Flight time
1h 15m
Best season
April–June & September–December
Budget
Mid-range
Best for
Art Nouveau, beer, chocolate, food
Overview
Why Brussels for a city break?
Brussels is one of the most underrated city breaks from the UK — consistently overlooked in favour of Amsterdam or Paris, yet housing world-class Art Nouveau architecture, the finest beer culture in Europe, extraordinary chocolate, and a Grand Place that Victor Hugo called the most beautiful square in the world. The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts holds Bruegel the Elder's most important paintings. The Atomium is one of the most distinctive pieces of 20th-century architecture. The frites are, definitively, the finest in the world.
From London it's an hour by air or just over two hours by Eurostar direct to Brussels Midi — one of the most civilised city break journeys available, arriving in the heart of the city without an airport. Brussels is compact, walkable and genuinely affordable by capital city standards. April through June is perfect: the Grote Markt flower carpet (every two years in August) is extraordinary, and the city's outdoor café culture along the Place du Grand Sablon makes spring and early summer especially pleasant.
Where to stay & explore
Brussels's best neighbourhoods
Ixelles & Ste-Catherine
Ixelles has the best Art Nouveau architecture and the finest restaurants. Ste-Catherine is the fish market neighbourhood — the best mussels and frites in the city are on the Place Ste-Catherine.
Marolles
The old working-class neighbourhood below the Palais de Justice — the daily flea market on the Place du Jeu de Balle, cheap cafés and a genuinely Bruxellois atmosphere far from the EU quarter.
Châtelain & Flagey
The most local upscale neighbourhood — the Châtelain market on Wednesday afternoons, excellent independent restaurants and the Flagey arts centre in an extraordinary 1930s Radio building.
Things to do
What to see in Brussels
1
Grand Place (Grote Markt)
Hugo called it the most beautiful square in the world and it's not an absurd claim — the Gothic Town Hall, the King's House, and the guild houses of the drapers, brewers, coopers and archers, all in a compact square that survived German bombardment in 1695 and was immediately rebuilt. The square at night, floodlit, is the finest version. Free to enter at all times.
2
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts
Six interconnected museums housing Belgium's national art collection — the Bruegel the Elder rooms (the largest collection of his work anywhere), Rubens, Van Dyck, David, Magritte (an entire museum devoted to him in the complex), and the Fin-de-Siècle Museum covering Belgian Symbolism and Art Nouveau. Book online for the Magritte Museum specifically — it sells out.
3
Art Nouveau architecture tour
Brussels has more Art Nouveau buildings per square kilometre than any city in the world — Victor Horta's masterworks (the Hôtel Tassel, the Maison du Peuple) are the centrepieces. The Musée Horta in Horta's own house in Ixelles is the essential visit — book online. The ARAU (Atelier de Recherche et d'Action Urbaine) runs excellent guided Art Nouveau walks; book in advance.
4
Atomium & Laeken
Built for the 1958 World's Fair, the Atomium — a model of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, nine connected steel spheres each 18 metres in diameter — is one of the strangest and most distinctive pieces of 20th-century architecture in Europe. The interior has exhibition spaces and a panoramic restaurant in the top sphere. Book online; in the royal suburb of Laeken, 30 minutes by Metro from the centre.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Brussels
Chez Léon
Mussels & frites / institution
The most famous moules-frites institution in Brussels — open since 1893 on the Rue des Bouchers. The formula hasn't changed: enormous pots of mussels steamed with white wine, celery and cream, with a cone of the finest frites in Europe alongside. Tourist-facing but genuinely good. Order the full kilo.
Moeder Lambic Fontainas
Beer café / natural wine
The finest beer café in Brussels — 50 taps of Belgian craft and lambic beer, including Cantillon gueuze and Boon lambic from the barrel, served in the correct glass by staff who know exactly what they're talking about. The natural wine list is also exceptional. In the Saint-Gilles neighbourhood.
Humphrey
Modern Belgian / Ixelles
The most exciting modern restaurant in Brussels — Humphrey Beretta's open kitchen serves a no-choice 5-course menu that changes weekly based on what's available from Belgian suppliers. Exceptional wine list, extraordinary value for the quality. Book months ahead; extremely sought after.
Itinerary
3 days in Brussels — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Grand Place, the museums, moules-frites at dusk
Eurostar from London St Pancras arrives at Brussels Midi — walk out of the station and take the Metro 2 stops to Centrale. The Grand Place is 5 minutes' walk: see it first thing before the tour groups build. The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts open at 10am — the Bruegel the Elder rooms and the Magritte Museum (booked separately online). Lunch near the Sablon: the antique market on Place du Grand Sablon on weekends, excellent cafés on the square. The Manneken Pis (the famous bronze boy urinating — smaller and less impressive than expected, but unavoidable) is nearby. Ste-Catherine for dinner: moules-frites at Chez Léon or one of the Belgian restaurants on Place Ste-Catherine. Delirium Café after dinner — 3,000 different beers, the world record.
Day 2
Art Nouveau, the Marolles flea market, craft beer
Musée Horta in Ixelles opens at 2pm (closed Monday and Tuesday mornings) — book online. Walk the Art Nouveau streets of Ixelles beforehand: the Hôtel Tassel on Rue Paul-Emile Janson, the Maison Saint-Cyr on Place Ambiorix. The Marolles flea market (Place du Jeu de Balle) is open daily from 6am to 2pm — a proper antiques and junk market, one of the best in Europe. Lunch at one of the Marolles cafés. Moeder Lambic Fontainas for late afternoon: a Cantillon gueuze before dinner. Humphrey in the evening if booked; otherwise the restaurants of Châtelain.
Day 3
Atomium, comic strip museum, one last Belgian waffle
Brussels is the birthplace of Tintin, the Smurfs and Lucky Luke — the Belgian Comic Strip Centre (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée) in an extraordinary Horta-designed building houses the finest collection of Franco-Belgian comics in the world, and is genuinely excellent even for non-fans. Atomium in the afternoon — book online, take the Metro to Heysel. The panoramic view from the top sphere over greater Brussels is the best vantage point in the city. Back to the centre for the final act: a Belgian waffle (the Brussels style is lighter and crispier than the Liège style; eat it plain, with butter, not smothered in Nutella) from one of the good waffle stands near the Grand Place. Eurostar back to London St Pancras: 2 hours 1 minute, direct.
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