10 places you cant miss out on in Brussels

Hi, everyone!

Today I want to talk to you about a city I visited a couple of years ago. It is the capital of Belgium, and I stayed there for a few days. Honestly, it is not a really big city so in those days we had enough time to see the city more or less in-depth. I went by plane from Porto and to be honest, the flights were quite cheap.

Brussels is the perfect city for lovers of chocolate and especially waffles, for visiting museums, enjoying the modernist architecture... It is the political capital of the European Union and it is one of the most multicultural cities in Europe.

If there is something that stands out about this city, and Belgium in general, it is its excellent public transport system. It was super easy to get from the airport to the city centre. The price of the bus from the airport was around 2 euros. However, to visit the city centre, you barely need to take the metro since you can easily walk to most of the places that I have included in this list.

Now, I want to talk to you about the 10 places that I consider must-visit locations in the Belgian capital. Although, if you have the opportunity to spend more than two days here, there are lots of other places to see.

Grand Place

As you would expect, it is one of the most must-see visits in the city and is definitely the most famous place in Brussels.

It is honestly one of the prettiest squares in Europe. Whatever direction you look, they are historic buildings which belong to an architectural complex from the 17th century. The town hall, Le pigeon, and the Guild houses stand out.

It is just as interesting to see the square during the day as it is in the night; as it gives a totally different feeling. During the night, the square is lit up really beautifully and during the day, it is perfect to appreciate every detail of the buildings in the square. We had to almost always go through the square to get to our hotel, therefore we were able to see it as much during the day as when it was lit up at night.

A perfect time to visit it is in August, when all the square is covered in flowers, forming an enormous carpet for the "Tapis de Fleur". To carry it out, they need around 100 gardeners who have just 4 hours to create it. I have only been able to see this in photos but it should be spectacular.

You can go up to the balcony on the town hall by paying 5 euros to have a better view of the whole plaza, and especially on these dates that I told you, so you can better enjoy the carpets of flowers.

Manneken Pis

Not very far from the Grand Place, going down Rue de Midi, we came across this small bronze statue which represented a boy urinating. At the time, this statue was just another fountain, but it has turned into one of the symbols of the city. In fact, most of the souvenirs that you will find in the shops mainly are of this statue.

For Brussels residents, it represents the spirit of nonconformity and the revolt of the city. One of the strange things is that, depending on the celebration or party that is being held in the city, you can see this boy urinating with different costumes, and you can visit them all in the Maison du Roi in the Grand Place.

The truth is that I didn't find these the most amazing places in the city, but at the end of the day, seeing what it represents to the city, it is a must-visit.

This area is also very well-known because in these streets you can find the best shops to try the famous waffles in the city. I doubt that you'll be able to resist having one because when you walk down the street, the irresistible smell of them comes out from all the shops. I recommend trying the Liege style waffle which is a smaller waffle and just comes with icing sugar sprinkled on top, and it is the authentic Belgian waffle.

Palace of Justice

This impressive palace is located in the Le Sablon neighbourhood and has an incredible foyer which is more than 100 metres high. To see this foyer and all of the inside you don't have to pay, so don't think twice about going in.

When I went, a large part of the building was under renovation, but it was still beautiful. We didn't go inside and this was because at the time we didn't know it was free; and also we had little time to see everything that we wanted to that day, so we didn't stop there for too long.

To get to it we went up in a kind of lift, and at the top, there were various prisms, from which you could see the whole city.

Brussels Park

This is one of the most famous parks in the city and you will find the Royal Palace inside. This palace was formerly the home of the Belgian Kings for quite a few years, and inside there are rooms such as the one of mirrors, the throne or the Goya which stand out.

In addition, this is one of the preferred places for the Belgian people and tourists who visit the city to relax whilst walking through the gardens and woods. We took advantage of one of the banks to sit down on and eat, as we couldn't let ourselves go to a restaurant every day, so we thought it was a good plan to buy something in the supermarket - and what better place is there than this one to eat and relax?

St Michael Cathedral

The Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula is in gothic style and comes from the 13th century. When we approached it there were two lines of trees on the way to them which gives it a special touch. It is in the high area of the city, therefore, from there, you can see part of this.

It is worthwhile going inside and observing, in particular, the organ and the large windows full of colours and details. The entry is free.

Saint Hubert Galleries.

These galleries are practically a stone's throw away from the Grand Place and they boast luxury and beauty, since when you enter, there are decorations as well as the luxurious shops and chocolate shops which overwhelm you. These shops which I am talking about have sky-high prices, therefore, even though probably they will all make your mouth water, only a few people will be able to afford to buy things from here.

Another important fact is that they are the first commercial galleries in Europe. Don't hesitate to have a look around them and go in a shop, even if its just to have a browse.

Comic route

This popular route lets you look at different fronts all over the city painted with murals from famous Belgian comics, such as Asterix and Obelix, Lucky Luke or Tintin.

There are three possible comic routes, but the most famous one, and the one that the tourists normally follow is the one through the city centre. To go on one of these routes, it is advisable to get a map with the marked points of the route from a tourist office in the city.

I really wanted to do one of these routes, in fact, I found out that it existed by chance when we were walking down the streets of Brussels, and we came across a mural of the famous comic Tintin. Unfortunately, we had more or less already planned out our route around the city and we didn't have enough time to do it. But as I said, you will definitely come across some of these murals by accident.

European Quarter

This neighbourhood is where you can find most of the official European Union institutions, hence the name. From all of them, of course, the European Parliament stands out. The truth is that there are three headquarters altogether all over Europe, but this is the most well-known one.

You can do a tour around the inside with an audio-guide in different languages. We didn't have time to do it but it looked interesting, and it was free.

In addition to the European Parliament, there are lots of other interesting buildings; like the headquarters of the Council of the European Union, the official headquarters of the European Commission or the Justus Lipsius building.

It is a visit that is completely different from all the others that I have included in this post, but it is completely worth the visit.

Parc du Cinquantenaire

This park has lots of interesting places to visit like an Arc of Triumph, the Museum of Military History and the Cinquantenaire Palace.

Inside of this last one, you will find the Autoworld Museum for car fanatics, as it has one of the best car collections in the world. This doesn't interest me that much, so we decided not to go in.

It is quite big, so the best thing is to dedicate a decent amount of time for going through the gardens calmly and to discover the numerous hidden corners.

Atomium

The last but, as I usually say, not least, is this iron atom which has definitely become one of the must-see things in Brussels. It was created by the EXPO in 1958 and is equivalent to an atom amplified 165 billion times, in act it has a height of 100 metres.

Even though it is not very central, unlike the rest of the attractions in the city, and you have to get a metro to Heysel station, very few tourists come to Brussels without stopping by to see it.

In the same way as how I said to you before, that it is really common to come across souvenirs with the statue of Mannekin Pis, well, another typical figure is this one, of the Atomium.

You can go up to the top of the Atomium paying around 12 euros and the queues are usually big, especially during the main part of the day. You can enter after 10 am.

We decided to not go in and take advantage of going back around the surrounding areas, as it is an incredibly big park. We were investigating and we came across some really pretty places like these ones.

And this has been everything about the city of Brussels. On my trip to Belgium, we also took advantage of the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Gante, which I will talk to you about in my next post. I hope you liked it.

Thank you again for reading my posts!

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