Earlier this year, I was finally able to do a little bit of travel and ticked Brussels off of my list of places to visit. I visited the city twice. My first visit was in the middle of February, right before Valentine's Day. My second visit was in April. Both visits were over a "long weekend" to make the most out of my time off. This post and photographs gives you a quick guide to some of the attractions, museums, galleries, and food that the city has to offer.

I arrived in Brussels on the Eurostar, which is a really quick way to get to the city. I went Businss Premier (basically first class) on my first visit and Standard Premier on my second. Both options included a meal, although the meal was better in Business Premier and included alcohol. You can read more about my expeirence travelling in Businss Premier here: Eurostar Business Premier to Brussels. 

I stayed centrally at Amigo Hotel in Brussels, which was a perfect location next to the main square and other attractions. Hotel Amigo was the perfect base for me, and you can read more information here: Hotel Amigo in Brussels.

The central square is probably the most famous and busiest place in Brussels. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and this is where the city was governed. The two main buildings with the towers are the city museum and former town hall, and both of these are open to the public for tours. More information is discussed futher. The dark building below is the city museum. 

On the left of this are guildhall buildings, which are highly-detailed with gold plating. 

Opposite the city museum is the former town hall, which has retained its beautiful rooms for visitors to view in tour. The administration offices moved into a new building now. I will cover more on this museum later on.

The square has attractive buildings all around, and these function as restaurants and bars and shops.

As I was staying just behind the square, I often got to see it at dark. In February, when there were less people around and darkness came earlier, I managed to get some nice photographs of the square.

Also on the square is a statue in bronze of Everard t'Serclaes. Touching the arm of the statue is meant to make you return to Brussels. A lot of tourists were touching it. 

I enjoyed seeing some of the details on the historical buildings.

Another one of the famous attractions in Brussels is Manneken-Pis, a statue of a little boy urinating into a fountain. There's also a girl and dog urinating in other places in Brussels. Manneken-Pis has his own wardrobe of outfits, and I caught a few of these during my visits. The below posts are about Manneken Pis.

• Meet Manneken Pis - Outfits
• Peeing Statues of Brussels

Another one of the icons of Brussels is the Atomium, which was built for the World Fair of 1958 and can be visited. There's also a restaurant in the top. See my Visit to the Atomium and restaurant. I wanted to go back to have a meal in the restaurant on my second visit, but it was very busy in April.

Mini Europe is next to Atomium and is a huge model village of all of the European countries, show-casing some of the most famous or iconic buildings per country. The attraction shuts over the winter months, so I visited it in April. You can read my post about it here: Mini Europe.

A lot of the time that I was in Brussels, I walked around and did some shopping. The city is a decent size without feeling too large, and I was able to walk around without any issue. The subway or trains are needed to visit some attractions that are further away from the city centre, such as Atomium. I enjoyed seeing the city at dark and during the day. 

Street of Butchers is one of the most picturesque streets.

There are many bars all around Brussels.

For shopping, the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert is a covered area of shops. The shops range from designer goods, art, jewellery, books, to chocolate and cafes.

Another large building in Brussels is the Royal Stock Exchange.

Opposite is Auguste Orts Monument, which appears to be a memorial to celebrate a university professor.

Opposite Saint Nicolas church, which is also not far away, is an attractive small sculpture of blind men "The Blind Leading the Blind" inspired by the work of artist Bruegel.

There are interesting views and artwork everywhere I looked. 

Belgium is also famous for comics and "The Smurfs", so I saw this sculpture.

Below is a sculpture of artist Charles Buls.

The architecture also had quirky sculptures and details.

I also went south of the main part of the city where it is an artistic area, and I discovered a second hand market.

Brussels also has a lot of little green places. Parc de Brussels is one of them, and it has views over to the royal palace and Art Mountain.

A walk further past Brussels Park is Parc Cinquantenaire, where the auto museum is located. However, just before approaching that park are the European Union buildings and headquarters. It is a long stretch of road.

The palace is pictured below, and it is locatd opposite Art Mountain where the galleries are located.

Square of Petit Sablon and the Church opposite are not far from Art Mountain and a picturesque and quiet place.

In April, I visited the botanical gardens north of the city, and this little pond was filled with tortoises. The tulips were mainly over except for one variety.

Th below statue honors a boy who saved a little girl from drowning. The little pond has the yellow iris flowers, which are native to Belgium in the wild and a symbol of the country.

The building itself no longer serves as a botanical garden, and I believe events and concerts are hosted there today.

I also had a walk through Parc de Laeken.

Brussels has a lot of street art to see. Some of the street art is officially part of the Comic Trail in Brussels, and other street art has been placed up unofficially too. As there was so much street art around the city and artists that I recognised from London, I created several posts dedicated to the street art and the Comic Book art trail across the city.

• Street Art in Brussels
• Pavement Project
• Street Art from Above in Brussels
• Jef Aerosol and Radical Playground Street Art in Brussels
• Phelgm 2019 Street Art in Brussels
• MifaMosa and Invader Street Art in Brussels
• Brussels Comic Book Street Art
• Jaune Stencil Street Art
• Isaac Cordal in Brussels
• C215 in Brussels
• Phelgm on Art Mountain

Next up, I will go into the museums that Brussels has to offer. Brussels Art Mountain contains the art galleries, which I covered here: Brussels Art Mountain and Art Galleries.

I also visited the automobile museum, and there was a special event going on with a Volkswagen car day. I enjoyed seeing the cars and visiting the museum, which has so much information. My posts can be clicked on to read more about my visit: AutoWorld Museum and Love Bugs Parade Around Autoworld Brussels

One unusual museum is the Garderobe Museum for the statue of Manneken Pis. The museum is free to visit with entry to the city museum, so do not miss it. The museum is located not far from the Manneken Pis statue. To read more, see Manneken Pis Garderobe Museum.

I already discussed the famous UNESCO square and the two museums here. I went to the town hall, which was where the government and administration controlled the city. Visits are by guided tour only, and there are two tours. Both tours cover different rooms. The standard tour visits all of the rooms except for a couple, and visitors also get to go out onto the balcony and climb to the top of the tower for views. The standard tour did cover more rooms. Both were good, but I would have liked a combined tour. For more information and photographs, see my post: Brussels Town Hall Pararomic and Standard Tours

I also visited the Brussels City Museum, which has many exhibitions about the city and its history, including the fire and the old city and parks, and also some information on Manneken Pis. More information can be seen here: Brussels City Museum.

Another museum that I visited was the Design Museum, which is located near to the Atomium, and entry was free. See more information in my post here: Design Museum in Brussels

The Brussels Chocolat Museum includes information about the history of chocolate, Belgium's contributions to the chocolate industry, environmental and social factors of chocolate, and it finished with a demonstration of chocolates and tasting of chocolate. I included more information in my post here: Brussels Chocolate Museum.

Earlier, I mentioned some of the artwork I discovered. The below posts include some temporary sculptures or art around the city. Jean-Michel Folon Sculptures in Brussels were on display in April, and I caught the "Le Chat" sculptures from a comic strip in February: "Le Chat" Walks Brussels Sculpture Trail. I also discovered the Brussels Statue of Madame Chapeau statue, and I already covered the famous urinating sculptures in Brussels.

Brussels has a lot of options when it comes to food and drink. Belgium is known for its beer, chocolates, waffles, but there's a lot more to the city. My first visit to Brussels was a couple of days before Valentine's Day, so I sampled the chocolates, of course. I covered this in a lot of detail in my post Visiting Brussels For Valentine's Day.

I also discovered some delicious cookies, called Laura Todd Cookies. I enjoyed Cup Pasta when I wanted a light bite to eat for lunch. Another Italian restaurant that I found very good was Pasta Divina. Restaurant Mozart is a Belgian restaurant, and it was ok. There was a lot of food.

Noodle Bar was just down from the hotel, and I enjoyed a light snack from here. There are a lot of restaurants on this street.

I enjoyed Wolf, which is a street food area jut north of the main centre. There is every cuisine in this area. I visited it in February, and I tried the Indian. It is made different from the English version and is catering more to Belgians. On another visit, I had the cookie from the dessert place. This place was so busy when I visited it again in April, but in February, it was quiet.

On my April visit, I saw queues for the fries and everyone seemed to be enjoying fries. I decided to try some too, and I queued for at least fourty-five minutes. Unforunately, they went straight into the bin as they are cooked in beef. (I don't eat beef, and I was not warned in advance.) The next morning at breakfast, I met an American couple, and they were vegan and vegetarian, and I informed them of this. 

I also discovered an excellent bakery Aux Merveilleux de Fred. I tried a few items, and the food was always good. The thin waffles were delicious.

The best thick waffles go to The House of the Waffle - Le Roi de la Gaufre. They sell simple syrup ones, and you can also get them with different toppings.

Near the very good bakery, I discovered a Mediterranian patisserie. I was much too full, but I told myself to leave some room on my next visit. 

Another famous and well-loved place is Maison Dandoy. This is a biscuit shop, and it is also a cafe. I tried some of the different biscuits, and these are all for hot drinks. 

Next up are the drinks. I did not have too much to drink on my visits. I stopped at Cherry Bar to have a cocktail. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to return for another one, but there was a new member of staff, and they were out of ingredients for cocktails, and they made me something that was not good at all. 

The other place that I visited was called Sneakers, and this bar had rows of new shoes along the walls. I tried two different cocktails from their list.

Further afield, I visited Beersel Castle, which is a moated castle that is in a semi-ruined state. For more information and photographs of the castle, see my post here: Beersel Castle

I enjoyed my visits to Brussels, and I hope that this helps decide what is worth visiting.