Brussels

Belgium·Europe

Currency

EUR

Language

French, Dutch

Timezone

Brussels

Continent

Europe

Our guide

Discover Brussels

Brussels does badly in a single day because it is more spread out than it looks. The Grand-Place and its Gothic town hall form the heart, the Manneken Pis is two streets away, and the Atomium — the nine steel spheres of the 1958 World's Fair — stands six kilometres north at Heysel. Between them sit the Magritte Museum and the Parc du Cinquantenaire.

When to go

May to September. Belgian weather is capricious all year: expect rain in any season. Winter brings Christmas markets and seasonal beers, and the city is markedly quieter.

Getting around

Metro, tram and bus share one ticket. The centre walks, but the Atomium needs the metro — about twenty minutes from the centre. Brussels is an hour and twenty minutes from Paris by train, which makes it a weekend destination with no flight at all.

Where to eat

Belgium is eaten more than it is toured: moules-frites, carbonnade, waffles, and above all beer — more than fifteen hundred brewed in the country, including Trappists made nowhere else. Twenty-five halal addresses are listed, a strong ratio.

Good to know

The Grand-Place is free and worth seeing at night, when the façades are lit. Mini-Europe, at the foot of the Atomium, combines easily with a visit there if you are travelling with children.

Smart Planning