Dec

28

Brussels Travel Guide

December 28, 2007 |

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A trip to Brussels
With wonderful sights, good beer and yummy chocolate, it is difficult to resist what Brussels has on offer. Leaving Brussels International Airport tourists soon discover a charming city, oozing cosmopolitan vibes and remarkable architecture. Food connoisseurs will pleased to learn that the city apparently the most restaurants in the world per capita, and the city’s market squares are bustling with a wide range of local food and goods.

Flights to Brussels
You can arrive at either Brussels International Airport or Charleroi Brussels South Airport. The latter serves only a limited number of flights. Both airports offer convenient connections to the city centre by taxi and bus. Those coming from London, Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne can hop on the Eurostar to Brussels.

Brussels is quite small and is ideal for exploration on foot. However, you can always opt to take a bus, with routes operating throughout the city. Taxis can be flagged down on the street but tend to be on the pricey side.

Sightseeing in Brussels
Consisting of two areas known as the Lower and Upper towns, Brussels boasts a fantastic balance of impressive architecture, hardcore shopping venues and hip cafés. The Lower Town is home to the beautiful Grand Palace and an outstanding statue of St Michel. Around the town are many lovely sidewalk cafés which are great for people watching. Don’t forget to check out the renowned Manneken Pis on the corner of Stoofstraat and rue de L’Etuve and be amazed at how small the statue actually is. The Upper Town is ideal for those into upmarket shopping. There are, however, some cultural attractions including the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and the magnificent Belgian Parliament Building.

Fun by night – eating, drinking and partying
Don’t be surprised if you feel a bit giddy after a meal as many of Brussels’ notable dishes are beer-based. Try lapin à la gueuze (rabbit cooked in beer) and Flemish carbonades or non-alcohol dishes like stoemp (meats cooked in a potato, carrot and onion sauce). Mouthwatering Belgian chocolate makes an irresistible dessert, as do Belgian waffles.

It’s all about beer in Belgium. All bars, pubs and clubs serve local beer, some developed by Trappist monks in centuries past. Many clubs are open until early morning, while Art Nouveau cafés are famous among locals, offering an extensive list of yummy cocktails.

Fun by day - shopping and activities
Shopping is a blissful experience in Brussels as there are countless boutiques and shops dotting the city’s wide boulevards. For more serious shopping, avenue Louise and avenue de la Toison d’Or guarantee to please all fashion-aficionados with their designer apparel. Local markets are aplenty in Brussels, featuring flowers and antique goodies, while bird markets are interesting for their variety of colourful feathered creatures. Once in Brussels, you can buy a mammoth amount of chocolate to bring home or to gobble down on the trip. You can even get a chocolate in a shape of the famous Manneken Pis for your friends back home.


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