We spent five days in Belgium, home basing out of Brussels and travelling by bus to visit the other major cities in this small country. It is a region full of history and art, excellent food and amazing people. It is easy to navigate with an excellent public transit system if you want to travel by train and a plethora of options to explore the countryside on guided tours. However you find yourself in Belgium you will not be disappointed.
We arrived in Brussels on the Eurostar from London and had found an Airbnb a short walk from the Midi train station. The capital city is walk-able in its core but if you are located outside of that central area there are abundant and inexpensive taxis that will get you anywhere you want to go.
We spent two days exploring the heart of the city. We had a list of our must-sees, which will be common for most tourists; Grand Place, Mannekin Pis statue and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts. We were told that in order to really get a sense of the culture of Belgium there are three things you must do – drink Belgian beer, eat Belgian fries and try Belgian chocolate. I would add a fourth, waffles.
Our first day found us wandering through the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, “a group of six art museums…comprised of the Old Masters Museum, the Modern Museum (main collections), the new Fin-de-Siècle Museum, and three collections devoted to specific Belgian artists such as Antoine Wiertz, Constantin Meunier, and the famous surrealist Rene Magritte”. It houses an exceptional collection of Northern Renaissance painters. Even if you are not into art these collections can give you a better insight into the culture and development of the region.
Close by is the Royal Palace, which is closed to visitors right now due to renovations, but is worth walking by. Although still a working palace it is usually open to visitors in the summer.
On our second day we went straight to the Grand Place, a stunning square surrounded by amazing architecture. We explored a few of the smaller museums, and enjoyed waffles for breakfast and fries and Belgium’s national beer Stella Artois for lunch. Just outside of the square is Brussels most famous statue, the Mannekin Pis. Designed in 1388 and one of the most loved symbols of Brussels, this bronze statue measures just 50 cm and represents a small naked boy urinating into a fountain’s basin. It has an array of interesting costumes from around the world so every time you visit it will be different. The statue on the street is a copy however. The original is located in the nearby King’s House Museum as it has a long history of being stolen.
During our walks we enjoyed spotting the comic panels painted on the sides of many buildings. The Smurfs, a beloved childhood comic, was created in Belgium as was many of the earlier comics. A visit to the Comics Art Museum is a must for anyone interested in that form of story telling.
It became very apparent to us that two days was not near enough time to explore and enjoy Brussels. We do not regret taking the time to visit some of the other cities in Belgium, Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent (which are the subject of next week’s article) but we will be very happy when our travels bring us back to this historic city.