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Brussels, Belgium
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When to visit
Attractions in Brussels, Belgium
1. Grand-Place (Grote Markt)
Quick facts: Golden light washes over ornate guild-house facades at dusk, turning the cobbles into a shimmering stage where every carved figure seems to whisper stories. Visitors often catch brass fanfares during the biennial flower carpet, when hundreds of thousands of begonias form a living tapestry and crowds press close to admire the dizzying patterns.
Highlights: At dusk the gilded guildhalls glow like warm brass, and every two years locals lay a Flower Carpet of begonias, roughly 600,000 blooms covering about 1,800 square meters, releasing a damp, sweet floral scent that hangs over the cobbles. During summer the Ommegang pageant reenacts Emperor Charles V's 1549 procession with costumed riders, trumpets and drums, a quirky tradition where torchlight, marching boots and the smell of fries and beer melt into a living history that makes locals grin.
2. Manneken Pis
Quick facts: A cheeky little bronze figure famously wears hundreds of tiny costumes, with a wardrobe of over 900 outfits that are swapped for festivals and state visits. Passersby often crowd the narrow square to watch playful streams of water and snap photos, enjoying the quirky tradition and surprising historical anecdotes shared by local guides.
Highlights: Measuring just 61 centimeters tall, the bronze figure has an official wardrobe of over 900 costumes and draws crowds whenever a costume-change ceremony is staged, with a uniformed confraternity and a tiny brass band parading by. Local lore says the figure once saved the town by extinguishing a fuse, and each year a local brewery donates a keg of lambic for the dressing ceremony, filling the square with the warm scents of hops and boiled wool.
3. Atomium
Quick facts: The structure magnifies an iron crystal cell 165 billion times, with nine mirrored spheres linked by tubes that visitors can walk through. Step inside and you'll find retro-futuristic exhibits, a dizzying spiral of escalators, and a top-sphere restaurant where the polished steel skin throws back sunlight like chrome.
Highlights: Nine gleaming stainless-steel spheres, each about 18 meters across and linked by tubes, form a surreal lattice rising 102 meters and represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, an idea born for the 1958 World's Fair by engineer André Waterkeyn. Climb the narrow escalators through the shiny tubes to the top sphere, sit in the revolving restaurant and watch sunlight carve bright ribbons across curved metal while the faint clink of cutlery and black-and-white Expo-58 photos anchor you in history.
4. Royal Palace of Brussels (Palais Royal)
Quick facts: Sunlight catches the sweeping marble facade and the grand windows reveal glimmers of ornate salons, where chandeliers and gilded ceilings still play host to state occasions. Many visitors wander through dozens of lavishly decorated rooms, spotting royal portraits and Art Nouveau details tucked into unexpected corners.
Highlights: Every summer the state rooms open to the public for roughly six weeks, so you can stroll across cool marble under a gilded 19th-century ceiling and let the hush of echoing footsteps and the faint scent of beeswax polish sink in. King Leopold II masterminded the palace's late-19th-century makeover, and palace staff still tell a whispered legend about a tiny snack bell hidden behind a west-wing panel that once summoned servants to quietly deliver cakes during royal receptions.
5. Parc du Cinquantenaire (Cinquantenaire Park)
Quick facts: Strolling down the broad, tree-lined esplanade feels cinematic, a soaring triple-arched colonnade capped by a bronze quadriga provides a dramatic centerpiece for photos and people-watching. Picnickers spread blankets on the lawns beside museums whose grand façades hide surprising collections, from vintage cars to military artifacts, while weekend markets and street performers add a lively buzz.
Highlights: Built for the 1880 National Exhibition celebrating 50 years of independence, the park's monumental triple arch and long colonnades frame a theatrical expanse of lawn where brass bands and buskers bounce music off the stone while waffle and coffee aromas drift across the grass. Locals still keep a quirky habit of chalking dates and tiny names on the undersides of arcade benches, so if you look closely you can spot commemorative scribbles dating back to the 1930s.
6. Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule)
Quick facts: Sunlight through soaring stained-glass windows splashes jewel-bright colors across the stone nave, while the grand organ's booming tones make the whole space tremble during a recital. Look up to spot carved facades and mischievous gargoyles, each one hiding symbolic scenes that reward patient visitors who study every corner.
Highlights: Look up in the choir and you'll spot several 16th-century stained-glass panels by Bernard van Orley, their jewel-like reds and blues flooding the stone when afternoon sun pours through. During national ceremonies the nave fills with military uniforms and velvet robes, a scene locals still recall from King Baudouin's 1993 funeral when a lone trumpet's note hung in the vaulted space for several long, echoing seconds.
7. Mont des Arts (Kunstberg)
Quick facts: Sunlight pours down the terraced lawns onto a mosaic of rooftops and spires, while fountains and modern sculptures give off a surprisingly intimate urban oasis vibe. A cluster of more than a dozen museums, galleries, and performance halls encircles the gardens, so you can hop from a blockbuster exhibition to a live concert within minutes.
Highlights: Climb the terraced gardens at golden hour and the perspective lines up the Gothic Town Hall spire with a checkerboard of red and purple geranium beds and clipped yew hedges, the air thick with warm coffee and frying-bread aromas from the cafés below. Students and office workers routinely spread quilts on the long central lawn to eat and trade vinyl records while a dozen church bells and distant tram clangs layer into a surprisingly gentle city soundtrack.
8. Magritte Museum (Musée Magritte)
Quick facts: Walking through the rooms feels like slipping into a painted dream, where ordinary objects float and familiar scenes bend into playful paradoxes. Around 200 original works, sketches, and letters are arranged to highlight the artist's sly humor, so visitors catch recurring motifs that hook the imagination.
Highlights: You step into rooms hung with more than 200 original works by René Magritte, the low, warm lighting and the smell of old paper making the painted skies and floating apples feel like they could drift into the corridor. On a small table near the staircase there is a faithful reconstruction of the artist's studio complete with his bowler hat and worn pipes, a detail that makes the surreal scenes feel like private snapshots of a strange, lived-in life.
9. Belgian Comic Strip Center (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée)
Quick facts: Step into rooms awash with bold colors and life-size cartoon scenes, where original sketches and interactive displays make the creative process feel hands-on. Hidden gems include rare original pages and behind-the-scenes notes from famous European cartoonists, so you can spot penciled corrections and tiny details that usually never make it to print.
Highlights: You climb Victor Horta's curved Art Nouveau staircase, built in 1905–1906, and suddenly you're surrounded by giant cartoon panels that make you feel like you're walking through a page. Original Hergé drawings from the 1940s hang under the restored glass skylight, their pencil marks and faint varnish visible up close, so quiet visitors often lean in and whisper as if sharing a comic-book secret.
10. Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert)
Quick facts: Sunlight pours through a soaring glass roof, turning mosaic floors and ornate shopfronts into a glittering indoor boulevard where chocolatiers, bookshops, and couture boutiques sit cheek by cheek. A hushed, people-watching atmosphere invites slow wandering and coffee breaks, and you'll often spot photographers framing the ornate facades beneath the arcade's delicate ironwork.
Highlights: Built in 1847 by architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer, the glass-and-iron arcade stretches under a sweeping roof across three parallel passages, bathing polished marble and carved shopfronts in warm, amber light. Slip inside and the air fills with the sweet tang of cocoa from chocolatiers founded in the 19th century such as Neuhaus, the low murmur of French and Flemish, and the occasional hush of a tiny 19th-century theatre tucked behind a boutique where locals still gather for intimate shows.
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Day trips
Comments (10)
Skip restaurants right off the Grand Place, walk two blocks into St Catherine for better prices and seafood that locals go to.
Overrated in spots, tourist traps near the main square, but neighborhoods beyond gave us the best little discoveries.
Pretty safe at night, locals were helpful, beer selection blew my mind. Expect crowds around the Grand Place though.
Gray weather but cozy cafes made up for it, perfect for long coffee breaks and sampling fries between museums.
Buy a STIB 24 or 48 hour pass at the metro station, unlimited trams and buses are way cheaper than single tickets.
Getting there
Airports
Train stations
International (Eurostar, Thalys), national IC/ICN lines
Central city hub; regional and national services
Regional and national services, commuter lines
From BRU take the direct train to Bruxelles-Central (~20 min); from Charleroi use the airport shuttle + train (~1h).
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