Bienvenue en Belgique!
"Historic yet hip, bureaucratic yet bizarre, self-confident yet unshowy, Brussels is multicultural to its roots." (Lonely Planet)
Aside from being Jerome's hometown, Brussels is home to the European Commission and is dubbed as the capital of Europe. Its architecture swings from majestic to eccentric to rundown and back again. Its art scene is never pretentious with the right amount of quirk. And the beer, oh the beer, it's probably the best in the world (sorry Germany).
We prepared a map that will help you navigate around Brussels. This includes our recommended tourist spots, bars for night outs, and food destinations.
Amusez-vous bien à Bruxelles!
By Plane
There are many direct flights and connecting flights that will reach Brussels Airport from all over the world. Major hubs that connect to Brussels are London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. From there, it is only about 1 hour to reach Brussels by air.
A small number of budget airlines also have international flights from Central Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean which make air travel more affordable from those departure points.
By Train
Brussels is easily accessible by train. Domestic trains are nationally operated by SNCB and run through three main train stations in Brussels (Bruxelles-Nord, Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Midi). It will take you to all the major cities in Belgium.
For international travel there are high-speed trains operated by Eurostar and Thalys that depart from the TGV platform at Bruxelles-Midi station to a variety of destinations across Europe including Paris (1 hour 30 minutes), Amsterdam, and London (both around 2 hours).
Fancy a night out or a taste of the famous Belgian beers? Here are some of our recommended spots for drinks around Brussels:
Cafe Belga - cafe-bar, in the art deco Flagey center, with outdoor seating & guest DJs playing music until late.
Halles Saint-Géry - late-19th-century covered market halls that now house a heritage exhibition center and bar at night.
Chez Maman - one of the established gay bars in the city with fabulous drag queens performing and singing on the bar counter (shows on Fridays and Saturdays).
For more recommendations, please use the map we have prepared for everyone.
Best known for moules frites, waffles, and chocolates but look beneath the surface and experience the vibrant food scene of Brussels. Here are our top recommendations for food and wine:
Aux Armes de Bruxelles - Elegant restaurant opened in 1921, with leaded windows, serving Brussels cuisine, including mussels.
Rouge Tomate - Contemporary cuisine in a 19th-century townhouse with chic bar & dining rooms, plus garden terrace.
Comme Chez Soi - Comme Chez Soi stands out for its exceptional food, art nouveau design, cozy ambiance, and unmatched service. Every morsel transports you to foodie heaven; a tour of the kitchen post the meal is quite interesting.
Marcella Pizzeria - A few minutes away from JAM Hotel, Marcella sits right in front of Eglise de la Sainte-Trinité and surrounded by the coolest pubs in the city. This pizzeria prides itself for serving Napoli-inspired pizzas that melts before you even eat it.
Wolf - A new 3,000m² food market with 17 restaurants, an organic supermarket, on-site microbrewery and bean to bar chocolate-maker.
For more options, head to the map and see what else we recommend.
Despite being one of Belgium's oldest cities, Ghent (Gand in French / Gent in Dutch) remains small enough to feel cosy but big enough to be a vibrant, relevant centre for trade and culture. There's a wealth of medieval and classical architecture here, contrasted by large post-industrial areas undergoing urban renewal that give Ghent a gritty-but-good industrial feel.
In the centre, tourists remain surprisingly thin on the ground, but Ghent's large student and youth population means there's always people about, enjoying the city's fabulous canal-side architecture, abundance of quirky bars and good-value restaurants, and some of Belgium’s best museums.
Distance from Brussels: 60KM
If you set out to design a fairy-tale medieval town, it would be hard to improve on central Bruges (Brugge in Dutch), one of Europe's best preserved cities. Picturesque cobbled lanes and dreamy canals link photogenic market squares lined with soaring towers, historical churches and lane after lane of old whitewashed almshouses.
Distance from Brussels: 100KM
Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers in Dutch/French) is Belgium’s second city, biggest port and capital of cool. It has long been a powerful magnet for everyone from fashion moguls and club queens to art lovers and diamond dealers. In the mid-16th century it was one of Europe’s most important cities and home to baroque superstar painter Pieter Paul Rubens – as many a museum will regularly remind you. Despite many historical travails thereafter, and severe WWII bombing, Antwerp retains an intriguing medieval heart with plenty of café-filled cobbled lanes, a riverside fortress and a truly impressive cathedral. Today, however, Antwerp’s top drawcards are its vibrant fashion and entertainment scene, along with its startling architectural and cultural contrasts.
Distance from Brussels: 45KM