Luxury hotels in Brussels

Brussels guide

Brussels: the Grand-Place and its chocolate

Europe's most beautiful square, art nouveau houses, Magritte, and Bruges an hour away.

The Grand-Place, ringed by ornate guildhalls and the Gothic Town Hall, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most cited sight in Brussels; every two years in August it is covered by a carpet of flowers. Visit it at night, when the façades are lit.

The Magritte Museum, the art nouveau houses of Victor Horta, also UNESCO-listed, and the Atomium show other sides of the city, and the chocolatiers of the Sablon are a pleasure. Bruges and Ghent are each about an hour away by train.

Bruges and Ghent

Bruges, whose medieval centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the most cited day trip from Brussels: canals best seen by boat, the Belfry and the Markt, and the Groeninge Museum with Flemish primitives. It is about an hour by train and calmest in the early morning or evening.

Ghent, half an hour from Brussels, is livelier and less crowded, with the Gravensteen castle and St Bavo's Cathedral, home to the Van Eyck brothers' Ghent Altarpiece, one of the masterpieces of European painting.

Art nouveau Brussels and Victor Horta

Brussels is one of the capitals of art nouveau, and the Horta Museum, the architect's own house and studio in Saint-Gilles, is part of a UNESCO site and one of the city's most cited visits. Its staircase, ironwork and stained glass show the style at its best; entries are limited, so booking helps.

The Musical Instruments Museum occupies the Old England department store, a masterpiece of the style, and a walk through Ixelles and Saint-Gilles reveals dozens of decorated façades. The Comics Art Museum, in a Horta building, celebrates Belgian comics.