Discover Brussels

First impressions of Brussels

Brussels is one of those cities that reveals itself slowly. Start at the Grand Place, where ornate guildhouses and the Gothic Town Hall enclose what Victor Hugo called the most beautiful square in the world — doubly so when the biennial Flower Carpet covers it in over half a million begonias. From there it's a short walk to the iconic Manneken Pis (often dressed in seasonal costumes — he has a wardrobe of more than 1,000), the Royal Palace, and the comic-strip murals scattered through the old town pointing toward Belgium's claim on the medium (Tintin, Lucky Luke, the Smurfs). The Atomium, built for the 1958 World Expo, still towers 102 metres above the Heysel district. Beyond the postcard, Brussels works as the de facto capital of the EU, with the European Parliament and Parlamentarium telling the post-war story, and a food scene that takes its waffles, frites, mussels, chocolate (try Pierre Marcolini or Mary), and Trappist beer (Cantillon's lambic brewery still runs old-school) very seriously.