Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Brussels has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
- Viewpoint
- Turning a respectable 50 in 2008, the Atomium (the architectural representation of an atom that wowed the crowd at the 1958 World Expo) has a restaurant in its topmost sphere, which offers terrific views of the city (www.atomium.be).
- Arts and culture
- Belgium is a country of collectors and Brussels has museums tailored to the most obscure tastes (plastic, freemasonry, puppetry, ceramic clocks, Jewish Moroccan Art, etc). Chief among the more mainstream options is the Centre for Fine Arts, aka Bozar (www.bozar.be), Victor Horta’s vast multimedia gallery space that hosts an ever-changing calendar of events. The Place du Grand Sablon is rife with intriguing little art galleries, but if you want to admire the heroes of ‘the ninth art’ then make a beeline for the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art (www.comiccenter.net) on Rue des Sables.
- Something for nothing
- Take a tour of the European Parliament (www.europarl.europa.eu). Audio guides are available at 10am and 3pm every day (except Fridays, when it’s just 10am). It’s free to spectate when Parliament’s in session too.
- Shopping
- In terms of haute couture, Antwerp knocks Brussels right of the catwalk. However, the city does have its own retail specialities. Antique stores and flea markets are abundant in the Sablon area; rue des Fripiers and rue du Marché aux Herbes both have a smattering of high-end boutiques, and, of course, there are plenty of outlets selling myriad makes of Belgian beer – try Beer Mania on Chausse de Wavre (+32 (0)2 512 1788) for a mind-boggling, brain-fogging selection.
- Daytripper
- Belgium is handily compact – the picturesque little city of Bruges is a 50-minute train ride to the west of Brussels. Bruges tops the tourist tagert-list, and it’s not hard to see why: canals, crumbling Gothic buildings, cobbled streets and a wealth of historic attractions, such as Groeninge Museum of Flemish art and the beautiful burg square. Escaping the brunt of the tourist assault on Bruges, Ghent has a similar mediaeval appeal, coupled with one of the best street parties in Europe during July’s tend day De Gente Feesten. To the east of Brussels, the green hilltops of Ardennes offer a balmy back-to-nature vibe, as well as the old town of Spa, which has lent its name to water-based therapies the world over and still draws vast numbers to its sulphurous waters. Shopping-central Antwerp’s 40 minutes away.
- Perfect Picnic
- Le Pain Quotidien (+32 (0)2 513 51 540) on rue des Sablons can cater for inner-city picknicking – just grab a basket of bread and deli products and secure a bench in Petit Sablon. For a more pastoral picnic, the Bois de la Cambre to the south of the centre is a wide parkland space with some lovely lakeside spots to dine alfresco – stock up on supplies at Gaudron (www.gaudron.be) on Place G Brugmann.
- Walks
- Start outside the Banque Nationale on Boulevard de Berlaimont and tread the Comic Strip Trail, a 6km saunter through the history of Belgium’s cartoon tradition. More than 30 walls in the city have been decorated with murals depicting cartoon characters and comic-strip heroes, adding colour to some otherwise quite drab side streets. You can pick up a map from the tourist office. There’s plenty of Tintin, naturally.
- Children
- Brussels is a bit on the cobbley side for comfortable pushchair manoeuvring, but it does have its attractions for more mobile youngsters. Unlike many dreary display-based children’s museums, the Musee des Enfants (www.museedesenfants.be) has a wholeheartedly interactive approach to education, with a wide range of games, of games and activities with an emphasis on personal development. Scientastic (www.scientastic.be) is similarly hands-on, with 101 colourful and quirky experiments to ticker with, including a giant kaleidoscope.
- Activities
- Don’t be misled by Belgium’s Low Country status, Brussels is very much on the hilly side. Neverthless, cycling can be a fun, fitness-inducing way of exploring the city. The Cyclocity network of bike rental hotspots – pick up a bike from a cycle station, ride it, deposit it at another – enables fast, easy travel around town (www.cyclocity.be). Every December, a ice rink appears in the Marché aux Poissons near the Grand Place – one of the most attractive in Europe.
- And...
- Brussels was the birthplace of Art Nouveau architecture – most of it's been destroyed by the ravages of civil engineering, but the Horta Museum (www.hortamuseum.be) still drops a few jaws.
Diary
April One of Europe’s largest art fairs, Art Brussels (www.artexis.com/artbrussels) brings hundred of galleries under one roof, and attracts thousands of collectors and connoisseurs from around the globe, May Three days of near-non stop live music courtesy of the Jazz Marathon, which fills bars, cafés and restaurants with musicians, and is completely free to listen to. August Every even-numbered year sees a carpet of flowers descend on the Grand Place. August–September Beginning with a celebration of St Arnold – patron saint of brewers – in the Magdalena Church, the Beer Weekend (www.weekenddelabiere.be) brings beers and beer-fans to the Grand Place (by the barrel- and bus-load, respectively) for three days of selling and sampling. September Design September (www.designseptember.be), a citywide festival of creative industry fills venues and galleries with stylish exhibits.
