I found myself returning to Brussels four times now, beating any other European cities I had visited. It wasn’t out of sweet desire for Belgian chocolate, creamy mussels or seeing European Union at work. Rather, all the visits were due to severals low-cost airlines’ executive decisions made in secret boardrooms to choose Brussels as one of main flight hubs for Europe. Planning my routes to navigate to all European countries became a little easier. If I couldn’t find any direct flight from Prague to my destinations, I simply changed my departure to Brussels.
Brussels isn’t a must-see on tourists and travelers’ lists unless like me they happen to be there to catch other flights or wait for their trains. On my first two involuntary visits, I explored the city out of obligation, “I’m here thus I must.” Over time, the city slowly grew on me. Below are some of the things you can do while in Brussels.
- Half a day to sample major highlights of Brussels, most in or surrounding Grand Place/Grote Markt.
- Take a picture in front of the Manneken Pis aka the peeing little boy.
- To please the feminist movement back home, you should also pay a visit to the boy’s rival, Jeanneken Pis, the peeing girl, hidden in a dead end street, Impasse de la Fidelite, right by the lobster paradise on Rue des Bouchers / Beenhouwersstraat (Butchers’ Street).
- Now that you’re here, stroll down the alley packed with restaurants displaying red-hot lobster, fatty fish and water-dripping fresh mussels.
- Eat Frites (Belgian fries), said to be the best fries in the world.
- Choose and snack from many different kinds of Belgian waffles.
- Remember to try snails from sold from a snack stand. (summer only)
- Sample Belgian chocolates and buy a couple of boxes as gifts for friends and family back home.
- Bargain for oddities at the flea market @ Place du Jeu de Balle-Vossenplein
- Buy frozen mussels pack from any supermarket and cook it if you stay at a place with kitchen or return on a short flight.
- Full day to get to know Brussels a bit more. You will do all of the above, except you do it more slowly and soak in the spirit of Brussels. Plus a visit to some museums. In the evening, sample local pubs to try Belgium’s hundreds of beer. Visit French-speaking and Dutch-speaking only pubs to have an understanding of the bilingual nature of the city. My Couchsurfing host took me to this oldest French pub in Brussels and then later to a Flemish pub where Dutch-speaking artists hang out. It was very interesting.
- 2 hours to walk the comic route. (You should be able to get this map from a tourist office or at your accommodation. Or ask a local to highlight this route on a regular tourist map.)
- 4 hours + to walk the comic route and visit the Comic Strip center.
– 2 hours to walk around the EU headquarter. This area is far from the city center Plus 3 more hours if plan to visit Mini Europe which displays a range of small models of major European cities and landmarks.
– 4 hours to explore different ethnic neighborhoods of Brussels:
- Moroccan neighborhood @ Molenbeek-St-Jean or Sint-Jans-Molenbeek especially if you live in the Generation Youth Hostel, a couple of blocks away. There are many cheap Moroccan and Arabic restaurants and many clothing and shoes stores.
- African neighborhood @ Chaussée d’Ixelles/Elsenesteenweg, south of Brussels with colorful clothing shops, women braiding hairs, men socializing in barber shop. (Some online travel guides say that these areas are not safe, do keep it in mind)
- 5 hours for a quick trip to the famous battle site of Waterloo, only 15 km away from Brussels.
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My name is Cindy, also rhymes with travel junkie. A friend said I was probably a gipsy in my previous life. One of my many secret missions in life is to convert you to run off every once in awhile.
