cutting process.

You will get to see a palace, an amazing cathedral, famous houses, museums, the Scheldt River, and more! Of course, there will be time to explore the beautiful streets of Antwerp, do some shopping, and enjoy an unforgettable meal here.

• How long should I spend here?  A day?
• Getting there: Train! It is the best way.

Bruges Full-Day Guided Tour

Another spectacular destination in Belgium that is well worth a visit (if you have time), is Bruges. Often referred to as “Venice of the North”, Bruges is a medieval town that boasts incredible canals, old buildings, cobbled streets, and plenty of charm!

This full-day trip from Brussels includes a 4-hour walking tour through Bruges. Guided by a knowledgeable local. You will get to see some of the top attractions and points of interest in Bruges and will gain a better understanding of this town through your expert guide.

The tour includes return train tickets to Bruges from Brussels, but if you love it you could always stay in Bruges !

• Getting there: Train! It is the best way!

While your trip to Brussels can be enjoyed all year round, this city does have its more appealing times to visit. Belgium experiences all four seasons pretty distinctly, so choose your visiting time wisely as the weather may impact your trip. Bear in mind that Brussels does experience rain all year round, so be prepared for potential rain during your Brussels itinerary no matter what time you visit!

Wondering when to visit Brussels? The best time to visit this city would be between March to May and September to October. These times are considered the shoulder seasons when the crowds of tourists are fewer, the prices are lower, but the weather is still great!

Some may prefer to place their Brussels trip itinerary around December to experience the wintery charms of the city, while others would opt for visiting in April when there is the least rain. No matter what time you plan your vacation in Brussels, you will be able to enjoy this city in a beautiful and unique way!

Before you start planning exactly what you will be doing in Belgium’s capital city, it is important to know how you will be getting around. Luckily, Brussels is really easy to navigate. The excellent public transport here makes it exceedingly easy to get around!

If you are based around the central part of the city, the best way to get around is by walking! Simply wandering through the streets here is one of the best things to do during your Brussels itinerary as this city is so beautiful! Many of the best things to see here are best appreciated while walking, and many of the main attractions are within close proximity of each other.

If you plan on travelling further distances though, there is an excellent metro system in Brussels. This is an affordable way of getting around, and it is also highly efficient. This city also has a solid bus network that is even more affordable. Trains are also a good option for longer distances!

Taking a taxi is also easy to do in Brussels! You can either grab one of the many cabs that drive around the city or use Uber to easily find a ride. Brussels is a great safe city too!

Now that you know how to get around, it’s time to start planning the ultimate Brussels itinerary!

Don’t Forget Your Travel Insurance for Brussels

ALWAYS sort out your backpacker insurance before your trip. There’s plenty to choose from in that department, but a good place to start is Safety Wing .

They offer month-to-month payments, no lock-in contracts, and require absolutely no itineraries: that’s the exact kind of insurance long-term travellers and digital nomads need.

SafetyWing is cheap, easy, and admin-free: just sign up lickety-split so you can get back to it!

Click the button below to learn more about SafetyWing’s setup or read our insider review for the full tasty scoop.

Here’s what people usually ask us when they’re planning a trip to Brussels.

How many days in Brussels is enough?

Since I’ve written a top-tier 3-day Brussel Itinerary, I’d say you need at least 3 days to explore Brussels fully. You can cover most of the well-known activities in 2 days if you really push it, but to get a true sense of the city, that third day is extra important!

Is one day enough to see Brussels?

One day in Brussels only allows you to see a few attractions, but it’s definitely not enough to get a proper grasp of the city. If you only have one day, plan ahead so you don’t waste any time. You can definitely cover the Grand Place and the Atomium, but you won’t be able to slow down and actually enjoy the city so much.

What Should I Include in a 3-Day Brussels Itinerary?

A good 3-day Brussels Itinerary should include Grand Place, an investigation of both Belgian chocolate and Belgian beer, the Atomium, Mini Europe, the Museum of Natural Science, and the Brussels Royal Palace. If you have time, head to the Belgian Comic Strip Center, City Hall, and the Art and History Museum.

What Should I Include on a Day Trip to Brussels?

Don’t miss Grand Place (and all of its surroundings), the Mont Des Arts Gardens, the Royal Palace, the Atomium and Mini Europe. If you can do all these in a single day, I will be seriously impressed! Brussels is awesome, and you should really think about compiling that perfect 1-day Itinerary!

Brussels is a magical city with so many amazing activities to discover! Whether you come for the art and culture, the world-class museums, the incredible architecture, or the unbelievable food, this city will have you dreaming of your return!

Of all of the amazing things to do during your Brussels itinerary, one of the best things is to just walk around the city’s charming old streets and appreciate the stunning surroundings. There is such a unique charm that can be found in Brussels, and it is a place that you really can’t compare to anywhere else!

I hope that my ultimate Brussels itinerary helps you to make the most out of your trip to Belgium’s capital. I love visiting Brussels and am sure that you will too. Happy travelling!

Buy Us a Coffee !

A couple of you lovely readers suggested we set up a tip jar for direct support as an alternative to booking through our links. So we created one!

You can now buy The Broke Backpacker a coffee . If you like and use our content to plan your trips, it’s a much appreciated way to show appreciation 🙂

Mathilde Magnier

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20+ Brussels Travel Tips & Tricks: Must-Knows Before You Visit

Last Updated: April 15, 2021

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Looking to make the most of your time in Brussels, the beautiful capital of Belgium? Here are some must-know travel tips before your visit.

I have to admit, I screwed up big time on my first visit to Brussels.

The first time I visited this sugary Waffleland, I was no more than a beginner backpacker in Europe midway through her first long term trip, with an ego and confidence inflated after several “easy” weeks of travel in Paris and London.

Unsurprisingly then, when I met my match in Brussels, mistakes were made, expectations ruined and illusions shattered…

… I definitely did not do the city properly, I’ll tell you that.

Save these Brussels travel tips for later!

You’ll be very glad you did.

And so for a long time, I thought I hated Brussels. Like truly, hated it! In fact, between you and me, this blog post was initially published in 2014, and in it I spewed a looot of vitriol about why Brussels was not the city for me.

Then something changed. I had to visit Brussels for work one day. Then I visited again. And again. I mean, call it exposure therapy, but whatever it was, it worked! I am now a believer, and see how poorly I had done Brussels justice on that first visit so many years ago.

Brussels really is an amazing city if you know how to visit it properly.

So, in the spirit of helpful advice, I’d like to share my best Brussels travel tips to ensure you enjoy the city, rather than feel duped by it like I did all those years ago.

Hint: beer and waffles are maybe involved.

Accumulated over many visits to the Belgian capital, here are some of my best tips for when you visit Brussels.

Brussels Travel Planning Tips

We’ll start with planning-related tricks for Brussels, from finding cheap flights to booking the right accommodation.

Learn the tricks to getting cheap flights TO Brussels

If you’re visiting Brussels from overseas and haven’t booked your flights yet, be sure to check out my guide on how to get the cheapest flights to Europe . I promise it’ll save you hundreds of dollars on your flight!

If you’re coming from within Europe, you might also find my guide to the cheapest ways to travel around Europe helpful.

Know the difference between Brussels’ two airports

When flying into Brussels, you’ll either be flying into Brussels Airport (BRU) or Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL). 

Those travelling on a budget should definitely look into flights for Charleroi, as this is the one that services budget airlines like Ryanair and Wizz Air , which means you’ll likely find cheaper fares here vs.Brussels Airport.

That said, Charleroi is located an hour from Brussels city center, with no train station of its own, so the only way to get from Charleroi to Brussels is a shuttle bus or private transfer. This costs a bit more than the train from BRU to the center, so factor that into your costs!

NOTE: BRU does have some low cost airlines too like easyJet.

Book your hotel somewhere central

Most of Brussels’ most touristy sights are within walking distance of each other, so if you want to maximize your time in the city, it’s important to book somewhere in the heart of the action.

I have a full list of recommended hotels in Brussels, but generally speaking these are some good areas to book in:

• Around Grand Place: Expensive but as central as it gets. For a splurge, this top rated hotel is right on the corner of Grand Place.
• Sablon: Close to the sights but in a quieter, lovely area. Here is the top rated hotel in this neighbourhood.
• European Quarter: Very safe but kind of boring and quiet. Here is the top rated hotel in this neighbourhood.

For a budget-friendly stay close to the center, I can also recommend this Motel One. The rooms are small, but the property is very safe and comfortable.

Know which areas to avoid in Brussels when booking accommodation

Brussels is full of many lovely neighbourhoods and areas, but for tourists booking a dream trip, there are certain areas that should be avoided as well.

One of the primary reasons I hated Brussels on my first visit was because of where I stayed, a hostel near Place de Brouckère. Walking home (even before dark) made my friend and I feel uneasy because the entire 10 minute stretch home would be filled with cat-callers and strange men staring us down.

So, choose your base wisely!

While I am by no means an expert on safety in Brussels, I can speak from personal experience on places around the city where I had negative experiences and wouldn’t stay/visit again.

I never like to generalize about a city, so of course, be sure to supplement these personal stories with your own research, but I definitely think you would be better off booking accommodation away from the following neighbourhoods:

Around Place de Brouckère :

Again, this is where I stayed on my first visit and I wouldn’t do it again. The entire stretch from the Bourse de Bruxelles to the Gare du Nord was littered with casinos and weird catcallers lurking around.

As two young female backpackers, we definitely didn’t feel safe. That said, during Christmas market season, this area was a lot livelier and felt like a completely different place.

Molenbeek :

This is a part of Brussels where I almost got pickpocketed at the Comte de Flandre (Graaf von Vlaand) station.

I was on my way to a museum (which was unfortunately closed) and so I headed back to the station, where some teenagers surrounded me and tried to take a wallet straight out of my purse!

Unfortunately, this neighbourhood does have a reputation for being popular with pickpockets and petty crime, so I would avoid it if possible, especially given that there aren’t many touristy things to do in this neighbourhood anyway

When it comes to neighbourhoods to avoid in Brussels, often people bring up the areas around Brussels’ train stations, and Cureghem (located around the Brussels Midi station) is perhaps the one with the worst reputation.

I did stay here during a short stopover one trip and I wouldn’t do it again. I felt incredibly uneasy during the walk from the station to my AirBNB (which was really short) and I’m quite certain there was a guy following me for most of the way.

Anyways, I definitely wouldn’t book a hotel by here, certainly if you’re travelling alone!

One or two days in Brussels is enough

Of course, you can easily spend more time in Brussels if you try to make a larger dent in its hefty museum scene, but in terms of hitting all the main sights of the city, one or two days is actually sufficient for Brussels itself.

If you have more time to spare, I’d recommend squeezing nearby cities like Bruges , Antwerp or Ghent in your itinerary, all of which are amazing and well worth a visit.

Actually wait – let’s make that a tip of its own.

Make time for other Belgian cities in your itinerary

I have to confess, while I’ve slowly learned to love Brussels over the years, it still isn’t my favourite place in Belgium.

I honestly think that Belgium is one of the most underrated countries in Europe, especially considering most people pass through Brussels and that’s it.

If you can, definitely take some time and explore other parts of Belgium besides Brussels. Since the country is so small, you could easily do them as day trips!

I’ve been to Bruges , Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven – they’re all amazing.

Brussels Transportation Tips

Next up: tips for public transport in Brussels, and getting around Belgium in general.

You probably don’t need unnecessary public transportation passes

Learn from my mistakes and don’t get talked into a transit pass you don’t need! Brussels is very walkable and odds are you might not use it much.

Upon my first ever arrival to Brussels, I encountered a (fairly odd) ticket stall attendant who moved at a sloth-like pace and was strangely obsessed with China. He pushed my friend and I into getting a 48 hour transit pass , which we barely used at all.

So, before committing to any costly passes for Brussels, be sure to do the math first and see if you’d even need them. Or, look into a sightseeing pass like the Brussels Card which comes with a public transport pass too, as well as entry to most Brussels museums.

Know there are three train stations in Brussels

Straightforward advice, but you should know that Brussels has three main train stations. Double check the name of the station when boarding/disembarking the train to ensure you’re going to the right one.

There’s Brussels Midi, Brussels Centraal and Brussels Nord.

I know it sounds dumb, but one time I truly did show up at Brussels Centraal 5 minutes before my train, only to realize it was a train that left from Midi. Needless to say, I did  not  make that train.

Under 26? Buy a Go Pass 1 for Day Trips

The Belgian train system is blessed with a number of enticing discounts that will let you see the country for a low price.

For example, those under the age of 26 can enjoy a ridiculously cheap Go Pass 1 , which is 6.40 for anywhere in the country. This is way cheaper than paying full-price!

Memorize the French and Dutch names of Belgian train stations

As you probably know, Belgium is a tiny country that nonetheless has three official languages : Flemish (like Dutch), French, and German.

The confusing thing is, train stations (including Metro stations) are marked with the names of both Flemish and French… and trust me – they’re usually not that similar.

This can cause some confusion if you’re looking for the right train to catch or the right station to get off at.

For example, Antwerp is Antwerpen in Flemish and Anvers in French, while Bruges is Brugge in Flemish. Be sure to have the name of your destination in both languages so that you don’t get confused when taking day trips!

Brussels Tips for Attractions

In need of tips for visiting Brussels’ many interesting attractions? Here are some must-knows and tricks:

Lower your expectations for Brussels’ top guidebook attractions

Brussels is an awesome city… the problem is most of the existing guides out there don’t do it justice!

I know this because I didn’t “get” Brussels until my third or fourth visit.

Especially on my first visit, I remember doing all the must sees that I read about on TripAdvisor, scurrying from one peeing kid statue to the next, having overpriced waffles in the center and going out of my way to see attractions that left me underwhelmed… all while sweating amongst hordes of fellow tourists doing the exact same circuit.

Trust me, if this is how you visit Brussels, you’ll likely be disappointed too!

Instead, I encourage you to check the attractions off your list, then explore the lovely neighbourhoods surrounding the Brussels city centre, visit some quirky museums, and read local blogs to get a feel for what people who actually live in Brussels enjoy doing, because I assure you it’s not “visit Mannekin Pis” (commonly considered one of the worst tourist traps in Europe ).

Planning to sightsee a lot? Get a Brussels Card

While I find the so-called “must-dos” of Brussels like Mannekin Pis fairly underwhelming, I do think Brussels has a TON of highly underrated attractions and museums for every interest under the sun.

If it’s your first time in the city and you want to check a lot of these places off your list, you should look into money-saving passes like the Brussels Card , which gives you access to pretty much all of Brussels’ museums for one price, so you can sightsee your eyeballs off.

On my most recent visit, I bought a Brussels Card so I could visit as many museums as I wanted and I definitely got my money’s worth… I probably saved (no joke) over 100 euros because of how many places I visited.

Visit one of Brussels’ many quirky and offbeat museums

Even if you don’t get a Brussels Card, I do recommend you visit at least one weird museum while in Brussels.

I’m not usually a museum person, but Brussels is filled with so many fun and quirky museums that it’s hard to resist!

I’m working on a full guide to the different Brussels museums you should visit, but definitely don’t rule out the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Royal Museum of Army and Military History, Autoworld, and the Belgian Comic Strip Museum.

Explore Brussels neighbourhoods outside the city center

While I must admit that Grand Place is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, where I think Brussels really thrives is in the little neighbourhoods surrounding the center, the ones that most visitors don’t think to visit!

To help get you started here are some Brussels neighbourhoods that are well worth a wander during your trip.

Sablon: With its charming cobblestoned streets and scenic surplus of chocolate shops, the Sablon district of Brussels is a wonderful place to wander and get a bit off the tourist trek. The Eglise Notre-Dame du Sablon is of course a must-see.

St Gilles: Saint Gilles is a trendy, artsy neighbourhood in Brussels which is a complete magnet for artists and students thanks to its hip mix of eateries, boutiques and street art.

Les Marolles: Last but not least, this multicultural neighbourhood is Brussels’ melting pot, with all sorts of shops, restaurants, cafes and markets representing cultures from around the globe. A special highlight? It’s home to the most famous flea market in Brussels: the Jeu de Balle Flea Market which is open 365 days a year!

Learn about Brussels’ best hidden viewpoints

The view from the Mont de Arts is a well-known Brussels attraction, but there are in fact plenty of other (much lesser known) viewpoints that are worth checking out if you have time.

Getting these secret vantage points over the city really makes it much easier to fall in love with Brussels!

Two I recommend are:

• From the 5 th floor cafeteria of the Royal Library of Belgium
• From the 10 th floor restaurant of the Museum of Musical Instruments

Avoid bringing big bags with you sightseeing

I’ve noticed that Brussels in particular is very strict on the bags you bring into major attractions and museums.

In fact, most large bags aren’t allowed in museums, and they make you lock up your stuff in a small locker that wouldn’t fit more than a small backpack. So, prepare fo this and don’t bring any huge bags if your plan is to visit many museums or attractions.

Safety Tips for Brussels

One of the biggest questions first time visitors have is always “is Brussels safe?”

In my opinion, Brussels isn’t any more dangerous than other major European cities, but there are certain safety tips to keep in mind to ensure your trip is pleasant and stress-free. Here are my top safety tips for Brussels.

Get to know common pickpocketing scams

Like in most major European cities, the biggest threat to tourists in Brussels safety-wise is pickpockets.

I have written a full guide on how to avoid pickpockets in Europe, but in Brussels, here are some general tips:

• Never leave your phone within reach (i.e. on restaurant tables, poking out of your pocket, etc.)
• Never leave your bags unattended (common sense, but this goes for restaurants too where you might be used to just hanging your purse on your chair)
• Consider investing in theft-proof bags like these
• Try hiding your belongings somewhere safe like in a money belt or (more stealthily) one of these hidden passport scarves
• Keep an eye out for distractions – often pickpockets will work in teams, so if someone stops you to chat, ensure your hand is covering your valuables

Try to blend in as much as possible

The beautiful thing about Brussels is that it is very multicultural, which makes it substantially easier to masquerade as a local no matter where you’re from.

And I do highly recommend you try to blend in as much as possible, because a lot of the safety issues in Brussels concerning tourists come down to how obviously you make yourself a target for opportunists.

Generally, here are some things I’d avoid in Brussels if you want to seem like less of a target:

• Looking lost and having a map out (either a paper map or your phone)
• Walking around with an expensive camera on your neck, and not paying attention to your surroundings
• Lugging around big shopping bags of expensive purchases (e.g. luxury shops, chocolate, etc.). I would conceal pricey purchases and bring them back to your hotel as soon as possible
• Flaunting your valuables (e.g. wearing expensive jewelry, leaving your phone out on a terrace table, etc.)

Be especially careful and vigilant near Brussels train stations

In Brussels, pickpockets tend to gather in busy transport hubs like train stations.

In most cases, simply keeping a close eye (and hand!) on your belongings is enough to thwart most pickpockets, who thrive on opportunity and “easy wins”.

That said, it’s important that you are especially cautious at train stations, particularly when arriving/leaving the city because all your belongings will be with you, and there’s plenty of potential distractions.

Avoid getting lost

While I’m usually a proponent of “getting lost” for fun in cities as a way of discovering it, this is less of a thing I’d recommend in Brussels.

This is because many of the areas often considered dangerous or seedy actually aren’t far from major tourist areas, so walking into them is pretty easy.

Again, Brussels isn’t a particularly dangerous city for tourists, but if you present yourself as an easy target, you’ll of course find people who are willing to take advantage, much like in other major cities around the world.

So, are there areas you should avoid in Brussels?

I mentioned these above, but here are some neighbourhoods and areas I would avoid in Brussels if possible, based on my own experiences:

• Around De Brouckere (after dark): I stayed here on my first visit and felt like there were large groups of catcallers and persistent men after dark, which made me feel very unsafe
• Molenbeek: I caught pickpocketers redhanded here as they tried to steal from me in the Metro while I got on a train
• Cureghem: I stayed near Brussels Midi station on a work trip once and, as a solo traveler, I wouldn’t do it again. There was a strange man who followed me pretty much all the way to my AirBNB, and I’ve heard of lots of theft/opportunist crime near the station

Food and Drink Tips for Brussels

Ah – now onto the good stuff. If you’re headed to Brussels, odds are you want some combination of beer, waffles and chocolate to be part of your itinerary. Well, here are some Brussels food/drink tips for you:

Avoid eating on Rue de Bouchers and other tourist trap restaurants

Rue de Bouchers is a notorious little street in Brussels that is infamous for its pushy restauranteurs, inflated tourist prices and subpar food.

As my tour guide emphasized, “this street is home to some of the worst restaurants in Brussels!”

Unfortunately, because of their approachable English menus and scarily adamant staff, this street is a natural trap for tourists, so be sure to steer clear of them.

Some evident signs that you might be at a tourist trap restaurant are 1) there’s an over-insistent staff member trying to get you to sit down, 2) there are big signs with giant pictures and all the menu items in English, 3) they have big block letters saying things like “TOURIST MENU, ENGLISH MENU, or FREE WIFI”.

Don’t shop for chocolate at Galeries Saint Hubert

One of my favourite spots in Brussels is the Galeries Saint Hubert. It’s a touristy place, but so beautiful I can’t resist!

What I don’t love though is the crowds.

I think the Galeries are lovely for strolling through, but not ideal for shopping, given the Hunger Gamesy nature of it when the bus tours roll in… so here’s a tip.

Most of the chocolatiers inside the Galeries (if not all of them) have other shops and locations in Brussels which will be MUCH less busy.

Punch the name of your preferred chocolatier into Google Maps and head to one of those other locations instead, because then you can take your time and eat your chocolate in peace (with substantially better customer service to match).

Learn how to identify medicore waffle stands

I know it sounds impossible, but yes, you actually CAN find bad waffles in Brussels, and they are usually found in the most touristic parts of the city because they’re out to dupe tourists who don’t know better.

Any generic-looking place that flaunts “1 EURO WAFFLES” and lures you in with plastic-y looking waffle displays covered in toppings is, unfortunately, likely to be mediocre.

I’m not saying they’ll be terrible (because come on, they’re still waffles) but the overwhelming consensus among my local friends is that no actual Belgian would get a waffle there, so that to me is telling!

For some local recommendations, here is a nice post from local blogger S Marks the Spots.’

Splurge at lunch

Many restaurants in Brussels offer lunch specials that serve the same quality meals as dinner, but at a much cheaper rate. If you want the best bang for your buck, consider going all out for lunches rather than dinners.

NOTE: Look out for the “Plat du Jour” (Dish of the Day) which is usually also cheaper.

Love beer? Delirium Café is a must

Many dismiss it as a tourist trap, but I still think the Delirium Café in Brussels is worth a visit for beer lovers so long as you’re in it for the novelty.

This café is world famous for holding the Guinness World Record for most beers available to taste, exceeding 2000 brews from around the world. You get to pick your beer from a giant binder, and trust me when I say there’s every flavou of beer you can imagine… including banana.

Go beyond Belgian cuisine

Brussels is one of the most international cities in the world, so don’t think you need to limit yourself to strictly Belgian cuisine during your visit!

If you begin to grow wary of waffles, chocolate and frites, then consider cleansing your palette (and arteries) with tasty global fare.

This website is an excellent resource for stylish restaurants in Brussels of all cuisine types.

I hope these Brussels Travel Tips were Helpful!

Let me know if you’ve ever been to Brussels. I’d love to hear your stories!

My Go-To Travel Favourites:

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📷 Sony A7IV: My (amazing) camera

✈️ Google Flights : For finding flight deals

🌎 WorldNomads: For travel insurance

🎉 GetYourGuide: For booking activities

3 thoughts on “20+ Brussels Travel Tips & Tricks: Must-Knows Before You Visit”

heading there for the first time in april, starting to plan and this article’s awesome!

So happy you found it helpful! Hope you enjoy Brussels 🙂

This blog is awesome! It’s not the typical one and you recommend different things. Thank you!!

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Home » Europe » Belgium » 23 Fun Things to Do in Brussels

23 Fun Things to Do in Brussels

By Author Laura Longwell

Posted on Last updated: May 30, 2024

Brussels is one of the most fun, overlooked cities in Europe. Both historic and modern, ornate and sleek, busy and quiet, the city has different personalities in only a few blocks. There’s something new and different at every turn, and it keeps prompting us to come back.

From comics to fine art and churches to a beer crawl, we’ve included some of the top sites as well as unique finds that we love. Here’s a look at the best things to do in Brussels.

Visit Grand Place

Have a drink at cantillon brewery, see manneken pis, step inside the cathedral of st. michael and st. gudula, have a waffle at maison dandoy, follow the comic book route, visit the comics art museum, stay at a comic-inspired hotel, visit the bourse, enjoy café culture at le cirio, learn about world affairs at the parlamentarium, see the view at mont des arts, scout out art nouveau buildings, go on a belgian beer crawl, stroll through cinquantenaire park, enjoy an afternoon at place sainte-catherine, find the black tower, visit a museum, see the gems of the sablon neighborhood, try belgian food, see the royal palace, take a day trip, visit the christmas markets.

Undoubtedly, one of the best things to do in Brussels is to visit the heart of the city—the Grand Place. The central square is surrounded by ornate guildhalls, the city’s towering Town Hall, and the Breadhouse that is home to the Museum of the City of Brussels. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, most of the buildings in Grand Place date back to the late 1600s, although buildings have been here since the 1200s.

Stepping into the square, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the beauty of the historic buildings on all sides. Everywhere you look, tourists are picnicking, chatting, searching for a prime spot for a late-afternoon beer, and trying to take the perfect selfie. There’s so much to see all at once. It’s definitely worth a visit (or more) on any trip to Brussels.

Cantillon Brewery (aka Brasserie Cantillon) is one of the best places to visit in Brussels for beer fans. This historic brewery makes only lambic beer , which spontaneously ferments with wild yeast, compared to most beers that have a tightly-controlled fermentation process.

Cantillon was one of more than 100 breweries in Brussels when it began in 1900, but it is the only one that still exists from that time. That sense of history is clear when you walk through their brewing and bottling facility just outside the city center.

A self-guided tour of the Cantillon Brewery takes about 30-45 minutes. As you walk through the factory, you see the brewing, fermentation, and bottling areas. And, of course, there’s plenty of time for a tasting. You can pick your poison from several available products at the bar, but Cantillon is best known for its gueuze and kriek (sour cherry) varieties.

I have to confess that I don’t really “get” the Manneken Pis statue, but it’s an absolute must-see for any Brussels sightseeing trip. The 2-foot-tall peeing boy statue is photographed and gawked at all hours of the day by everyone from high school students to businessmen in suits—many posing for a selfie with the famous boy.

The statue was originally made all the way back in 1619. So even though it’s a bit odd, it’s quite historic.

Manneken Pis has been stolen several times over the years, and the current version dates from 1965. He’s often dressed in unusual costumes (during a Christmas visit, we saw him dressed as Santa), many of which have found their way to a permanent exhibition inside the City Museum located in the Grand Place.

Manneken Pis is so famous that two other peeing statues—one of a little girl and one of a dog—have also made their way into the Brussels landscape. Get some chocolate from one of the many nearby stores, and make your way to the corner to join the group of onlookers.

When I first gazed up the hill to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula , I paused for a second to remember that despite the beautiful building in front of me and the French speakers surrounding me, I wasn’t actually in Paris. That’s how much the Gothic cathedral reminded me of Notre Dame in Paris.

A chapel dedicated to St. Michael has been on this spot since at least the 9th century. And although the current version of this stunning building honoring the male and female patron saints of Brussels opened in 1519, it was under construction for 300 years before. At nearly 600 years old, it must be one of the oldest and prettiest things to see in Brussels.

The cathedral’s two towers are typical of the French Gothic style (hence the similarity to Notre Dame), and the south tower contains a whopping 49-bell carillon. Inside are gorgeous Gothic and Baroque chapels and plenty of elaborate stained glass windows to lose yourself in, even if you’re not much into churches.

Even if your time in Brussels is short, indulging in a delicious waffle should be at the top of your list. Our favorites (and the ones we believe are the best in the city) are at Maison Dandoy . This shop has been cranking out delicious baked treats since 1829, so they know what they’re doing.

At many waffle stands in Belgium, the waffles are re-heated, which is no good. At their counter and in the tearoom, Maison Dandoy makes everything to order, and the difference in quality compared to those other options is night and day.

You can select a sweet, compact Liege waffle or a fluffier Brussels one (there’s actually no such thing as a “Belgian waffle”). Toppings include ice cream, hot chocolate sauce, caramel, and a dazzling array of other sweet things. There are a dozen Maison Dandoy locations, but we loved the one on Rue Charles Buls where you can enjoy your waffle slowly in the upstairs tearoom.

We love street art in every place we visit, so it was one of our top things to do in Brussels. From Nashville to Ecuador to Northern Ireland , we’ve sought out political murals and artistic expressions. Brussels takes street art to a different level, actually creating a Comic Book Route that pays tribute to well-known local comic characters and authors.

In more than 60 spots around the city, you can find these fun artworks. It almost becomes a game to see how many you can locate as you explore. Ultimately, I think we found 10, mostly in the city center.

If the Comic Book Route isn’t enough to satisfy your interest in the comic history of Belgium, stop by the Comics Art Museum . There, you’ll learn about the history of comics and how they’re made, and you’ll see some of Belgium’s most famous comic creations—The Smurfs!

Brussels has been home to an astonishing 700 comic book artists over the years, so there is lots of material for the museum to draw on, and many of the exhibits are very detailed. Make sure to stop in the reading room, which has thousands of comic books translated into 40 languages. We also loved eating lunch in their restaurant, Brasserie Horta . On weekends, they offer a discount on breakfast combined with museum admission.

In Brussels, the love of comics is pervasive. Some spots—like the fabulous Radisson Red Brussels —make them part of your morning, noon, and night in your hotel.

At the Radisson Red, we encountered comics from the minute we stepped through the lobby door…and then on our breakfast napkins, in the hallways, and all the way to our spacious suite. The whole effect is light-hearted, energetic, and happy because there’s something fun to see everywhere you look. After all, what are cartoons for if not for making you smile?

Right off Grand Place is the Bourse, Belgium’s stock exchange that dates from 1873. The building itself is imposing with large columns and lots of sculptures, some of which were done by Rodin early in his career.

The real attraction of the Bourse is inside. After standing empty for a decade, the building is now used for special exhibits ranging from photography retrospectives to immersive experiences about everything from the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii to the work of Vincent Van Gogh.

There is also a cafe and the (slightly controversial) Belgian Beer World museum. The museum’s interactive, sensory-based exhibit covers everything from the history of beer brewed by monks to modern production. Don’t miss the Sky Bar that offers an incredible view of the city–it’s the last stop on the museum visit and is open to the public in the evening.

Check out a bit of the café culture at Le Cirio . This sumptuous grand café dating back to 1886 caters to locals and tourists alike.

Inside, you’ll see unique touches like polished brass and artwork from the time the place opened. Outside, you can enjoy the patio and people watch to your heart’s content. I stopped here to enjoy the house specialty, a half en half , which is a mix of still and sparkling wines poured perfectly at your table.

Just outside the historic city center is a spot of international importance, the European Parliament. Even if you’re not deeply into politics, a stop at the visitor’s center here—the Parlamentarium —is worth your time.

An engaging, multimedia exhibit walks you through the World Wars, showing visitors what life was like throughout Europe during war times and explaining the reasons why the European Union was developed (in short: build alliances, improve trade, and give people a reason to care about the welfare of other countries).

On your visit that lasts about 60-90 minutes, you get up close and personal with members of the European Parliament (or at least their stories) and watch mini-documentaries about how being part of the EU has benefited regular citizens.

The Mont des Arts (Kunstberg) is exactly as the name says–the “hill of the arts.” In this area that separates the upper and lower parts of Brussels, visitors can experience almost every conceivable artistic activity. There are concerts at Bozar , movies at Cinematek, and exhibitions at the Royal Museums of the Fine Arts and the Musical Instrument Museum.

There’s lots to do in this area, but my favorite thing is just to enjoy the view. The geometric garden and the vista it provides of downtown Brussels and the spire of Town Hall is one of the most popular places in the city. Any time of year, you’ll find people lounging on the steps and hanging out on the benches under the plane trees. It’s a peaceful green space to relax in the heart of the busy city.

With swirling iron, bright exterior paintings, and large windows, Art Nouveau architecture in Brussels is notable for its ornate details and use of natural light. Several buildings just outside the historic center have been recognized by UNESCO for their design. For lovers of decorative art, it’s worth the 15-minute trip to the Saint-Gilles and Ixelles neighborhoods to see the unique architecture .

We’ve loved the fanciful Art Nouveau style since we encountered it in Riga, Latvia, but it varies a bit in each country. Dating from the late 19th century, Art Nouveau was introduced to Brussels by architect Victor Horta whose home and workshop are now the noted Horta Museum .

In addition to the museum, you can make your own tour of the series of private homes and buildings designed by Horta and his contemporaries. You’ll see brilliant paintings, intricate balconies, and lots of other decorations. The interior of many of the buildings can be visited if you reserve in advance.

If you are staying closer to the center, the Comics Art Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum are both examples of Art Nouveau architecture that might be easier to reach.

Beer and Belgium go hand-in-hand, so checking out some of the famous beer bars is one of the best things to do in Brussels. Alongside the huge list of beers, there is usually a limited selection of other drinks if, like me, you’re not a beer lover.

Some of the most famous beer spots in the city include the historic A Mort Subite , which also has a wide selection of food, and Moeder Lambic , which specializes in the lambic style of beer like those brewed at Cantillon. Poechenellekelder , near Manneken Pis, is also great and has a kitchy downstairs area called “The Puppet Cellar” which we preferred to the upper floor. All three are commonly suggested as among the best bars in Brussels.

We also visited the massive Delirium bar, which has 2000+ beers on its list and is easily recognized by its pink elephant logo. The first time I tried to go, it was packed with way too many people for my liking, even spilling out into the street. The second time (Christmas Day), there was room to move around. So, know that Delirium is super popular, and plan accordingly, if visiting there is a priority. My sister, the beer aficionado, loved it.

Brussels is a busy metropolitan city, but it also has plenty of green space. Since the weather can be a little unpredictable, the whole city comes alive when it’s sunny.

One prime place for spending time on fair-weather days is Cinquantenaire Park (Parc du Cinquantenaire). During our visit to the sprawling park, cyclists rode down the paths while families picnicked in the open spaces and visitors lounged around the fountain.

The park is also home to the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History. Not only is the museum itself interesting, but it’s a great point to access the park’s Arc de Triomphe for panoramic views.

Not far from Grand Place is Place Sainte-Catherine, a lively neighborhood full of cafes, a market, and its namesake church. One must-visit spot here is De Noordzee , an atmospheric restaurant and fishbar serving fresh seafood. Stop in for a fish burger or any of their other delicious specialties.

If seafood isn’t your favorite, there are many other outdoor cafes to choose from, or you can come back in the evening to check out the nightlife scene along the quai. Several days a week, you can also visit the food and flower market here that runs all day, but Wednesdays are particularly special when the market focuses on all-organic food from 7:30am-2:00pm.

The cornerstone of the area is Saint Catherine’s Church. Completed in 1874, it’s quite new compared to many other such buildings in the city. Because the church’s architecture draws inspiration from 16th century French churches, there are still plenty of buttresses, gargoyles, and grand statues to be seen.

Behind Sainte-Catherine nearly wrapped by a modern hotel building is something you wouldn’t expect to see—a squat, medieval tower. The odd sight has made the tower popular with tourists.

With rounded walls and a black turret, the Black Tower dates from the beginning of the 13th century when it was part of the original fortification that surrounded the city center. For over 800 years, it has survived numerous waves of redevelopment in a part of the city that became an inland port. In the heart of the historic city center, its existence and location are rather improbable.

I have a confession: my interest in art is limited. I know enough to appreciate the works of the masters, but I’m generally not inclined to spend hours in a museum looking at Renaissance paintings and such. But I love pop art, surrealism, and the like. That’s why the Magritte Museum was at the top of the list.

From vanishing faces to pig men to all the apple artworks you can imagine, the museum displays 200 original Magritte works. It’s part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium , which also includes the Old Masters Museum, the Modern Museum, and others, in case your artistic tastes don’t match mine.

When I first saw the Jardin du Petit Sablon—a beautiful park tucked away in the middle of a long block—I did a double-take. I was on a bus zooming by the Brussels sites, but I knew I had to go back to find that park.

When Lance and I returned, we were enthralled by the manicured garden, the fountain, and the statues. I spent at least 20 minutes just sitting and staring, lost in the peace of the quiet space. Even in the midst of a busy trip, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to breathe deeply and enjoy the surroundings.

Across the street from the park is the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon (Église Notre-Dame du Sablon), a 15th century church visited for hundreds of years by the nobility and wealthy citizens of Brussels. At other spots in the neighborhood, you can see modern art and sample some of the city’s best chocolate. When you’re done there, browse an antique store, stop for a coffee, and just enjoy.

Most people associate Belgium with waffles, frites, and beer. And there’s good reason for that—they’re everywhere, and they’re excellent. But Belgian food goes beyond these snacks and sips to some really delicious specialties.

There’s waterzooi, a creamy stew using eggs and butter that usually features fish or chicken. If you like seafood, the moules frites are an authentic, can’t-miss dish. We also discovered a love for stoemp. This Belgian staple blends mashed potatoes with vegetables like carrots, onions, or Brussels sprouts and is usually served as a side dish or as an entrée with sausage or other meat.

My favorite find was carbonade flamande. A dish similar to beef bourguignon, carbonade is slow cooked in Belgian brown beer until the meat nearly falls apart. It’s earthy, filling, and delicious. And as a bonus, it’s typically served with frites, so you get two tasty Belgian foods in one dish.

Although the Royal family lives about 6 kilometers north of the city, the Royal Palace (Palais Royal) in Brussels is the King’s administrative residence and main office. From late July to late August, the Palace is open to the public for free. Visitors can see the grand decorations and art of the reception rooms and halls, including the Throne Room and the Goya Room, which features tapestries based on the great painter’s masterpieces.

Brussels is ideally located for day trips because you can reach lots of different places in an hour or less. Take a canal cruise and gawk at the merchant houses in Bruges or fall in love with the Town Hall and drink at the world’s longest bar in Leuven . In the historic city of Antwerp , you can see the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens and visit the world’s only UNESCO World Heritage museum. In Ghent , you can see the city from the belfry, fall in love with all the gorgeous towers, and be back in Brussels by bedtime.

If you’re trying to decide between some of these gorgeous destinations, we’ve written about choosing Bruges or Ghent .

Brussels at Christmas comes alive with holiday spirit. Throughout the historic center, there are markets with chalets decked in lights, decorations, and tons of Christmas trees.

The greatest amount of activity is around the Bourse and Sainte-Catherine, which seem to merge into one massive market. At one of the best Christmas markets in Belgium , there are vendors selling gifts and candy and others serving vin chaud (hot mulled wine), oysters, champagne, and filling plates like a potato-based dish called tartiflette.

There are lots of other activities alongside the markets. There’s a skating rink and dramatic light shows at Grand Place and Saint Catherine that draw big crowds every night. The concerts, parades, and other special events mean that there seems to be something festive happening all the time.

Where to Stay Warwick Brussels –Three blocks from Grand Place, the Warwick is one of the top-rated hotels in Brussels. It offers high-end amenities with top-notch service. NH Collection Grand Sablon — The NH offers an excellent buffet and on-site restaurant plus many other comforts in one of the city’s best neighborhoods. Radisson Red –Fun, spacious, and full of personality, the Radisson Red in the EU quarter has modern amenities and great food while being budget-friendly. See our full article about where to stay in Brussels for more information about neighborhoods and additional hotel recommendations. Where to Eat Lyly’s Fondue –Consistently listed as one of the best restaurants in Brussels, it is excellent and reasonably priced. We tried both the cheese fondue (minimum 2 people) and the fondue bourguignonne and were blown away. Reservations recommended. Winehouse Osteria — Flavorful Italian made with ingredients from Italy just a few blocks from Grand Place and the Bourse. Offers selection of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. Reservations recommended. Fin de Siecle –This busy Brussels mainstay serves large portions of Belgian classic foods. From sausage and stoemp to rabbit in kriek beer or vegetarian lasagna, there is enough on the menu to please most palates. On our first trip, we were the guests of the Radisson Red. As always, all opinions of the fun, fascinating, and delicious are our own.

Laura Longwell is an award-winning travel blogger and photographer. Since founding Travel Addicts in 2008, she has written hundreds of articles that help over 3 million people a year get the most out of their travel. In that time, she has visited nearly 60 countries on 5 continents, often returning to favorite destinations over and over again. She has a deep love of history, uncovering unexpected attractions, and trying all the good food a place has to offer.

In addition to Travel Addicts, Laura runs a site about her hometown of Philadelphia—Guide to Philly—which chronicles unique things to do and places to see around southeastern Pennsylvania. Her travel tips and advice appear across the web.

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Tuesday 9th of April 2024

This is exactly what I needed for my upcoming trip to Brussels. Brief and to the point. Thanks a lot Laura!

Sunday 7th of April 2024

This is one of the best travel articles I have ever read. I especially liked “take a day trip”. We have a home exchange in Brussels for one week in September and you have pretty much planned our trip for us. Thank you!

Laura Longwell

Monday 8th of April 2024

Thanks, Jim. I really appreciate that. September should be a beautiful time to visit. As you may have seen, we've taken each one of those day trips, and they're gorgeous cities. I hope you enjoy every moment of Brussels (and beyond).

Monday 28th of October 2019

Thanks for all the fantastic recommendations! Headed to Brussels in a week, and have been scrambling on what to see and do on this last-minute trip. This should more than cover it - now I just need to figure out a way to pack it all in!

Have a great time!

Friday 26th of July 2019

My home country. Love it Great history. Great food Beer and chocolate

We love it, too--the food and the sights. Visited three times recently :)

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Brussels Travel Guide

TripSavvy / Gautier Houba

Brussels is the Capital of Belgium and the European Union. A majority of the Brussels metropolitan area's 1.8 million inhabitants speak French, but Brussels is historically Dutch-speaking.

Although Brussels dates from the 19th Century, most of Brussels old town was destroyed for new construction between 1880 and 1980, so very little of the old city is preserved. The Grand Place-Grote Markt is the exception, and it's the tourist center of Brussels.

But potential tourists should not despair, Brussels has an extraordinary number of interesting museums, restaurants, and galleries to visit.

Brussels is prone to rain all year round, but storms tend to be short. Summer is ideal when city folks leave for vacation and high temperatures average just over 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

On the Cheap

Larger cities in Europe may be expensive on the surface but offer many opportunities for cheap amusement. See Brussels on the Cheap for some travel tips for budget travelers. You'll find cheap eats, free museums and museum days, and even suggestions for cheap dates.

Train Stations

Brussels has three train stations, Brussels Nord, Brussels Centrale and Brussels Midi.

• Brussels Nord , as the name implies, is to the north of Brussels. It is the least convenient station to get to the city center.
• Brussels Centrale is in the center of Brussels, and thus far more convenient for tourists. It is surrounded by hostels and hotels. Trains depart from Brussels Centrale for all the other cities of Belgium.
• Brussels Midi is in the south of the city, and is the busiest train station, hosting not only intercity trains but international high-speed trains like the Eurostar and Thalys. It is about an hour and a half travel time to Paris from Brussels and an hour and 50 minutes to London on the high-speed trains from Brussels Midi. Hotels near the Gare du Midi (book Direct)

Brussels Airport is located about 14 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center. Major hubs associated with Brussels are London, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam . Find out how to get from the airport to Brussels with our Brussels Airport Transportation Guide .

Where to Stay

Traditionalists may wish to book a user-rated Brussels Hotels (book direct). To get closer to the culture you're staying within, you might wish to rent a vacation rental.

Brussels has many self-catering accommodations, from small apartments to sprawling villas for large families and groups. Self-catering can save money by renting hotel rooms, especially for families. HomeAway lists almost 50 vacation rentals in Brussels (book direct).

What to See and Do

Brussels Tours - for travelers who don't want to discover Brussels on their own, try these tours whose themes range from gourmet food to chocolate to beer to day trips around Brussels.

One of the top attractions in Brussels is the Atomium , a representation of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times built as a temporary exhibit for Expo '58. The atom is composed of 9 spheres, 6 of them open to visitors and connected by escalators. There's a good view from the top sphere, which serves as a restaurant. A recent renovation has turned one of the spheres into a " Kids' sphere hotel."

Brussels is loaded with museums, and Thursdays night those museums are open late with special events, interactive activities, and tours. To prepare yourself, you might want to check out Museum Talks, where you can hear short talks in many different languages (including English) on particular exhibits found in Brussels museums.

A Brussels Card offers good discounts on museums and events in Brussels, plus free access to public transportation and a 25% discount to the Atomium. You can buy the card online in French, but it might be better to wait and purchase one at a Tourist office on the Grand Place, at midi train station or on the Mont des Arts.

The Mont des Arts , the "Art Town in the City" offers gardens and a profusion of museums, theaters, and historic buildings. Its position between the upper and lower town has made it a favorite view spot, especially at sunset.

The top art museums in Brussels are The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium ( Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts ). 2011 is not the time to visit, as they will be closed most of the year for renovation.

Lovers of music and the instruments that have produced it over the years will like the Museum of Musical Instruments ( Musee des Instruments de Musique--or MiM ) in the center of Brussels. You get some headphones at the entrance of the Art nouveau building to hear the musical instruments you're standing in front of, which include instruments from all over the world. Address: Rue Montagne de la Cour 2 Brussels.

Also popular with visitors is the Belgian Comic Strip Center located in the Art Nouveau Waucquez Warehouse and open every day except Monday.

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken can only be visited in a two-week period of April-May when most flowers housed in the 18th century greenhouses are in bloom. The information page will tell you the planned dates for the current year.

Not only can you visit the Brussels Gueuze Museum at the Cantillon Brewery (Gueuze is a type of lambic beer) but they've mapped a historic walking tour in PDF form you can take to get to the museum. Download and print Brussels is definitely worth a gueuze before you go.​

Peeing Statues

Need a short walk after your beer? You can take an itinerary that includes Brussel's three peeing statues.

One of the most famed attractions in  Brussels  is Manneken Pis, literally "Little Man Pee," which is a bronze statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain. Its origins are unclear, but sculptor Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the Elder's fame has reached around the globe. Today, it is a bona fide symbol of the city. But did you know there are two other "peeing" sculptures?

The second one is Jeanneke Pis, a girl equivalent made in 1987. Some call it gender equality; some may find it offensive--while to most others, it stands as another example of Belgians' sense of humor.

And the third peeing sculpture is the canine Zinneke Pis. This easy-to-overlook sidewalk sculpture at Rue de Chartreux 31 shows... well, a dog peeing.

Free Museums

Brussels, home of Art Nouveau, has great museums that chronicle Belgium's present and past. A number of public museums open their doors for free on first Wednesday of each month, from 1 pm. Some of the participating venues are:

• Place Royale 1, 1000 Bruxelles
• A museum dedicated to showing the surrealist master's works.
• 29, rue Vautier, 1000 Bruxelles
• A research museum with collections that encompass natural science as well as anthropology.
• 3, rue de la Régence, 1000 Bruxelles
• A royal collection of ancient and modern art.
• 2 rue Montagne de la Cour - 1000 Bruxelles
• A modest museum of musical instruments, with a stunning view from its rooftop cafe.
• Boulevard du Midi - 1000 Bruxelles
• The 14th-century city gate has an interactive exhibition about life in medieval Brussels

Yes, Brussels will accommodate them. Free Mussels for the little tykes? Yup.

Brussels Day Trips

A short drive or train ride north brings you to the town of Mechelen, then further north to Antwerp.

Brussels Cuisine

Enjoy Belgium's famous fries in a  frietkot . Brussels offers many sauces or dips as an alternative to ketchup and plain mayo. Waffles also are popular and inexpensive.

Belgian beer--Lambic is Brussels' regional brew, fermented from the wild yeasts of the Senne valley. Try Brussels' famous Rabbit cooked in beer; beer cookery is renowned in Belgium.

Try the Rue des Bouchers for your shellfish craving, especially for  Moules , the famous mussels of Brussels.

Buying Chocolate in Brussels

While  luxury chocolate boutiques  like  Pierre Marcolini  may seem pricey, they are certainly much more affordable here than in other cities. So despite their prices, they can be good deals. (But resist the temptation to stock up on them--good truffles contain no preservatives, and therefore only last a few weeks.)

Those of us who want to save should beeline to a  supermarket . You'll taste that a Belgian brand found in a grocery store still trumps what passes as chocolate in most other countries. A generic Delhaize supermarket baking chocolate is superb. And at €3, jars of chocolate spreads make great, affordable gifts. Try homegrown names like  Newtree  and  Leonidas .

Godiva , while marketed as luxury overseas, is another solid everyday product in Belgium .

A word of caution, however: Stay far away from souvenir shops and their "discounted" boxes of inferior chocolate. You won't see a local buying them. For connoisseurs and die-hard fans, Brussels also offers the Museum of Cocoa & Chocolate at Rue del Tete d'Or 90-11.

Wittamer  place du Grand Sablon has a cafe where you might try some of Belgium's famous chocolate in a hot chocolate.

Cheap Eats in Brussels

• Fritland - Let's clear up one thing. The French may have been unfairly credited, but it's really the Belgians who invented the culinary perfection that is  frites . And they know how to make fries like no other. In the heart of (touristy) Brussels, you'll find this excellent  frietkot , or fries stand, that serves fries in all shapes. Try the mayo, not ketchup, as it is the choice condiment in Belgium.
• Noordzee / Mer du Nord - A fishmonger in trendy St. Catherine also serves seafood that is grilled, poached, fried or however the cook's whimsy inspired him. It's super crowded--for a good reason. Grab one of the outside tables where you stand, and dine with a fashionable crowd.
• Chaochow City - If you want to eat very cheaply, go straight to this Chinese restaurant. In the shopfront looking out to the bustling sidewalk, diners choose from a respectable selection of dishes. Daily specials are as low as €3.50 for lunch and €5.20 for dinner. And before you dismiss it as a poor fast food substitute, watch the busloads of Chinese tourists coming in to eat here as well.
• Mr. Falafel - Really good falafels prepared right before your eyes for €4--but that's not the end of it. After you get your falafels, you fix your sandwich at the salad bar yourself. Load up on the fixings and sauce as much (and often) as you want. It's a steal.
• Msemen at a food stall - Brussels has a sizable North African population, and you have to look no further than the bustling Gare du Midi market to see the proof. Follow the comforting smell of cooking oil and mint tea, and you'll find a popular stall serving Msemen, or stuffed Moroccan crepe. A huge portion goes for €2.50.

Cheap Nightlife in Brussels

• Cinematek - The royal film museum, known as Cinematek, is one of the largest film archives in Europe. It shows a roster of classics and world cinema--for €3 a pop.
• Cinema Nova - Another great art house movie theater also stocks a selection of uncommon brews--so you can kick back with a bottle of obscure beer and watch an even more obscure film. €5 for a film.
• Bonnefooi - The "music cafe" bar is a live concert venue with an eclectic lineup. Most often there's no cover. The crowd is also mixed and lively. It's a great place to enjoy live music and meet people.
• De Markten - This "cultural center" has a diverse program of concerts and theater performances, as well as children-friendly shows. There's also a cafe with a good, affordable selection of food.

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Travel Advisory July 26, 2023

Belgium - level 2: exercise increased caution.

Reissued with obsolete COVID-19 page links removed.

Exercise increased caution in Belgium due to  terrorism.

Country Summary : Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Belgium. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, local government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, major sporting, music, and cultural events, educational institutions, airports, and other public areas.

Read the country information page for additional information on travel to Belgium.

If you decide to travel to Belgium:   

• Be aware of your surroundings when traveling to tourist locations and crowded public venues.
• Monitor local media for breaking events and be prepared to adjust your plans.
• Enroll in the  Smart Traveler Enrollment Program  ( STEP ) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on  Facebook  and  Twitter . 
• Review the  Country Security Report  for Belgium.
• Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel.
• Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the  Traveler’s Checklist .

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Must be valid for at least three months beyond your planned date of departure from  the Schengen area . The 12-page U.S. emergency passport is not valid for visa-free entry into Belgium.

2 pages minimum

Not required for stays under 90 days

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U.s. embassy brussels.

27 Boulevard du Régent (the Consular Section is at 25 Boulevard du Régent) B-1000 Brussels Belgium Telephone:  +(32) (2) 811-4000 Emergency After-Hours Telephone: +(32) (0) 2-811-4000 Fax: +(32) (2) 811-4546 Email:  [email protected]

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Learn about the U.S. relationship to countries around the world.

Entry, Exit and Visa Requirements

Traveling Through Europe : Belgium is a party to the Schengen Agreement. If you are planning to visit or travel through European countries, you should be familiar with the requirements of the Schengen Agreement. 

• Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the period of stay. If you plan on transiting or visiting a Schengen country review our U.S. Travelers in Europe page .
• You will need sufficient proof of funds and a return plane ticket .

Visit the  Embassy of Belgium  website for the most current visa information.

The Government of Belgium does not recognize the 12-page U.S. emergency passport, issued by U.S. embassies and consulates overseas, as a valid travel document for visa-free entry into Belgium. If traveling on this emergency passport, you may be refused boarding and/or entry by immigration officials. Only direct transit through Belgium for a destination in the United States is permitted with an emergency passport. You should check entry requirements of any other country of destination to make sure the emergency passport is accepted for entry.

HIV/AIDS RESTRICITONS:  The U.S. Department of State is unaware of any HIV/AIDS entry restrictions for visitors to or foreign residents of Belgium.

Find information on dual nationality , prevention of international child abduction , and customs regulations on our website.

Safety and Security

Terrorism:  Terrorist groups and those inspired by such organizations are intent on attacking U.S. citizens abroad, including possible attacks in Europe. Terrorists are increasingly using less sophisticated methods of attack – including knives, firearms, rudimentary IEDs, and vehicles – to more effectively target crowds. Frequently, their aim is unprotected or vulnerable targets, such as:

• High-profile public events (sporting contests, political rallies, demonstrations, holiday events, celebratory gatherings, concerts, etc.)
• Hotels, clubs, and restaurants frequented by tourists
• Places of worship
• Parks/festivals
• Shopping malls and markets
• Public transportation systems (including subways, buses, trains, and airports/scheduled commercial flights)

For more information, see our Terrorism page.

• Low-level street crime including robberies, smash and grab car robberies, purse snatchings, stealing electronics, and pickpocketing is common, particularly in major cities, in public areas such as restaurants, the Brussels metro at night, buses/trams, and all train stations. Thieves often operate in teams, by bumping into or shoving the target, especially in crowds. Be alert to distractions.
• Theft from vehicles is common. Always drive with your windows up and the doors locked, as thieves sometimes target cars stopped at traffic lights. Thieves may smash the window and grab valuables. Use parking garages when possible, and if you must use street parking, look for a spot near a street light. Do not leave anything visible on the seats, floor, or dashboard.
• Theft of bags on trains has increased, particularly the Brussels-Amsterdam route. Thieves often target light bags placed overhead. Keep bags with cash, valuables, and travel documents close to you, rather than in the overhead shelf on trains.
• Carry only a minimal amount of cash, credit cards, and necessary personal identification. 
• Avoid wearing expensive jewelry and watches.

Demonstrations   occur frequently . They may take place in response to political or economic issues, on politically significant holidays, and during international events. Avoid areas around protests and demonstrations. 

• Police routinely monitor protestors and demonstrations.
• Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly become violent. Check local media for updates and traffic advisories.
• Monitor the  Embassy website for demonstration alerts.  

International Financial Scams: U.S. citizens have lost tens of thousands of dollars in scams in Belgium. See the  Department of State  and the  FBI  pages for more information.

• Common internet scams include confidence schemes, in which friends, family, or others receive a message that a U.S. citizen traveler is stranded in Belgium and in need of funds to pay for customs fees.
• U.S. citizens in the United States who have been victimized by Internet crime should report it to the  Internet Crime Complaint Center .
• Check ATMs or other machines for skimmers or removeable readers. When possible utilize bank ATMs. In bars and restaurants, have the card swiped in front of you and do not let it be taken away.

Victims of Crime: U.S. citizen victims of sexual assault are encouraged to contact the U.S. Embassy for assistance. Report crimes to the local police at 101 . For all other emergencies, please dial  112 . Contact the U.S. Embassy at  +(32) (2) 811-4000 . Remember that local authorities are responsible for investigating and prosecuting crime.

The Belgian Commission for Financial Assistance to Victims of Intentional Acts of Violence  provides financial compensation, under specific circumstances, for victims of crime and for those who have suffered injuries and consequent losses caused by such incidents. The Commission also provides for dependents or immediate family members of homicide victims. For more information, contact the Commission by phone at  32-2-542-7208; 32-2-542-7218; 32-2-542-7224; 32-2-542-7229, or 32-2-542-7244;  by e-mail at  [email protected]  or  [email protected] ; or visit the  Ministry of Justice website  (French and Dutch only).

See our webpage on  help for U.S. victims of crime overseas .

• Help you find appropriate medical care
• Assist you in reporting a crime to the police
• Contact relatives or friends with your written consent
• Provide general information regarding the victim’s role during the local investigation and following its conclusion
• Provide a list of local attorneys
• Provide our information on  victim’s compensation programs in the United States 
• Provide an emergency loan for repatriation to the United States and/or limited medical support in cases of destitution
• Help you find accommodation and arrange flights home
• Replace a stolen or lost passpor

Domestic Violence:  U.S. citizen victims of domestic violence may contact the Embassy for assistance.

Tourism: The tourism industry is generally regulated and rules are regularly enforced. Hazardous areas/activities are identified with appropriate signage and professional staff is typically on hand in support of organized activities. In the event of an injury, appropriate medical treatment is widely available throughout the country. Outside of a major metropolitan center, it may take more time for first responders and medical professionals to stabilize a patient and provide life-saving assistance. U.S. citizens are encouraged to purchase medical evacuation insurance . 

Local Laws & Special Circumstances

Criminal Penalties:  You are subject to local laws. If you violate local laws, even unknowingly, you may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Individuals establishing a business or practicing a profession that requires additional permits or licensing should seek information from the competent local authorities prior to practicing or operating a business.

Furthermore, some laws are also prosecutable in the United States, regardless of local law. For examples, see our website on  crimes against minors abroad  and the  Department of Justice  website.

Arrest Notification:  If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Embassy immediately. See our  webpage  for further information.

Faith-Based Travelers: See the following webpages for details:

• Faith-Based Travel Information
• International Religious Freedom Report – see country reports
• Human Rights Report – see country reports
• Hajj Fact Sheet for Travelers
• Best Practices for Volunteering Abroad

LGBTI Travelers: There are no legal restrictions on same-sex sexual relations or the organization of LGBTI events in Belgium.

See our  LGBTI Travel Information  page and section 6 of our  Human Rights report  for further details.

Travelers Who Require Accessibility Assistance: While in Belgium, individuals with disabilities may find accessibility and accommodation very different than in the United States.

• Belgian law requires that any  new  building with public or community space must be accessible for persons with disabilities.
• Many existing buildings as well as public transportation systems are less adapted to individuals with disabilities.
• General information on the accessibility of tourist accommodations, public transportation, museums, and other tourist facilities can be found on official tourism sites for Belgium’s three major regions:  Brussels ,  Wallonia , and  Flanders .

Students: See our  Students Abroad  page and  FBI travel tips .

Women Travelers: See our travel tips for  Women Travelers .

High-quality medical facilities and services are widely available in Belgium. The large university hospitals can handle most medical problems. Equivalents for most, but not all, U.S. medications are available through local pharmacies with a prescription from a Belgian physician. The responsiveness of emergency services is also generally excellent.

For emergency services in Belgium, dial 112.

Ambulance services are widely available.

We do not pay medical bills.  Be aware that U.S. Medicare/Medicaid does not apply overseas. Most hospitals and doctors overseas do not accept U.S. health insurance.

Medical Insurance:  Make sure your health insurance plan provides coverage overseas. Most care providers overseas only accept cash payments. See  our webpage  for more information on overseas insurance coverage. Visit the  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  for more information on type of insurance you should consider before you travel overseas.

We strongly recommend supplemental insurance to cover medical evacuation.

Always carry your prescription medication in original packaging, along with your doctor’s prescription. Check with the  Belgian Federal Public Health Service  to ensure the medication is legal in Belgium.

Vaccinations:  Be up-to-date on all  vaccinations  recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Further health information:

• World Health Organization
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  (CDC)

Air Quality:  Visit  AirNow Department of State  for information on air quality at U.S. Embassies and Consulates.

The U.S. Embassy maintains a  list of doctors and hospitals . We do not endorse or recommend any specific medical provider or clinic.

Travel and Transportation

Road Conditions and Safety:

• Belgium’s road network is generally well-built and maintained.
• Adequate lighting exists on major highways, but on rural roads it is often insufficient or nonexistent.
• Roadside assistance and information on road conditions are available in English from Touring Mobilis, telephone 02 286-3040. Belgian police will also provide information on road conditions, telephone 02-642-6666.
• Emergency services are efficient and responsive. For police emergencies, dial 101 by phone within Belgium. For all other emergencies, dial 112.

Traffic Laws:

• Traffic coming from the right generally has priority at uncontrolled intersections, even if coming from a smaller street.
• The  maximum speed limit on Belgian highways  is 120 kilometers (72 miles) per hour but is not always posted.
• The  maximum speed in urban areas  is 50 km (30 miles) per hour, but in central Brussels it is 30 km (19 miles) per hour.
• While Belgian authorities strictly  enforce speed limits , many Belgians still drive significantly faster than the posted limit. Claiming ignorance of the speed limit may not prevent you from getting a significant fine for speeding, and your vehicle may be impounded if you can’t pay the fine on the spot. Automated radars with cameras are common and violators are issued citations through the mail.
• Belgian police also conduct  breath analysis checks for alcohol use , particularly at night and during major holidays. The legal limit for operating a motor vehicle is .5 grams of alcohol per liter of blood (.05 percent Blood Alcohol Content).
• You must use your seat belt  while driving in a vehicle.
• Bicycling  is very common in Belgium, for both recreational and more traditional transportation purposes. Wear helmets at all times and follow vehicle travel rules (stopping at lights, crosswalks, etc.). Follow bike paths when available.

Public Transportation:  Brussels and most major cities of Belgium have extensive and efficient public transportation systems. Trains, buses, and ferries connect Brussels with other major cities in Belgium and with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands. Traveling by train is considered to be safer than driving.

See our  Road Safety page  for more information. Visit the website of the  Belgian national authority responsible for road safety.

Aviation Safety Oversight:  The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed the government of Belgium’s Civil Aviation Authority as being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Belgium’s air carrier operations. Further information may be found on the  FAA’s safety assessment page .

Brussels Airport Delays: Travelers have experienced significant delays at passport control at Brussels airport, during both arrival and departure.  We recommend outbound passengers check with your airline to find out their cutoff time for check-in and seek your airline’s recommendations on how to mitigate potential passport control delays.

Maritime Travel:  Mariners planning travel to Belgium should also check for  U.S. maritime advisories and alerts . Information may also be posted to the  U.S. Coast Guard homeport website , and the  NGA broadcast warnings .

For additional travel information

• Enroll in the  Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)  to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Call us in Washington, D.C. at 1-888-407-4747 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 1-202-501-4444 (from all other countries) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
• See the  State Department’s travel website  for the  Worldwide Caution  and  Travel Advisories .
• Follow us on X (formerly known as "Twitter") and Facebook .
• See  traveling safely abroad  for useful travel tips.

Review information about International Parental Child Abduction in Belgium .  For additional IPCA-related information, please see the  International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act ( ICAPRA )  report.

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11 things to know before a trip to Belgium

Jun 15, 2024 • 7 min read

Be ready for the quirks of Belgium with this planning and cultural guide © tunart / Getty Images

Belgium is petite. Fall asleep on a Paris to Amsterdam train and you could miss it all together – well, maybe, if you’re a heavy sleeper.

But crammed into this fascinating little land are some of Europe’s great medieval cities (including Bruges , Ghent and Antwerp ), the EU capital Brussels and no less than three national languages.

Fabulous chocolate, brilliant beers and baffling bureaucracy are all part of the mix in a place with a surprising range of cultural and practical quirks that are well worth knowing about before you arrive.

1. Local menus probably won't include Brussels sprouts

Given the name, you might imagine Brussels sprouts heavily featured on many Belgian menus. Although sprouts were first cultivated in 13th-century Flanders, Belgians themselves more likely see endives as their most archetypal national vegetable.

Known as witloof in Dutch and chicons in Belgian French, the classic recipe wraps them in ham and slathers them in white sauce. However, over the last 30 years, a lack of interest in this labor-intensive farming practice has seen Belgian endive production nose dive.

Some fear that the vegetable might become virtually extinct within a generation, but scientists are working hard to save the popular vegetable.

2. You'll pay for water but you don't need to tip

Belgium has super standards of public health, a socialized medical system that's the envy of neighboring countries and yes — despite occasional scares — most tap water is completely fine to drink.

But that’s not what you’re likely to hear if you have the bare-faced temerity to ask for eau du robinet in a restaurant. Eateries happily supply free bread, and there’s never a requirement to tip Belgian serving staff, but for H2O you’re expected to stump up for a bottle of mineral water. A beer is often cheaper.

3. Carry coins: you may need to pay to use the bathroom

Cash usage is plummeting in Belgium, and most places now expect plastic or phone money. But not everywhere. It’s especially worth keeping a few euro coins in your pocket in case you need to use older public toilets.

Yes, unfortunately, some motorway services still have a pay table guarding the facilities. Even some bigger restaurants charge you to go. Whether you classify McDonald's as a “restaurant” or not, its central Ghent branch requires payment.

4. Cash payments are rounded up to the nearest €0.05

Unlike in the neighboring Netherlands , €0.01 and €0.02 copper coins are technically still legal tender in Belgium. However, in reality, you’re unlikely to find any because from 2019 Belgian merchants must round up or down for all in-person cash transactions to the nearest multiple of €0.05.

5. ATMs are hard to find

As cash usage wanes, so does the number of ATMs you’re likely to find. A spate of heavy-handed robberies has further reduced the attractiveness for banks to site ATMs in their exterior walls. So, in many Belgian urban centers, if you want cash, you’ll need to locate a branch of Bancontact , essentially a shop containing “bank-neutral” cash machines.

6. Eat frites not French fries

You may have learned about people in Holland putting mayonnaise on their fries from the 1994-movie Pulp Fiction , but it's a custom that extends beyond those borders.

The idea is alive and well in Belgium where there’s a whole range of flavored mayo-based sauces to choose from when you order a portion of friets/frites from a frituur (fry shop). If in doubt, go for mildly spicy Andalouse and have it on the side rather than drenching your marvelously triple-fried beauties.

Most importantly, don’t even think of calling them “French Fries” – one thing that unites Flemish and Francophone Belgians is that it’s Belgium, not France , that really knows how to fry potatoes.

7. Cafes are more for beer than coffee

Belgium shares the third-wave caffeine passions that have swept the globe: many a maestro barista plies their trade here and there are some great urban roasteries. However, while a traditional Belgian cafe will serve you a decent coffee (typically with a square of chocolate or speculaas biscuit), don’t expect a flat white or a cold-drip brew.

Belgium’s classic cafes are, in reality, far more like pubs than coffee houses, with hardwood chairs, wooden wall paneling, brasswork and mirrors, though in a downbeat less showy fashion than a French brasserie. And the main point of a cafe is to pour beers. If you just order a bière (French) or pintje (Flemish) you’ll get a well-poured 25cl lager.

But any cafe worth its salt will also offer a range of alternative brews – typically in bottles – many with alcohol levels approaching those of wine.

Some beer-bars have a book-thick menu of options and each should be served in its own specific glass. For powerful, well-balanced brews it’s hard to beat the various Trappist beers, still brewed by monks. Some connoisseurs purport to love the sour, spontaneously-fermenting lambics.

If you don’t mind looking like a tourist, try ordering a Kwak, which usually comes in an Instagram-worthy round-bottomed glass held on a wooden stand like it’s part of a chemistry experiment.

8. Drink driving is not acceptable

While in a Belgian cafe, if someone asks you “Are you Bob?” that’s not because they think they know you. Bob, in Belgium, is a shorthand for the designated driver – the person in a group who has to stay sober and spurn that fabulous selection of beers.

Well into the noughties drink driving was seen as a minor misdemeanor – police sometimes urged the inebriated to hurry home rather than locking them up. However, things have changed radically in the last decade and the once-repeated Belgian maxim “if I wasn’t drunk I’d be too scared to drive” is no longer considered amusing.

Along with much of Europe, the blood alcohol limit is 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood (0.05%), which could be reached just drinking one strong beer.

9. When in doubt, speak English

Traveling anywhere it’s polite to speak the local language, right? Well yes if you know what “local” means. In central Belgium, that can be tricky.

Bureaucratic borders between Dutch-speaking Flanders, French speaking Wallonia and officially bilingual Brussels are essentially invisible. Then there’s also a German-speaking area of Wallonia too.

In general, speaking the wrong local language – maybe speaking French in parts of Flanders – can be seen as more insensitive than simply using English, or you just won’t be understood at all. Either way, especially in bigger cities, it’s best to just go with English.

10. Good with languages? French, Belgian French and Walloon are all different

Wallonia is the French-speaking half of Belgium, but the French spoken there has some peculiarities. So, if you speak the language of Voltaire, be prepared to say “septante” for 70 and “nonante” for 90… though not “octante” for 80 – that’s just too Swiss.

Don’t assume that this means you’re speaking Walloon – that is essentially a different language (with several highly variant dialects). These days Walloon is mostly heard only at folkloric festivals (like Les Macralles night of witches at Vielsalm) or at puppet shows (most famously featuring Tchanchès , the mascot of Liège).

For comic effect you might also spice your Belgian French with words of Bruxellois, the street patois of the capital which traditionally spices French with some fabulous hybrid words of Dutch origin to special effect. For example, un zieverer is a wind-up merchant prone to telling deliberately exaggerated tall tales.

And en stoemelings means doing something furtively, particularly a cash transaction in pursuance of the age-old Belgian passion for tax avoidance. Both terms have a humorous rather than negative connotation.

11. Place names on road signs are confusing

Where the language divide is likely to prove most baffling is when you’re driving . Many Flemish towns have entirely different Francophone names and vice versa, and it's common to find that they'll use their own version on regional road signs. Particularly baffling for tourists are Bergen (for Mons), Louvain (for Leuven ) and Luik (for Liège ).

Should you approach Jodoigne from the north it’ll be signed Geldenaken. Even foreign cities aren’t spared: in Flanders signs for Lille (France) might say Rijsel while in Wallonia, Aachen might be written Aix-la-Chapelle.

This article was first published May 21, 2022 and updated Jun 15, 2024.

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Tips & Advice

Sep 17, 2024 • 18 min read

Visitors to Europe are bowled over by its natural beauty, epic history, rich culture and dazzling diversity. Here are the best places to visit.

Sep 10, 2024 • 8 min read

Sep 9, 2024 • 5 min read

Sep 9, 2024 • 8 min read

Sep 9, 2024 • 4 min read

Aug 30, 2024 • 12 min read

Aug 16, 2024 • 9 min read

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Jul 25, 2024 • 4 min read