Brussels: top attractions & road trip guide
Brussels is Belgium's capital and the de facto capital of the European Union, a bilingual city where French and Dutch share every street sign. It blends Art Nouveau townhouses, Gothic guildhalls, and the glass towers of the EU quarter, and is famous for its beer culture, chocolate shops, and comic-strip murals scattered across the old town.
Road trippers usually treat Brussels as the hub of a Belgian loop, with Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp each under an hour and a half away. The historic centre around the Grand Place is pedestrianised, so cars are best left at a peripheral car park or hotel garage and the compact core explored on foot.
Top attractions
Grand Place
A UNESCO-listed square ringed by ornate guildhalls, the Gothic town hall, and the Maison du Roi, considered one of Europe's most beautiful market squares.
Manneken Pis
A small 17th-century bronze fountain of a urinating boy, one of Brussels' best-known symbols and a favourite spot for photos just off the Grand Place.
Atomium
A 102-metre steel structure built for the 1958 World's Fair, representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, with an observation deck and exhibitions inside its spheres.
Belgian Comic Strip Center
A museum housed in a former Art Nouveau department store designed by Victor Horta, dedicated to Belgian comic art including Tintin and the Smurfs.
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
A museum complex holding works by Bruegel, Rubens, and Magritte, spanning old masters to modern art across several linked galleries in the upper town.
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