Brussels

Lined with big names, specialised boutiques, cafés and a theatre, the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert also has the distinction of being the first covered shopping arcade in Europe.

Today, it is the chic place to go to for beautiful antiques (antique market every Saturday and Sunday on the Sablon square), art galleries as well as the finest chocolate and pastries in town.

and edgy European fashion boutiques of leading designer houses. Just take a walk along the Rue Antoine Dansaert and the surrounding area to discover the hub where Brussels’ trendy people like to pass their time.

At walking distance from many worth-to-visit areas, Boulevard de Waterloo is a wide avenue lined with international designer labels, from Gucci to Prada, from Chanel to Dior. If you are looking for high-end fashion.

cosy bars, flower shops and exquisite restaurants. There is an outdoor market every Wednesday afternoon in the middle of the Place du Châtelain. While Sablon offers a great experience for art enthusiasts, Châtelain does the same for food lovers. Definitely worth a visit!

At the dawn of the 21st century, the liner is already starting a new life. Fully restored and renovated, the building houses concert halls and studios, including the famous Studio 4 and its unique acoustic. Flagey is the place for musical and visual creation, a space of communication, dialogue and encounters, a house open to the world.

This museum stands right in the centre of Brussels, on Place Royale, and exhibits for public viewing the surrealist artist's creations belonging to Belgium's Royal Museums of Fine Arts and originating mainly from purchases and from the Irène Hamoir-Scutenaire and Georgette Magritte bequests. This multidisciplinary collection is the richest in the world. It comprises more than 200 works consisting of oils on canvas, gouaches, drawings, sculptures and painted objects as well as advertising posters, music scores, vintage photographs and films directed by Magritte himself.

A full renovation of the interior restored the original appearance of the building, as originally designed by the master, Horta. Visits are organised ("From Horta to Horta") to allow people to rediscover parts of the building previously off limits to the general public

Built for the 1958 World Exhibition, the Atomium is shaped on the model of an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times. Beyond surreal walks through tubes and spheres, the Atomium houses a permanent exhibition about its history as well temporary exhibitions for a broad public (sciences, design, society).

The upper sphere offers unique and spectacular views across the city skyline.

At night, 2970 lights offer a fairy dimension to the 102m high building. The panoramic restaurant is daily open until 11pm.

Atomium: sphere named after François Englert

After having named the event sphere Ilya Prigogine as a tribute to the Belgian Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry 36 years ago, the Atomium has now decided to honour the new Belgian Nobel Prize Winner in Physics and name the lowest sphere, the first above the entrance, after physician and university professor François Englert.

Make sure to visit the Art & Design Atomium Museum, right next to building, dedicated to design and art from the XXth century until today.

More information on: www.atomium.be

This is European politics as you have never seen it before! Children and adults alike can see how decisions are made and how they influence our daily lives in a completely fresh and dynamic way.

The Parlamentarium’s attractions include:

a vast 3D lighting installation representing a shifting map of Europe

a 360° surround-screen digital projection of the hemicycle (parliamentary chamber) an interactive virtual trip through Europe to discover each Member State

a video wall with messages from Members of the European Parliament

The centre is accessible in 23 languages admission is free and it is fully accessible to visitors with special needs. After your visit you can also browse around the gift shop and refuel with a snack or a drink at the centre’s cafeteria.

A tunnel leads you between the North and South Pole: a view of two different worlds. Our Whale Hall not only contains majestic whales, but also dolphins, walruses, sirenians, seals... A part of the hall is devoted to the whales' role in the economy and their sacrifices to it. Apart from a magnificent collection of shells, the Shell Gallery houses a tropical aquarium and a complete survey of the lower classes of invertebrates. The nearby North Sea Discovery Room takes you on an interactive tour around beach and sea life at the Belgian coast. Insects represent about 80 % of all known animal species, so they can easily fill a whole gallery!

The Insect Gallery shows the fascinating life of insects, spiders, crustaceans and other arthropods. After your visit, you'll know everything about the critters you're about to meet alive and well in the Vivarium.The Mineral Gallery has crystals, cut gems, meteorites and precious bits of moon rock. You learn about the qualities that make each mineral unique.Ready to enjoy some city life? Greet the inhabitants of your neighbourhood in "Animal Pal". Small children will have the safari of their lifetime! The latest arrival, the Evolution Gallery, invites you on a journey through the history of living things, a unique and fascinating story, through the meanderings of evolution, an ode to life, its richness and complexity. Really? The giraffe is a cousin of lettuce? The elephant a distant relative of the microbe?

The bulk of this collection consists of the painting of the former Southern Netherlands, with masterpieces by Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus Christus, Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling, Hieronymus Bosch, Lucas Cranach and Gerard David.

For the sixteenth century, Pieter Bruegel the Elder is magnificently represented with major works like The Fall of the Rebel Angels or The Census at Bethlehem. Finally, for the 17th and 18th centuries the Flemish School is represented by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Jacques Jordaens, the French and Italian schools by Simon Vouet, Philippe de Champaigne, Le Lorrain, Jusepe de Ribera, Giovani BattistaTiepolo and others ...

History of the collection

The collection originated during the French Revolution, when many works of art were seized by the occupant, especially from religious institutions.

The Museum was founded in 1801 by Napoleon Bonaparte, but it was in 1830, with Belgian independence, that it really became a major institution. In 1913, de Grez donation enriched the collection with more than 4,000 works on paper dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries (Hendrick Goltzius, Jacques de Gheyn the Younger, Rembrandt, ...).

In no time this impressive museum became one of the main attractions of Brussels. Every year more than 200.000 visitors come here to explore 4.200 m² of permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Permanent exhibitions

The Invention of Comic Strip

How did the comic strip begin, and how is it defined? This exhibition takes you on a journey in enormous strides through the history of the world and its civilisations.

The Art of Comic Strip

This exposition proposes to explore the comic strip in all its forms, from the creative process to the range of genres that constitute the European comic strip today.

Horta and the Waucquez Warehouse

This exhibition tells the story of a shop the like of which is no longer seen. Now over 100 years old, this is the only semi-industrial building designed by Victor Horta still in existence today. And what an existence it has had!

The Hergé Area

This new area, articulated around the façade of Marlinspike Hall, will enable visitors to appreciate the creative journey made by Hergé. Not only has he culminated in the glory of the adventures of Tintin, but he was also a comic strip artist long before creating Tintin and carried on his illustrator career.

The Peyo Exhibition

The new permanent BCSC exhibition, host to a plethora of little-known information and documents on this comic strip giant, complete with a highly realistic 3D Smurf village, will be a delight to children as they will be able to enter a Smurf house and play and have fun with their favourite friends.

Pieter De Poortere Auditorium

For many years now, Dickie has been a favourite with magazines, which regularly publish his gags on a caption-free page drawn by his creator, Pieter De Poortere. The character was subsequently adopted by the screen, and short cartoons of his adventures can now be viewed at the Belgian Comic Strip Museum.

Open every day from 10 am to 6 pm.

You'll see: a section weapons and armours from the Middle Ages, a beautiful collection about Napoleon and the French Empire, the Belgian army from 1831 to 1914 with display cases devoted to King Leopold I and Leopold II, the development of weapon technology (up till the mid-twentieth century), the First and Second World Wars (uniforms, equipment, photos and documents), armoured vehicles and warships.

The museum's "Air" section includes a complete range of aircrafts, around 80 of which are on display. Don't miss our educational games for all ages. The documentation centres are open to the public. Spectacular panorama overlooking the city from the arcade. Temporary exhibitions about varied subjects.

Brussels laid the foundation stone of the magnificent Gothic edifice in the spring of 1402. In 1695, when the city was bombarded by Marshal de Villeroy, the Town Hall was destroyed by fire. Its reception rooms and aldermen's offices contain fine Brussels tapestries from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, sumptuous Gothic wooden panelling,the insignia of ancient guilds and paintings from the collections at the Town Hall Museum.

The Town Hall now also offers self-guided tours with visioguides, providing visitors with an immersive experience through 23 stages retracing nearly six centuries of history. This iconic Gothic architectural landmark, located on the Grand-Place, can be explored at your own pace thanks to the visioguide. On weekends, guided tours are also available, offering an enriching perspective on this historic monument.

The four exhibition levels display nearly 1200 instruments (from the 7000 items of the entire collection), antique or contemporary, in a stage set blending the acoustic and visual aspects and integrating technological tools such as interactive terminals and sound spaces.

People with visual disability can also enjoy a tailor-made visit, thanks to a tactile and customised approach offered in an interactive place, the Jardin d'Orphée. People with hearing difficulties will be able to do the same by feeling the vibrations of the instruments and trying them out. The museum also has training, activity and research spaces? as well as a library specialising in musical instruments.

T+32 2 545 01 70

Source:www.visit.brussels/en/visitors

Each one is developed through present-day testimonials and then traced right through history. This is a modern, original way of gaining a fuller understanding of modern-day Belgium.

Have a look at the gallery too: there are more than 200 objects to view, each one forming a tangible memory of Belgium. Here are just a few examples: a lithograph by Magritte, a motorcycle, crystal vases by Val Saint-Lambert, and a football signed by the Red Devils. The very essence of Belgian-ness!

Source: www.visit.brussels/en/visitors

The museum's metal structure was designed in 1880 and was the venue for Belgium's motor show from 1902 to 1934.The museum is rightly seen as one of the most prestigious of its kind in Europe, even the world (roughly 400 vehicles, all in working order). This is the place to relive the history of the motor car from 1886 to the 1970s, from the Model T Ford via the Citroen 2CV, the Volkswagen Beetle, the Czech Tatra and assorted rare models that belonged to 20th century celebrities: ranging from Belgium's Royal Family to a vehicle specially designed to the exact specifications of the Shah of Iran, which was never delivered.

Source: visitbrussels.be

This building provides a large amount of space for many activities, restaurants and festivals. There is always something exciting happening here and its definitely worth a visit.

The building houses the Royal Military Museum, Autoworld Museum and the Art and History Museum. The park is especially lively on the weekends when there are impromptu dance classes, musicians and food trucks. You can also enjoy the picturesque gardens, statues and fountains.

You can find the Vauxhall, a music kiosk, the Royal Theatre of the Park, the Guinguette Royale and the Radio Kiosk, a bar where you can dance under the trees!

The murals were painted to honour the famous Belgian comic artists. There are over 50 murals of famous and niche characters on this tour. It’s definitely a fun and relaxing way to spend the day.

Pannenhuis station lies on line 6 and the red and orange installations make you feel like you’re in a sci-fi movie. It’s been the go to location for multiple fashion shoots and is definitely one of the most instagrammable spots in Brussels.