6 Things to do: Brussels

Next Stage Travel

Jul 2, 2022

6 min read

Updated: Oct 1

6 Things to do: Brussels

2026 update on ATMs: All banks have agreed to merge their ATMs. This is good for locals, who never pay a fee. However, foreign visitors will be charged an outrageous exchange rate (8% in our experience). If Belgium is your only or first stop in Europe, you may want to plan ahead for cash, or prepare for this fee. Credit cards are widely accepted but it is not uncommon for small merchants to say their machine is broken; fees for them are quite high too. Would you like a tour guide? We used and recommend Yael Levi. She showed us the Grande Place, St Michaels Church, Stock Exchange, and Royal Saint Hubert Galleries (including chocolate tasting)

1. Horta Museum

This Horta Museum is a lovely art nouveau example from the turn of the century by major architect and Belgian Victor Horta. It was Horta’s home and studio and contains period furniture. If you see only one Horta building you should see this one.

Other Horta buildings include the Maison Autrique, named for the original inhabitants. The instructions to Horta in planning the home were not to make anything extravagant, and he wanted a toilet on the first floor. Autrique wanted practical. It is very interesting to see what practical means in terms of bourgeois family life, with a premier architect, at the turn of the century. This museum features a kitchen in the basement with period pieces, and a large projector in one of the upstairs rooms. There are other period pieces in each room and generally a nice renovation.

2. Place Royale Bruxelles

This is a square surrounded by excellent museums. When you are done here, it’s a quick walk to one of the outlets of Passion Chocolates. See more information on them on our food page.

The Musee Magritte has the largest collection of Rene Magritte’s work. You’ll see some very typical Magritte works, some from other periods you might not recognize as Magritte’s style, and learn about surrealism.
Musee Fin-de-Siecle, devoted to the 1900’s.
There is also the Musee Oldmasters (15th-18th centuries); a labor art museum; museum of Antoine Weirtz, a Belgian Romantic-era painter; and the Modern Art museum (which was temporarily closed when we visited). When we are back in Brussels visiting the family we will check out these other branches of the Royale Museums collection and update this site.
Very close by is the Royale Palace of Brussels, which houses the BELvue museum and the Coudenberg museum. We got a ticket admission to both but suggest you do otherwise. The BELvue is worth seeing if you need something interactive and would like to learn about the history of Belgium, which is a good thing to do when you visit Belgium! It has a little of everything from furniture and toys to posters and politics. Descriptions of items on display are accessed via iPad screens, and it was a bit tedious to click through to the full description of something. Alternatively, one can carry around a little book given freely at the entrance; it’s in multiple languages. However, this just seems like a lot of paper. We wished the old-fashioned signage of items in a museum was more prevalent here.
The Coudenberg, an archeological exhibit with the excavations of Charles V’s palace, we found underwhelming. Maybe we are jaded, having seen archeological preservations of much greater detail in other countries, but we didn’t find much to look at, and the audio and written descriptions didn’t bring the area to life.

3. Grande Place (Grote Markt) and the Manneken Pis

Pretty much every European city has a central square, typically enclosed by grand old buildings of importance, but our Belgian locals claim that the one is Brussels is the best of them all. The Grande Place (or Grote Markt in Dutch) has some special events, so check online to see if any coincide with your visit. . Within the Grande Place, one side features buildings of the historical guilds. Look closely at each building's facade and try to guess the guild! The Bakers' Guild is the largest (on the right) and the statues atop the building include all the elements needed to make a loaf of bread. There are also Guildhouses for the Archers, Greasers (think grease and Industrial Revolution needs if you wonder why grease gets an important house), Carpenters, Boats, and Haberdashers. The impressive TownHall also has marvelous sculptures on the exterior, explaining judgements, such as the execution of a justice's kin by his own hand (punishment for rape) and the stools which criminals were strapped to before dropped off the side of the building. This Grande Place was the site of commerce, executions, and other business of all sorts.

Behind the Grande Place one block is the former Brussels Stock Exchange. There is a free public toilet in the basement and an historical explanation of Snow White's likely local origin. On the main floor, one can marvel at the beutiful architecture. There is a beer museum and a good view and tasting room on the top floor.

The Manneken Pis is about a 5 min walk from the Grande Place. This is iconic Brussels and Belgian, so you should visit. It’s a fountain of a boy peeing and it’s available to visit anytime by the public without fee. You may even want to visit more than once since his outfit changes several times a week. The outfits are managed by a non-profit organization, and the schedule of what he will be wearing is posted on the little fence surrounding his fountain.

4. Shopping near the Grande Place

The Royal Saint Hubert Galleries are just a 4 minute walk from the Grande Place. It is an historic monument and on the UNESCO tentative list. Built in 1846-47, it is considered the first public covered shopping area and inspired similar arcades in Italy, France, Russia, and Germany. The Galleries are a series of three covered pedestrian shopping streets featuring high-end shopping, an 1847 theater still showing movies, and ORIGINAL and new stores of the best chocolates in Brussels.

Check out our Brussels Chocolate page to find out which are the best shops to buy your chocolate souvenirs.

The surrounding area has popular stores like Flying Tiger, H&M, and similar.

For eating (beyond chocolate) , avoid the restaurants on the Grande Place which are tourist dives. We recommend heading to the Marche Saint-Gery for fish and chips. It's probably the freshest, lightest fish I've ever had as a "fish and chips" and it's served with house-made tartar sauce. It is located inside a food hall with other restaurant choices as well, and is adjacent to a street lined with various Asian restaurants.

5. Cathedral of St. Michael

This 11th century church is a beautiful architectural example. It has an ornate wood pulpit featuring Adam and Eve, and Gothic and Baroque elements. It also has stained glass windows illuminating a well-known local story which entrenched antisemitism throughout the Catholic church in Belgium and beyond. In 1370, a group of Jews were executed for the alleged theft and desecration of the Eucharistic host. The host "bled" and this miracle was celebrated annually (in Brussels and beyond) until very recently in Brussels when it was replaced by a local fair.

The second photo at left shows a common decoration on churches: the (Jewish) origin of Christianity in a female figure blind to the truth of Christianity, and the female figure on the right representing Christianity with the key to salvation.

In 2026, a plaque was added to the church wall with an apology of sorts for the Church's promotion of antisemitism.

6. The View

This giant ferris wheel is such a touristy thing to do, and we did it. And we had fun. I convinced Dan because 1) it was way cheaper than ferris wheel rides are in the States and 2) it was raining so our little car provided protection while 3) affording a nice view of the city despite the rain.

7 Market Day

The Marche Meudon (Wednesdays from 3pm) is a great farmer’s market in a tawny neighborhood of Brussels and near one of the best (the best?) bread/patisserie shop around, de Baere. [Av. Heydenberg 20, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium. Closed Monday and Tuesday]. You’ll also find the best waffles here. If you are coming just for the market, your biggest issue is de Baere may run out of their most popular items before the market starts at 3. (Their website has a feature where you can order the day before for pick up the next day.) At de Baere we recommend everything, but especially the craquelin–let’s just call it crack. This is a rich yeast dough with sugar crystals added on top. When the market starts you will have to wait in line for your waffles at La Galette Artisanale, but it is worth it. Order a dozen.