useful links - Flights Schedule - Airlines - World Guide - Maps - Weather - Currency Conv-r - Partners - Site Map - Contact Us

destinations - Mediterranean - Europe - USA& Canada - Caribbean - South-East Asia - Asia Pacific

   Review: Brussels, Belgium

Build Your Trip To Brussels!     The European Parliament has found its ideal home in Brussels (Bruxelles in French, Brussel in Flemish). The capital city of Belgium, bordered by The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, it is a multi-cultural and multi-lingual city at the very heart of Europe. The first visit to Brussels, uncoloured by expectations, is all the more rewarding Grand-Palace: A web of narrow cobbled streets suddenly opens out into the vast Grand-Place – the economic and social heart of Brussels, since the Middle Ages. The array of filigree Gothic buildings is dominated by the asymmetrical Hôtel de Ville, built in the 15th century. Its 96m (315ft) spire is topped with a gilded copper statue of St Michael. Opposite the Town Hall and almost as grand is the Maison du Roi, commissioned in 1515 and faithfully rebuilt in the 1890s. Sometime pied-à-terre of the Hapsburg monarchy, the building now hosts the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles and its small collection includes tapestries and altarpieces, as well as the costumes worn by the Manneken-Pis. A series of lavish Guildhouses complete the rectangle of the square – number ten still houses the guild of brewers, Maison de l’Arbre d’Or. Events, displays and markets are often held in the Grand-Place. Grand-Place Transport: Métro Bourse. Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles Tel: (02) 279 4355. Fax: (02): 279 4362. Opening hours: Tues-Fri 1000-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1300. Admission: €2.48. Manneken-Pis: The Rue de l’Etuve leads from the grandeur of Grand-Place to this allegory of irreverence and symbol of Bruxellois self-mockery – a bronze statuette of a urinating boy. If it were not for the occupation of the young child, the sculpture might resemble an angelic putto, such as the ones decorating the façade of the nearby Bourse (Stock Exchange), said to have been sculpted by Rodin. Jérôme Duquesnoy cast Manneken-Pis in the 1660s, perhaps as a reference to the peasant lads of legend, who extinguished fires with their urine. Manneken-Pis is kitted out regularly in a choice of some 500 outfits supplied by foreign countries, companies and charities wishing to flaunt their name or brand. Rue de l’Etuve Transport: Métro Bourse. Nightlife: Brussels’ location at the heart of Europe encourages top artists and budding stars to tour here. However, the city has a thriving homegrown scene of its own. Jazz has been strong since the 1920s and there is year-round live jazz in a cluster of venues, climaxing in the annual Brussels Jazz Festival. The club scene is relatively new, drawing the crowds after much lingering in the city’s many bars and Irish pubs that overflow with expatriates. The legal drinking age in Belgium is 15 years and the price of a beer is around €;2. Aside from the tacky discos for tourists, there is the big-name-DJ-drawing Fuse. The best send out their sounds into the night, around Place de St-Géry, Manneken-Pis and in the Marolles district. Clubs open at 2300, heat up at midnight and survive until about 0600. Being foreign and dressed in tune with the club’s image helps the admission process along considerably. Entrance is sometimes free but will more likely cost about €;7. The Fnac, in the City 2 complex on Rue Neuve, is the best place for club tickets, although the Tourist Office on Grand-Place may also be of help. Perhaps the highlight of the clubbing year is the Klinkende Munt outdoor music festival, held every July in Brussels at the Place de la Monnaie, Petit-Chateau and the Beursschouwburg. Listings and information on nightlife events in Brussels can be found online (website: www.funinbrussels.com/midnight/discotheque.htm or www.noctis.com). Shopping: Brussels’ classic souvenir is chocolate. Fresh creamy pralines are for sale at Wittamer, Place du Grand-Sablon, who have had almost a century to perfect their recipes. Other names to look out for is the top-quality Neuhaus, Grand-Place 27 and Galerie de la Reine 25-27, and Godiva, also located in the Grand-Place. Cheaper chocolates are available from the popular Léonidas chain, Boulevard Anspach 46. Belgian biscuits are also a gift guaranteed to bring a guilty smile to the receiver. Dandoy, Rue au Beurre 31, produce melt-in-your-mouth macaroons and the Brussels speciality speculoos – a gingerbread biscuit with a crunch. Beer is best bought at Bière Artisanale, Chaussée de Wavre 174 (website: www.users.skynet.be/beermania), which stocks over 400 types of beer and glasses to suit. Designer clothes are clustered around the smart Avenue Louise and Avenue de la Toison d’Or. Key shopping stops on Avenue Louise include Belgian designers at Shine’s new flagship store, located at 82-84 Avenue Louise – fantastic for stunning silk dresses and floaty, Chinese-inspired creations – and more down-to-earth daywear in muted tones at Caroline Biss, 21 Avenue Louise. Established and up-and-coming Belgian designers – such as Olivier Strelli, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten and Carine Lauwers – line the fashionable Rue Antoine Dansaert. Innovative Stijl has more avant-garde Belgian designer clothes, by designers such as Xavier Delcour and Olivier Theyskens, at number 74, underwear at number 47 and children’s clothes at Kat en Muis, number 32. Children’s and adults’ tastes alike are met at Brussels’ many comic book shops. Among these is centrally located La Boutique Tintin, Rue de la Colline 13. Brussels lace – on show at the Lace Museum, Rue de la Violette 6 – is for sale at F Rubbrecht, Grand-Place 23, or at the city’s largest lace maker, Manufacture Belge de Dentelle, Galerie de la Reine 6-8. Most of the souvenir lace shops around Grand-Place are less authentic. Every day is market day in the different parts of Brussels. Among the best ot these is the flower market, open Tuesday-Sunday 0800-1800, at Grand-Place, also the site of Sunday morning’s bird market. Antiques are sold at the market on Place du Grand-Sablon, Saturday 0900-1800 and Sunday 0900-1300, while the flea market at Place du Jeu de Balle, in the Marolles district, is open daily 0700-1300, at its best on weekend mornings. A more high street experience, however, is at hand at City 2 shopping mall, in the shop-studded Rue Neuve, where shops stay open on Fridays until 2000. Standard shopping hours are 1000-1800/1900 but the Grand-Place area stays open until about 2000. Sales tax is 21% and can be refunded by non-EU members from any of the shops affiliated to Global Refund Belgium (tel: (02) 479 9461). Participating shops will issue a global refund cheque that should be stamped at customs and then cashed upon leaving the country

  Build Your Trip To Brussels:

 Or Learn What Other People Say About Brussels: