Here are my picks for the 18 best things to see and do in Brussels, with prices, opening hours and tips on getting around. Prices are in euros. Most museums are closed on Mondays, and the big state museums are free on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm, so it’s worth planning around that. The last two sections cover day trips by train to Bruges and Ghent, both less than an hour away.

1. Grand Place and the Town Hall

Grand Place, or Grote Markt, is the heart of the city, and it’s one of those squares in Europe where I stop and just stare every single time. The 15th-century Town Hall is built in Brabantine Gothic style with a 96-metre tower topped by St Michael, and opposite it stands the Maison du Roi, which today houses the Brussels City Museum. All the way round are the guildhalls with their gilded façades. They were built in Baroque style within just a few years, after Louis XIV’s troops bombarded the city in 1695 and destroyed the medieval centre in three days. The square was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

The square itself is free, but you can also go inside the Town Hall. A tour with a video guide costs 15 euros (around £13), and at weekends there are guided panoramic tours for 25 euros (around £20), which also take you up the tower. On Wednesdays it’s open from 11am to 5pm. Every other year in August the square is covered by a flower carpet of begonias, and in December the city’s Christmas tree stands here.

My tip is to come both early in the morning, before the groups arrive, and again after dark, when the façades are lit up. The cafés on the square are expensive, but a single beer is a fair price for sitting with that view. This is also where most people choose to stay, and the centre around Grand Place is the first area in my guide to where to stay in Brussels. You can also see hotels around Grand Place here.

Book a guided walking tour of Brussels starting at Grand Place here.

2. Manneken Pis and the comic-strip murals

Five minutes’ walk from Grand Place, Brussels’ most famous resident stands on the corner of Rue de l’Étuve and Rue du Chêne. Manneken Pis is a bronze figure just 55.5 centimetres tall, so don’t expect too much. The original statue was made by Jérôme Duquesnoy in 1619, but the one you see is a copy, and the original is in the City Museum on Grand Place. The fun part is the wardrobe. The boy is dressed up several times a week, and he has over 1,000 costumes, which you can see in the small GardeRobe MannekenPis museum at Rue du Chêne 19, which has free entry on the first Sunday of the month.

On the way there you’ll pass one of the city’s most photographed murals, showing Tintin, Captain Haddock and Snowy climbing down a fire escape on Rue de l’Étuve. It’s part of the city’s Comic Book Route, which since the early 1990s has covered walls in the centre and Laeken with characters from Franco-Belgian comics. You’ll find a map of all the murals on the route’s own website, and it’s all free. Broussaille on Rue du Marché au Charbon was the first, and it’s only a couple of minutes from Manneken Pis.

My tip is to find his sister Jeanneke Pis in the little dead-end alley Impasse de la Fidélité off Rue des Bouchers, and the dog Zinneke Pis on the corner of Rue des Chartreux. Then you’ve got the whole family.

Book a historical walking tour with chocolate and waffle tastings here.

3. Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert

Two minutes from Grand Place is one of Europe’s oldest covered shopping arcades. The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert were opened on 20 June 1847 in the presence of King Leopold I, and the young architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer designed a long passage with a glass roof and Italian Renaissance-style façades. The arcade is made up of three sections, the Galerie du Roi, the Galerie de la Reine and the small Galerie des Princes, and it served as a model for the later galleries in Milan and Berlin.

Today you’ll find chocolate houses such as Neuhaus, which opened here in 1857 and invented the praline in 1912, and Mary, which supplies the Belgian royal court. There’s also the Tropismes bookshop, a cinema, a theatre and the Mokafé café, where you can have a waffle under the glass roof. It costs nothing to walk through, and the arcade is open around the clock.

My tip is to come after dark, when the light from the shops fills the arcade. And a word of warning: Rue des Bouchers, which crosses the arcade, is full of restaurants calling out to you from the pavement. I’d eat elsewhere, because they’re tourist traps with high prices and mediocre food.

4. Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula

The city’s cathedral with its twin towers stands on a hill between Gare Centrale and the park, and it’s Belgium’s national church, where the royal family marry and are buried. Construction began in 1226 and wasn’t finished until around 1500, so you’re looking at several generations of Gothic. Inside, it’s especially the 16th-century stained glass and the lavish Baroque pulpit from 1699 that catch the eye.

Entry to the cathedral is free. It’s open on weekdays from 8am to 6pm, on Saturdays from 8am to 5pm and on Sundays from 1pm to 6pm, but not during services. If you want to see the treasury, it costs 3 euros (around £2.50), and the Romanesque remains of the first church beneath the floor cost 2 euros (around £1.70). Both are cash only. From March to October you can go up the towers on a guided tour, which takes around two and a half hours and costs 15 euros (around £13).

The cathedral is three minutes’ walk from Gare Centrale, so it fits in nicely on the way between Grand Place and Mont des Arts. My tip is to come in the morning, when the light falls through the large windows in the choir.

5. Mont des Arts and the Magritte Museum

Mont des Arts is the terraced garden that links the lower town around Grand Place with the upper town around the Royal Palace. The garden was laid out for the 1958 World’s Fair, and from the top of the steps you get the city’s most photographed view, with the Town Hall tower in the middle. The KBR national library and the congress centre are also here, and it’s all free.

At the top of the hill by Place Royale you’ll find the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, with a collection of Old Masters such as Bruegel and Rubens, and in the building next door is the Magritte Museum, with more than 200 works by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. One ticket gets you into both museums and costs around 16 euros (around £13), but on the first Wednesday of the month entry is free from 1pm. It’s open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 5pm and at weekends from 11am to 6pm, and closed on Mondays.

My tip is to buy a timed ticket online and do Magritte first thing in the morning, when it’s least crowded. Afterwards you can cross Place Royale, with its equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, to the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg and on to the Royal Palace.

6. The Musical Instruments Museum (MIM)

Right opposite the Magritte Museum stands one of the city’s most beautiful buildings, the old Old England department store from 1899, made of iron and glass. Today it houses the Musical Instruments Museum, MIM, with over 1,000 instruments from all over the world, and the clever thing is that you walk round with headphones that play music from the instrument you’re standing in front of. That makes it a museum both children and adults can happily spend a couple of hours in.

Admission costs 18 euros (around £15), and children and young people under 18 get in free. It’s open Tuesday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm and at weekends from 10am to 5pm, closed on Mondays, and here too entry is free on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm.

At the top of the building is the restaurant, with a terrace overlooking Mont des Arts and the whole lower town. It has been closed for renovation at times, so check the museum’s website before planning lunch there. The museum is five minutes’ walk from Gare Centrale.

Book your ticket to the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) here.

7. Sablon and the chocolate shops

Place du Grand Sablon, or Grote Zavel, is the city’s most elegant square, and this is where you go chocolate hunting. Around the square, Pierre Marcolini, Wittamer, Neuhaus, Godiva and Patrick Roger are all within a few hundred metres, and most sell pralines individually, so you can taste your way through all of them. At the top of the square stands the Gothic church of Notre-Dame du Sablon from the 15th century, which is free to visit and at its best in the afternoon, when the sun hits the tall windows.

At weekends the square fills with an antiques market selling furniture, silverware and old books. It’s open on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and on Sundays from 9am to 3pm. Across the street is the small Petit Sablon park, with 48 bronze statues of the city’s old guilds on its railings and a monument to the Counts of Egmont and Hornes in the middle.

My tip is to have coffee and cake at Wittamer’s café, which has been here since 1910, and buy a single praline at Marcolini so you can taste the difference between the big names. Sablon is a quiet and slightly more expensive place to stay, within walking distance of everything in the centre, and you can see hotels around Sablon here.

Book a workshop where you make your own Belgian pralines here.

8. Marolles, the flea market and the Poelaert lift

Marolles is the old working-class district between Sablon and Gare du Midi, and it’s still the most typically Brussels part of the city. Along Rue Haute and Rue Blaes are second-hand shops, antique dealers and small bars, and in the middle of it all you’ll find Place du Jeu de Balle, where there’s a flea market every day from 7am to 2pm, and until 3pm at weekends. Everything is sold here, from old postcards and porcelain to entire house clearances laid out on blankets. A few streets away is the church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, where the painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder is buried.

From Rue de l’Épée a free glass lift runs up to Place Poelaert, and the view from the top over the lower town, the Koekelberg Basilica and Atomium on the horizon is one of the best in Brussels. Up on the square towers the Palais de Justice. The Law Courts were designed by Joseph Poelaert and inaugurated in 1883, and at the time it was the largest building in Europe, bigger than St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The façades have been hidden behind scaffolding for decades, and the restoration is happening in stages, but parts of the front have gradually reappeared.

My tip is to visit the market on a weekday morning, when there are fewer people and better prices than on Sundays, and have your coffee at one of the cafés around the square. Buses 27 and 48 stop at Jeu de Balle, and trams 92 and 93 run to Place Poelaert if you’d rather start at the top.

9. The Royal Palace and Parc de Bruxelles

The Royal Palace on Place des Palais is the King’s official workplace, while the family lives at the palace in Laeken outside the centre. The long façade was completed under Leopold II in the early 20th century, and a Belgian flag flies above the entrance when the King is in the country. Since 1965 the palace has opened to the public for a few weeks every summer, traditionally after the national day on 21 July, but the dates change from year to year, so check them before you travel. Admission costs around 10 euros (around £8) for everyone aged 13 and over, and you need to book a time slot in advance.

What you come for is the Hall of Mirrors, where in 2002 the artist Jan Fabre covered the ceiling and a chandelier with almost one and a half million jewel beetle wing cases in greens and blues. The Throne Room, with reliefs by Rodin, is also part of the tour. Right opposite the palace is Parc de Bruxelles, the city’s oldest park, which is free and stretches up to the Palais de la Nation, home of the parliament.

Next to the palace you’ll find the BELvue Museum on Belgian history, and beneath it the ruins of the medieval Coudenberg Palace, which burned down in 1731. Parc and Trône metro stations are both a few minutes’ walk from the palace.

10. The Parlamentarium and the EU Quarter

The EU Quarter around Rond-point Schuman and Place du Luxembourg is a quarter of an hour east of the centre, and although the glass buildings aren’t pretty, it’s free and surprisingly good to visit. The European Parliament’s visitor centre, the Parlamentarium, tells the story of the EU with screens, maps and headphones in all 24 official languages, and a visit takes around an hour and a half. Entry is free, and it’s open on Mondays from 1pm to 6pm, Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 6pm and at weekends from 10am to 6pm. You can also go into the debating chamber itself when there’s no session.

In Parc Léopold behind the parliament is the House of European History, which also has free entry and covers Europe’s shared history from the 19th century to the present day over six floors, with a tablet guide in 24 languages. From there, walk past the Commission’s star-shaped Berlaymont building at Schuman and finish on Place du Luxembourg, where EU staff fill the bars after work on Thursday evenings.

Maelbeek and Schuman metro stations on lines 1 and 5 are in the middle of the district, and Trône on lines 2 and 6 is close to the parliament. The area is dead at weekends, but that also means the business hotels here are cheap from Friday to Sunday. You can see hotels in the EU Quarter here.

11. Parc du Cinquantenaire and Autoworld

The park was laid out in 1880 for the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence, and the triumphal arch, with its three arches and bronze chariot on top, was completed in 1905. On each side of the arch are two large exhibition halls, and in one of them you’ll find Autoworld, with over 300 cars from 1896 onwards, from the first motor cars to racing cars and American dream cars. Admission costs 18 euros (around £15), and it’s open every day from 10am to 5pm, until 6pm at weekends.

At the other end of the park is the Art & History Museum, with everything from Egyptian mummies and Roman mosaics to art nouveau and tapestries. It costs just 10 euros (around £8), entry is free on the first Wednesday of the month from 1pm, and a combined ticket for the three museums in the park costs 30 euros (around £25). It’s open Tuesday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm and at weekends from 10am to 5pm, closed on Mondays. The third museum is the Royal Military Museum, with a hall full of old aircraft.

Merode metro station is right by the arch, and Schuman is at the other end of the park. My tip is to bring lunch from Sablon and eat it on the grass beneath the arch, where half the neighbourhood is out running, playing football and having picnics at weekends.

Book your ticket to the Art & History Museum in Parc du Cinquantenaire here.

12. The Horta Museum and art nouveau in Saint-Gilles

Brussels is the capital of art nouveau, and the man behind it was the architect Victor Horta. His own house and studio at Rue Américaine 27 in Saint-Gilles was built from 1898 to 1901, and today it’s the Horta Museum. From the street it doesn’t look like much, but inside, staircases, ironwork and glass wind their way up towards a skylight in the roof, and everything from door handles to lamps was designed by Horta himself. The house was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, along with three of his other townhouses.

Admission costs around 14 euros (around £12), and the museum is only open in the afternoon, from 2pm to 5.30pm Tuesday to Friday and from 11am to 5.30pm at weekends. It’s closed on Mondays. The house is small and visitor numbers are limited, so buy a timed ticket online, especially at weekends.

Combine the museum with a walk through the area around Place du Châtelain in Ixelles, where you’ll find Horta’s Hôtel Tassel at Rue Paul-Émile Janson 6 and the magnificent Hôtel Solvay at Avenue Louise 224, which opens to visitors on selected days. Tram 92 from the centre stops at Janson, close to the museum. Ixelles is my favourite area if you want to stay among cafés and restaurants rather than tourists, and you can see hotels in Ixelles here.

Book a guided art nouveau tour ending at the Horta Museum here.

13. Atomium and Mini-Europe

The Atomium was built for the Expo 58 World’s Fair and was meant to be taken down again, but today its nine steel spheres, 102 metres high, are the city’s landmark. You ride escalators and a lift through the tubes between the spheres, where there are exhibitions about Expo 58 and a light show, and from the top sphere there’s a view over the whole city. The top sphere can be closed at times, so check before you buy a ticket. Admission costs 17 euros (around £14), and a combined ticket with Mini-Europe costs 35 euros (around £30). It’s open every day from 10am to 6pm, with last entry at 5.30pm, but the Atomium usually closes for a couple of weeks in January or February for maintenance.

At the foot of the Atomium is Mini-Europe, with around 350 models of buildings from across the EU at a scale of 1:25, from Big Ben to Grand Place. It’s mostly for children, but it’s well done. Tickets cost 21.70 euros (around £18) online and 25 euros (around £20) at the entrance, it’s open from 9.30am to 6pm, with longer hours in July and August, and the park is closed from early January to mid-March.

I’ll be honest: the Atomium is expensive for what you get, and the ticket queue can be long. But the building is fun and the view is good, so go out there if you have half a day to spare. Metro line 6 runs to Heysel in about 20 minutes from the centre, and from there it’s a five-minute walk.

Book your ticket to the Atomium here, or book a ticket to Mini-Europe here.

14. The Comics Museum

Belgium gave the world Tintin, the Smurfs, Lucky Luke and Spirou, and all four have their place in the Belgian Comic Strip Center at Rue des Sables 20. The museum is in the old Waucquez textile warehouse, which Victor Horta designed in 1906, and the bright hall with its curving staircases and glass roof is worth a visit on its own. The exhibitions show how a comic is made, from sketch to coloured page, and there are original drawings by Hergé, Peyo and Franquin.

Admission costs 14 euros (around £12), and it’s open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm, with last tickets at 5pm. It’s closed on Mondays outside July and August.

The museum is five minutes’ walk from Gare Centrale, and right opposite is the small Marc Sleen Museum, devoted to the Flemish cartoonist behind Nero. My tip for Tintin fans is to drop into the official Tintin shop at Rue de la Colline 13 by Grand Place afterwards.

Book your ticket to the Comics Museum here.

15. Train World in Schaerbeek

Belgium got the first railway on continental Europe in 1835, and Train World, in the old station building in Schaerbeek, is one of the best-designed museums I’ve seen in Brussels. The locomotives stand in semi-darkness with light and sound effects, and you can climb up into the drivers’ cabs. Here you’ll find the Pays de Waes from 1844, the oldest surviving locomotive in Belgium, the streamlined Type 12 from 1939 and the royal saloon carriages.

Admission costs 15 euros (around £13) for adults and 11 euros (around £9) for children aged 6 to 17. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 3.30pm, and closed on Mondays.

The museum is right next to Schaerbeek station, so the easiest way is to take the train there from Gare Centrale or Gare du Nord. Trams 7 and 92 also stop at the station. Allow an hour and a half to two hours, and bring the kids, they love it.

16. Cantillon Brewery

Cantillon in Anderlecht has been brewing beer the same way since 1900, and it’s the last traditional brewery in Brussels itself that still makes lambic, gueuze and kriek by spontaneous fermentation. No yeast is added here. The hot beer is pumped up into an open cooling vessel in the attic, where the natural yeasts in the air above the city are left to do the work, which is why brewing only takes place in the cold months from October to March. Afterwards the beer is aged in oak barrels for up to three years, and the result is sour, dry and unlike anything else.

You can look round on your own on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 4pm without booking, and it costs 9 euros (around £7.50) including three tastings. On Saturdays there are guided tours for 13 euros (around £11), which must be booked online. It’s closed on Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays.

The brewery is at Rue Gheude 56, ten minutes’ walk from Gare du Midi, and Clemenceau is the nearest metro station. Be honest with yourself: sour beer isn’t for everyone, but if you like it, this is the most special thing you can drink in Belgium.

Book a guided Belgian beer tasting in Brussels here.

17. Day trip to Bruges

Bruges is the most obvious day trip from Brussels. The train takes around an hour, and there are around 65 trains a day from Gare Centrale and Gare du Midi, so you don’t need to plan anything. A standard ticket costs around 17 euros (around £14) each way, and at weekends and on public holidays adults get a 30 per cent discount.

From the station it’s a 15-minute walk to the Markt with the 83-metre Belfry, where you can climb the 366 steps and look out over the city. Carry on to Rozenhoedkaai, the classic postcard view of the canal and the tower, take a half-hour canal boat trip, and finish at the peaceful Begijnhof by the Minnewater lake. The city is small enough to walk round in a day, but it’s also packed with tourists in the middle of the day.

My tip is to catch an early train so you have the Markt to yourself before the coaches arrive. If you want to experience the city in the evening, when the streets are empty, stay the night and read my guide to where to stay in Bruges.

Book a guided day trip by train from Brussels to Bruges here.

18. Day trip to Ghent

Ghent is just 36 minutes from Brussels by train, and if I had to choose one day trip, I’d actually pick Ghent over Bruges. It has the same medieval houses along the canals, but it’s bigger, less touristy and full of students, so there’s life in the evenings. A standard ticket costs around 10 euros (around £8) each way, and here too the 30 per cent weekend discount for adults applies.

Start at the Graslei and Korenlei quays, where the old guildhalls are reflected in the River Leie, and carry on to the Gravensteen castle from 1180, with its towers and moat in the middle of the city. St Bavo’s Cathedral holds the Van Eyck brothers’ altarpiece from 1432, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, one of the most important paintings in European art history. The Belfry and St Nicholas’ Church stand in a row right next to it.

Trains stop at Gent-Sint-Pieters, and from there you take tram 1 into the centre in ten minutes. If you decide to stay on, I’ve written a guide to where to stay in Ghent.

Book a day trip from Brussels to both Bruges and Ghent here.

Practical travel tips for Brussels

You can easily walk around the centre, Grand Place, Sablon, Marolles and Mont des Arts. For the EU Quarter, Cinquantenaire, Saint-Gilles and the Atomium, you use STIB’s metro, trams and buses. The easiest way is to hold your bank card or phone against the reader when you get on. A journey costs 2.40 euros (around £2), transfers are free within an hour, and you pay a maximum of 8.50 euros (around £7) a day, however many journeys you make. Remember to tap in with the same card every time.

Brussels Airport in Zaventem is 12 kilometres from the centre, and the train runs to Gare Centrale in about 20 minutes. If you fly with a low-cost airline to Charleroi, allow an hour by bus. All the options and prices are in my guide to getting from Brussels Airport to the city centre.

Almost all museums are closed on Mondays, so spend Monday on Grand Place, Marolles, the Atomium and the Parlamentarium, which are open. If you’re visiting lots of museums, the Brussels Card can pay off. It costs 41 euros (around £35) for 24 hours, 53 euros (around £45) for 48 hours and 59 euros (around £50) for 72 hours and gives entry to 40 museums, and you can add public transport for 9 euros (around £7.50) per day. In my experience, it only pays off if you visit at least three museums a day. The city is at its best from April to October, but December is lovely too, with the Plaisirs d’Hiver Christmas market around Grand Place and Place Sainte-Catherine.

If you want to see the Atomium, Cinquantenaire and the EU Quarter in one day without thinking about the metro map, you can book a ticket for the Brussels hop-on hop-off bus here. It stops at all the major sights in this guide.

If you need the full selection, you can see all hotels in Brussels on Booking.com. If you’re heading further north, Amsterdam is under two hours away by train, and you can read my guide to where to stay in Amsterdam.

The post 18 Best Things to Do in Brussels: Grand Place, Atomium, Chocolate & Beer appeared first on Destination Well Known.

The right choice depends on where you’re staying and when you land. From Brussels Airport, the train is best for the city centre, while bus 12 runs straight to the European Quarter, and a night bus takes over at night. Here are the fares, journey times and ticket rules for both airports, where to get off, and how to continue by metro. For the rough conversions I’ve used about £0.85 and $1.12 per euro.

If you’d rather drive yourself from the airport, you can compare prices on rental cars at Booking.com.

At a glance

• Brussels Airport, train: Around €11 (about £9.30/$12.50) including the airport supplement, around 18 minutes to Bruxelles-Central, six trains an hour from early morning until around midnight.
• Brussels Airport, bus 12: €7.90 (about £6.70/$8.90) with a contactless card, around 30 minutes to the European Quarter, stopping at Schuman and Luxembourg.
• Brussels Airport, night bus N62: €3 (about £2.50/$3.40), runs every night between 00:55 and 04:45, with two departures an hour to Place Rogier.
• Brussels Airport, taxis and Uber: There’s no official fixed fare to the centre, the taxis wait right outside the arrivals hall, and Uber picks up in the P1 car park.
• Charleroi, Flibco: From €14.99 (about £12.50/$17) online, 55 to 60 minutes direct to Bruxelles-Midi, up to every 20 minutes.
• Charleroi, bus A1 and train: €6 (about £5.10/$6.70) for the bus plus a train ticket, around 20 minutes to Charleroi-Central and from there 50 to 55 minutes by train to Bruxelles-Midi.

Finding your transport at Brussels Airport and Charleroi

Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport-Zaventem railway station is directly beneath the departures and arrivals hall on level -1, and you get down to it by escalator or lift. There are ticket machines for the train both at the station and in the baggage reclaim hall, so you can buy your ticket while you wait for your suitcase.

The buses leave from the bus station on level 0, which is around 100 metres from the arrivals hall at the end of a covered walkway. Bus 12, the night bus and the long-distance coaches all leave from here, and the airport’s map of the bus station shows which platform your bus uses. There are ticket machines at the bus station.

The official taxis wait right outside the arrivals hall, and you just follow the signs to the taxi rank. Uber picks up on the 4th floor of the P1 car park opposite the terminal. You’ll find all the options on the airport’s transport page.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport

The airport at Charleroi has two terminals. Flibco’s buses to Brussels leave from the exit in front of Terminal 1, and you follow the signs from the arrivals hall. The ticket kiosk for the buses is outside, where the buses pull in.

TEC’s bus A1 to Charleroi-Central railway station also leaves from the airport, and close to the stop there are ticket machines from the rail operator SNCB, where you can buy both the bus ticket and the train ticket. The terminal is open around the clock, but the shops are closed between 23:00 and 04:30. You’ll find the airport’s overview on its access and parking page.

1. Train from Brussels Airport to Bruxelles-Central, Nord and Midi

The train is the fastest way into the city and my first choice for almost everyone. From Brussels Airport-Zaventem station beneath the terminal, six direct trains an hour run to Brussels from early morning until around midnight. They stop at the city’s three main stations: Bruxelles-Nord after around 11 minutes, Bruxelles-Central after around 18 minutes and Bruxelles-Midi after around 23 minutes.

The ticket is valid on the date printed on it rather than for one particular departure, so you simply take the first train towards Brussels. Check the screen on the platform, because trains to Leuven, Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges leave from the same station. The stations in Brussels have both a French and a Dutch name, so on the screen Bruxelles-Midi can appear as Brussel-Zuid and Bruxelles-Central as Brussel-Centraal. According to SNCB’s timetable, the first trains towards Brussels leave shortly before 05:00 on weekdays and at around 05:30 at weekends. The timetable changes, so look up your departure in SNCB’s journey planner if you’re landing very early or late.

If you’re heading to the European Quarter, you don’t need to go via the city centre. The airport says that two trains an hour run there directly. One of them is the IC train towards Namur and Dinant, which runs once an hour on weekdays from just after 06:00 until just after 21:00 and reaches Bruxelles-Schuman after around 15 minutes and Bruxelles-Luxembourg after around 18 minutes. At weekends, the IC train doesn’t run from the airport, so check the journey planner to see which direct trains are running, or take bus 12.

The catch is the ticket, because you can’t buy it on the train, and you can’t get through the gates without it. See more on the airport’s train page.

Fares and tickets

The fare is made up of two parts. One is the train ticket itself, which SNCB prices by distance, with a minimum fare of €2.60 (about £2.20/$2.90) in 2nd class. The other is the airport surcharge, called the Brussels Airport Supplement, which according to SNCB’s fare list is €7.10 (about £6/$8) each way and is the same for everyone. The supplement is added automatically to tickets to and from Brussels Airport-Zaventem, so you don’t need to buy it separately.

A ticket between the airport and Brussels therefore never costs less than €9.70 (about £8.20/$11), and as an adult on a weekday you should expect to pay around €11 (about £9.30/$12.50). The machine or the app shows the exact fare before you pay. Travellers under 26 and those aged 65 or over automatically get a 40% discount on the ticket itself all week, and adults aged 26 to 64 get a 30% discount on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The discounts don’t apply to the supplement.

There’s no return ticket for the airport train, so you buy a single ticket each way and pay the supplement in both directions. Up to four children under 12 travel free with a paying passenger aged 12 or over, and they need neither a ticket nor the supplement. Bring a passport or another document that shows the child’s age. Tickets marked Train+ are only for people who hold SNCB’s discount card. The fares are in the fare list that SNCB publishes under its conditions of carriage.

How to buy your ticket and how the gates work

You can buy your ticket on SNCB’s website, in the SNCB app, from the ticket machines and at the ticket offices in the stations. Online and in the app you get a QR code, and the machine gives you a paper ticket with a QR code.

To get into and out of the station at the airport, you scan the QR code at a gate showing a green arrow. Turn up your screen brightness if the gate can’t read the code on your phone. Children travelling free are let through by staff along with you. Keep your ticket until you’re completely out of the station. That also applies on the way back, when you have to go through the gates to get up to the terminal.

You can’t buy a ticket on the train. SNCB requires you to have a valid ticket before you board, and travelling without one costs €90 (about £76/$101). Read more about the gates and the supplement at SNCB.

Where to get off

Bruxelles-Nord: The first stop in the city. Get off here if you’re staying near Place Rogier and Rue Neuve. Trams 4 and 10 stop at both Gare du Nord and Rogier, or you can walk the short distance. If you land late in the evening, I’d take a taxi for the last stretch, because the area right around the station isn’t the most pleasant part of the city after dark.

Bruxelles-Central: The station in the middle of the city and the right stop for most people. From here, you can walk to Grand Place, and Sablon is a walk up the hill. The metro station at the railway station is called Gare Centrale, and lines 1 and 5 run from here to Sainte-Catherine and De Brouckère and to Schuman in the European Quarter.

Bruxelles-Midi: The last stop in Brussels. Get off here if you’re heading to Ixelles and Avenue Louise, because metro lines 2 and 6 run from Gare du Midi to Louise. The station area itself isn’t somewhere I’d choose a hotel.

Bruxelles-Schuman and Bruxelles-Luxembourg: The two stations in the European Quarter where the direct trains towards Namur and Dinant stop. Schuman metro station, on lines 1 and 5, is at Bruxelles-Schuman, and Bruxelles-Luxembourg is the station for the hotels around Place du Luxembourg.

2. Bus 12 from Brussels Airport to the European Quarter

The transport operator STIB calls its airport bus the Airport Line, and it’s route number 12. It runs direct from the bus station on level 0 to the European Quarter, and the airport puts the journey at around 30 minutes. The airport lists the stops Schuman, Maelbeek and Luxembourg, and the bus also stops at Trône metro station.

The bus mostly suits you if you’re staying in the European Quarter, or if you land at the weekend, when the IC train to Schuman doesn’t run. If you’re heading to Grand Place, the train is faster. You’ll find the departure times in the STIB app and on STIB’s Airport Line page.

Fares and tickets

From the airport, you need a special ticket called Airport2City. It costs €7.90 (about £6.70/$8.90) when you pay contactless or have it on a MOBIB card, and €8.40 (about £7.10/$9.40) as a paper ticket. Ten journeys cost €52 (about £44/$58) and require a MOBIB card. The ticket is valid across the whole STIB network for the first hour after you’ve validated it, so you can change to the metro or a tram without paying again.

Ordinary STIB tickets, Brupass and day tickets aren’t valid on bus 12 from the airport. Towards the airport, on the other hand, they’re all valid, so for the trip out to your flight an ordinary STIB journey at €2.40 (about £2/$2.70) is enough. Children under 6 travel free with a companion aged 12 or over. You buy paper tickets from the machines at the bus station, because they aren’t sold on the bus.

Paying contactless on the bus

The easiest option is to hold your contactless payment card, your phone or your watch against the validator on the bus. The airport fare is then charged automatically, and you don’t need a ticket in advance. STIB accepts contactless payment cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet on your phone, and Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay on your watch.

Each card can only pay for one person, so if there are several of you, you each need your own card or phone. If you change to the metro or a tram, you validate again with the same card, and at a ticket inspection you show the card or device you paid with. The rules are on STIB’s contactless payment page.

Where to get off the bus

Schuman: The stop in the middle of the European Quarter. Schuman metro station is here, with lines 1 and 5 running to Gare Centrale and De Brouckère in the centre.

Luxembourg: The stop for the hotels around Place du Luxembourg and for Bruxelles-Luxembourg railway station.

Trône: Trône metro station is here, on lines 2 and 6, which run on to Louise by Avenue Louise and to Rogier.

3. Flibco from Charleroi to Bruxelles-Midi

From Charleroi, the Flibco bus is the simple choice. It runs direct, with no stops along the way, from the exit in front of Terminal 1 to Bruxelles-Midi station, and the journey takes 55 to 60 minutes depending on the traffic. According to Flibco, the buses run up to every 20 minutes in both directions, and the departures are timed to match the flights.

The last bus from the airport leaves at around 01:00. If you land later, it’s a taxi or a wait in the terminal, which is open around the clock. The catch is the luggage, because how much you can bring depends on the ticket type.

Fares and tickets

The ticket costs from €14.99 (about £12.50/$17) each way when you buy it online from Flibco, and the price goes up with the ticket type. You can also buy a ticket at the airport and from the driver, but Flibco itself says that tickets bought from the driver cost more and are only sold if there’s space. So I’d buy online before you fly.

The ticket isn’t tied to one departure. It’s valid for one journey all day and until 04:00 the next morning, so if your flight is delayed, you just take a later bus. One child under four travels free with each adult, as long as you add the child when you book. Flibco doesn’t have child car seats. Fares and departures are listed at Flibco.

Luggage: choose the right ticket type

The cheapest ticket type only includes one small bag of no more than 35 x 20 x 20 centimetres and 10 kilos. With the middle one, you can also have one suitcase of up to 25 kilos in the hold, and with the most expensive one, two suitcases. Flibco says that all luggage with wheels has to go in the hold, so if you’re bringing a suitcase, I’d choose the middle ticket type. The cheapest one can’t be changed or refunded.

Where the bus stops in Brussels

Bruxelles-Midi: The bus stops at Bruxelles-Midi station, right by Rue de France, and the stop is signposted. From Gare du Midi, metro lines 2 and 6 run to Louise and Rogier, and trams 4 and 10 run to Bourse close to Grand Place. You can also take a train for the few minutes to Bruxelles-Central.

4. Bus A1 and train from Charleroi to Brussels

The other route from Charleroi goes via Charleroi’s own railway station. TEC’s bus A1 runs direct between the airport and Charleroi-Central in around 20 minutes, and according to the airport it runs around four times an hour between 04:30 and 23:30. From Charleroi-Central, IC trains run to Bruxelles-Midi, Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Nord, and the journey to Bruxelles-Midi takes 50 to 55 minutes.

The bus ticket is called the Bus TEC Charleroi Airport Ticket and costs €6 (about £5.10/$6.70) each way. SNCB sells it together with the train ticket on its website, in the app, from the machines and at the ticket offices, and in the journey planner you select CHARLEROI Airport [TEC] as your station. The train ticket is priced by distance and comes on top. Children under 6 travel free on the bus, while children aged 6 to 11, who travel free on the train, need a bus ticket.

This option makes most sense if you’re travelling on by train to another Belgian city. If you just need to get into Brussels with a suitcase, Flibco is easier. The steps are explained on SNCB’s Charleroi Airport page.

5. Night bus N62 from Brussels Airport to Place Rogier

When the trains stop for the night, De Lijn’s night bus N62 runs between Brussels Airport and Place Rogier in Brussels. It runs every night all year round, with two departures an hour between 00:55 and 04:45, and stops along the way in Schaerbeek, Evere, Diegem and the centre of Zaventem. The bus leaves from the bus station on level 0.

The journey costs De Lijn’s standard fare of €3 (about £2.50/$3.40). You pay contactless at the white terminal on the bus with Visa, Mastercard, Maestro or V PAY, including cards from outside Belgium, or with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and you can pay for up to five people with the same card. From Place Rogier, you’re close to the hotels around Rogier, and for the rest of the city you continue by taxi. The route is shown at De Lijn.

6. Taxis, Uber and Bolt

The official taxis wait right outside the arrivals hall at Brussels Airport, and you don’t need to book. Follow the signs to the taxi rank, and only take a car from there. You can recognise the official taxis by the T on the number plate and by the blue and yellow logo. The airport doesn’t give a fare to the centre, so ask the driver for the price before you set off. See more on the airport’s taxi page.

Uber picks up in the P1 car park. From the baggage reclaim hall, turn left, walk around 50 metres to the sliding doors on your right, use the pedestrian crossing over to P1 and take the lift to the 4th floor. Bolt shows the pick-up point in the app. In both apps, you see the price before you book. The route is described at Uber.

At Charleroi, the airport refers passengers to the taxi companies Ideal Tax, Rapid Tax, Taxis Carolo and Sympatax. There’s no official fixed fare to Brussels, and the bus takes 55 to 60 minutes for the same trip, so expect an expensive ride and agree the price before you set off.

Private transfer

If you’re landing late with children, or there are several of you with lots of luggage, you can book a private transfer from Brussels Airport into the city here. The driver takes you to the door, and the price is agreed in advance. The airport also works with Comobi, where you book a car for up to seven people online at least 12 hours ahead, and where the driver waits with a name sign at the Java Meeting Point in the arrivals hall.

Onward travel around Brussels by metro and tram

From the three main stations, you can travel on with STIB’s metro, trams and buses. Metro lines 1 and 5 stop at Gare Centrale, De Brouckère, Sainte-Catherine and Schuman, and lines 2 and 6 stop at Gare du Midi, Louise, Trône and Rogier. Trams 4 and 10 stop at Gare du Midi, Bourse, De Brouckère, Rogier and Gare du Nord.

A journey costs €2.40 (about £2/$2.70) when you pay contactless, and you can change freely for 60 minutes. If you use the same card all day, you pay no more than €8.50 (about £7.20/$9.50) a day. A paper ticket for one journey costs €2.90 (about £2.50/$3.20), and a day ticket costs €9 (about £7.60/$10). Children under 6 travel free.

Most lines run every day of the week from 05:00 until midnight. On Friday and Saturday nights, STIB’s Noctis night buses run from Gare Centrale from midnight until 03:00. At night there’s also Collecto, a shared night taxi, which costs €6 (about £5.10/$6.70) per person.

Onward travel around Belgium straight from the airport

If you aren’t going to Brussels, you can take the train straight from Brussels Airport. The airport gives journey times of 13 minutes to Leuven, 30 minutes to Antwerp, 55 minutes to Ghent and 1 hour and 25 minutes to Bruges. The airport supplement is included in the ticket however far you’re going. If you’re planning a night or two in Bruges, my guide to where to stay in Bruges compares the five best areas, including ‘t Zand by the station.

From the bus station on level 0, Flibco and Airport Express run to Antwerp, and FlixBus runs towards Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Lille and Paris, among other places. If your trip starts or ends in one of the neighbouring countries, you can read my guides to getting from Schiphol to central Amsterdam and to getting from Charles de Gaulle to central Paris.

If you need to get between the two airports, Flibco runs direct between Brussels Airport and Charleroi in around an hour, and the ticket costs from €18.99 (about £16/$21.50) online. You can also buy a ticket for the bus between the two airports here.

Getting back to the airport

Trains to Brussels Airport run from Bruxelles-Midi, Bruxelles-Central and Bruxelles-Nord six times an hour for most of the day. According to SNCB’s timetable, the first train from Bruxelles-Midi leaves shortly after 04:00 on weekdays and shortly before 05:00 at weekends, so check your departure the evening before if you have an early flight.

If the train doesn’t work for you, night bus N62 runs from Place Rogier to the airport every night, and bus 12 runs from the European Quarter. A taxi from the city charges the Brussels region’s set fares: a starting fee of €2.60 (about £2.20/$2.90), €2.30 (about £1.95/$2.60) per kilometre and €0.60 (about £0.51/$0.67) per minute or part of a minute, and between 22:00 and 06:00 there’s an extra €2 (about £1.70/$2.20) on top. The city’s taxis are black with a black and yellow chequered stripe on the doors, and the fares are listed by the Brussels-Capital Region.

The airport recommends being there two hours before a flight within Europe and three hours before an intercontinental flight. If someone’s driving you, the drop-off zone is free for 10 minutes once an hour, and after that it costs €12 (about £10/$13.50) plus €3 (about £2.50/$3.40) for each extra minute.

For Charleroi, Flibco leaves from Bruxelles-Midi, by Rue de France. According to the airport, the buses start at around 03:30, and the ticket is valid on all of that day’s departures, so you’re free to take an earlier bus. Flibco advises being at the airport two to three hours before departure. If you take the train to Charleroi-Central instead, bus A1 runs from there to the airport from around 04:30.

Which option should you choose?

Here’s what I’d recommend, depending on where you’re staying:

Grand Place and the centre: Take the train to Bruxelles-Central. It takes around 18 minutes, and you can walk the rest of the way.

Sainte-Catherine: Take the train to Bruxelles-Central and change to metro line 1 or 5 from Gare Centrale to Sainte-Catherine.

Sablon: Take the train to Bruxelles-Central and walk up the hill, or take a taxi from the station if your suitcase is heavy.

Ixelles and Avenue Louise: Take the train to Bruxelles-Midi and change to metro line 2 or 6 to Louise.

European Quarter: On weekdays, the direct train to Bruxelles-Schuman or Bruxelles-Luxembourg is fastest. Otherwise, bus 12 runs straight to Schuman and Luxembourg for €7.90 (about £6.70/$8.90).

Rogier and Rue Neuve: Get off the train at Bruxelles-Nord after around 11 minutes, and walk or take tram 4 or 10 to Rogier.

If you land at Charleroi: Take Flibco to Bruxelles-Midi and continue by metro, tram or train from there.

If you land at night: From Brussels Airport, night bus N62 runs to Place Rogier between 00:55 and 04:45, and otherwise it’s a taxi. From Charleroi, the last Flibco leaves at around 01:00.

If there are three or four of you: Three train tickets cost around €33 (about £28/$37), and four cost around €44 (about £37.50/$49.50), so see what an Uber costs in the app before you buy tickets. Children under 12 do travel free on the train, though.

Practical tips for getting from Brussels Airport and Charleroi to the city centre

Buy your train ticket before you go down to the platform. You need the QR code to get through the gates at the Brussels Airport station, and you can’t buy a ticket on the train. The machines are in the baggage reclaim hall and at the station on level -1.

Use the same card all day on STIB. The daily fare cap only works when you validate with the same card or the same phone every time, and each card only covers one person.

Don’t pay the airport fare on bus 12 on your way out. You only need Airport2City from the airport into the city. Towards the airport, an ordinary STIB ticket is valid.

Buy your Flibco ticket online before you travel. It’s cheaper than buying from the driver and is valid on every departure that day, so a delayed flight won’t cost you your ticket.

Choose your hotel with the connection in mind. If you stay near Grand Place, you’re within walking distance of Bruxelles-Central and the train from Brussels Airport, and you can see hotels near Grand Place here. In the European Quarter, you have both direct trains on weekdays and bus 12, and you can see hotels in the European Quarter here. If you stay near Place Rogier, Bruxelles-Nord is close by, and you can see hotels near Place Rogier here.

If you’re not sure which neighbourhood suits you, read my guide to where to stay in Brussels, where I go through the six best areas and the hotels in each of them.

The post Brussels Airport & Charleroi to the City Centre - Transport Guide appeared first on Destination Well Known.

More than half of all overnight stays in the city are work-related, and in my search many hotels were cheaper at weekends than during the week. Where you should stay depends on whether you want to walk everywhere, eat well on your doorstep or get the most hotel for your money.

• Here are my recommendations for six good areas in Brussels, with hotels across several price ranges.

The Best Areas to Stay in Brussels

• Grand Place and the city centre – best area for first-time visitors
• Sainte-Catherine – best area for food lovers
• Sablon – best area for couples
• Ixelles and Avenue Louise – best area for shopping and local life
• The European Quarter – best area for an affordable weekend stay
• Rogier and Rue Neuve – best area for large hotels with pools

Below, I cover the six areas, their advantages and drawbacks, and three hotels in different price ranges in each. The prices are those I found for two people over a weekend in June. They are higher from Tuesday to Thursday, when business travellers and politicians fill the city.

1. Grand Place and the city centre – best area for first-time visitors

• Distance from the centre: You are right in it. The hotels below are between 100 and 450 metres from Grand Place.
• Transport: Bourse premetro station has trams 4 and 10, while De Brouckère and Gare Centrale metro stations are on lines 1 and 5.
• Journey from the airport: Trains from Brussels Airport run six times an hour and reach Bruxelles-Central in around 18 minutes.
• Price range: €€ to €€€. The cheapest good hotels were approximately €120-145 per night, three- and four-star hotels €165-270, and five-star hotels €280-410.
• Safety: Safe, but busy. The UK Foreign Office notes that theft and pickpocketing are common in crowded areas and advises particular care in busy parts of central Brussels, so watch your belongings in crowds.

For a first visit to Brussels of just two or three days, this is where I would stay. Grand Place has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, and most of the buildings around the square were rebuilt after the French bombardment of 1695. Only the Gothic Town Hall, dating from the 15th century, is older.

From the square, it is a few minutes’ walk to Manneken Pis, whose wardrobe contains more than 900 costumes according to the city’s website, and to the covered shopping arcades of Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. The streets around the square and the boulevard in front of the stock exchange are pedestrianised, so you can spend your whole stay exploring on foot.

See hotels near Grand Place here.

The drawback is that you share the neighbourhood with all the other tourists. Restaurants in the narrow streets around Rue des Bouchers have a reputation as tourist traps, and The Brussels Times describes the area as overcrowded and overpriced. Walk ten minutes to Sainte-Catherine or Sablon instead when it is time to eat.

This is also where many of the city’s most expensive four- and five-star hotels are located. Prices rise further during the Winter Wonders Christmas market, which runs from 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 this year and fills both Grand Place and the area around the stock exchange. Light sleepers should ask for a courtyard-facing room.

Hotels near Grand Place

Hotel Amigo, a Rocco Forte Hotel – best luxury hotel in Brussels

Hotel Amigo is a five-star hotel with a guest rating of 9.4, just 100 metres from Grand Place. It has an Italian restaurant, a bar and a gym, with accommodation ranging from classic double rooms to large suites. It is the city’s classic address for a special occasion. Prices are the highest in the centre, valet parking costs €65 per day, and one guest felt it did not offer enough for the money.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Breakfast was excellent, our room was bright, and the hotel staff were absolutely exceptional.”

See photos and book Hotel Amigo, a Rocco Forte Hotel here.

Hotel Le Dixseptième – best mid-range hotel with character

Hotel Le Dixseptième is a four-star hotel rated 8.9 by guests, around 200 metres from Grand Place. It has a garden, a sauna and a bar, and the room selection includes suites with spa baths. This is my suggestion for somewhere with personality rather than a chain hotel. There is no hotel parking, and guests describe breakfast as expensive.

One guest says on Booking.com: “The location was absolutely fantastic! The rooms were really lovely and spacious.”

See photos and book Hotel Le Dixseptième here.

Bedford Hotel Brussels – best budget option in the centre

Bedford Hotel Brussels is a three-star hotel with a guest rating of 8.4 from more than 22,000 reviews. It is around 450 metres from Grand Place and close to a premetro station, offering air conditioning, a lift, a restaurant, a bar and a gym at one of the lowest prices in the centre. The drawback is that the rooms are dated, and one guest says plainly that the hotel needs renovation.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “The hotel is well located near Grand Place and public transport. The room was clean and spacious.”

See photos and book Bedford Hotel Brussels here.

2. Sainte-Catherine – best area for food lovers

• Distance from the centre: Around 400-800 metres from Grand Place, or a five- to ten-minute walk.
• Transport: Sainte-Catherine and De Brouckère metro stations are on lines 1 and 5. Trams 4 and 10 stop at Bourse.
• Journey from the airport: Take the train to Bruxelles-Central, a journey of around 18 minutes, then change to the metro for two stops to Sainte-Catherine.
• Price range: €€. Three-star hotels and aparthotels were approximately €140-180 per night, and most four-star hotels €160-200. The most expensive cost just over €275. I found no five-star hotels here.
• Safety: Lively until late in the evening. Guests’ main complaint is noise from bars and nightclubs.

Sainte-Catherine is just northwest of the stock exchange and is my favourite part of the centre for eating out. The neighbourhood grew around the church of the same name and the old quays, from the days when the city’s harbour and fish market were here. Seafood restaurants still line the square.

Around the corner is Rue Antoine Dansaert, the city’s street for Belgian fashion and design. A little further south are the bars around Place Saint-Géry. That gives you restaurants, shops and nightlife within a few hundred metres, while Grand Place is still less than ten minutes away on foot.

See hotels in Sainte-Catherine here.

The area is also a good choice for families who want a central base. There is both an aparthotel and a hotel with an indoor pool and play area, and the metro runs directly to the European Quarter and to the interchange for the Atomium.

The drawback is noise. A guest at one of the hotels mentions nightclub noise late at night, and some cheaper places have no air conditioning, so windows stay open in summer. Choose a hotel with soundproofed rooms if you are a light sleeper.

Hotels in Sainte-Catherine

OPO Hotel – best rooms in the area

OPO Hotel is a four-star hotel with a guest rating of 9.2 from more than 3,000 reviews, the highest I found in the area. The rooms are large, soundproofed and air-conditioned, and you are around 200 metres from Place Sainte-Catherine. The trade-off is that the hotel offers little beyond the rooms: there is no breakfast, no bar or restaurant, and only a very small lobby.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Our rooms were enormous by today’s standards. A big bed, a big bathroom and exceptionally clean.”

See photos and book OPO Hotel here.

Novotel Brussels City Centre – best hotel for families

Novotel Brussels City Centre is a four-star hotel rated 8.6 by guests from more than 4,000 reviews. It has a heated indoor pool, a gym, a children’s play area, a restaurant and a bar, and family suites are available. Both Place Sainte-Catherine and De Brouckère metro station are around 200 metres away. One guest mentions noise from the nightclubs outside late in the evening.

One guest says on Booking.com: “Excellent facilities, location and breakfast. Extra points for the children’s area and the pool.”

See photos and book Novotel Brussels City Centre here.

Citadines Sainte-Catherine Brussels – best aparthotel

Citadines Sainte-Catherine Brussels is a three-star aparthotel with a guest rating of 8.1. You can choose between studios for two and apartments sleeping four, and Sainte-Catherine metro station is less than 100 metres from the door. Breakfast costs €18 per person. There is no air conditioning, and guests say the walls are thin, so this is not the place for a heatwave.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “The hotel’s location was perfect. You can easily walk to the main square and the sights.”

See photos and book Citadines Sainte-Catherine Brussels here.

3. Sablon – best area for couples

• Distance from the centre: Around 600-700 metres from Grand Place, roughly a ten-minute walk downhill.
• Transport: Trams 92 and 93 stop at Petit Sablon. The nearest metro stations are Gare Centrale on lines 1 and 5, or Louise on lines 2 and 6, both 400-700 metres away.
• Journey from the airport: Around 18 minutes by train to Bruxelles-Central, followed by a five- to ten-minute walk uphill.
• Price range: €€ to €€€. There are few hotels here, and the cheapest were approximately €165-175 per night. The best cost €225-250.
• Safety: A quiet, well-kept neighbourhood, including in the evening.

Sablon is the elegant part of the centre. The neighbourhood sits on the slope between the lower town around Grand Place and the upper town with the Royal Palace. At its heart is Place du Grand Sablon, with antique dealers, galleries and some of the city’s best chocolate shops. The Gothic church of Notre-Dame du Sablon stands at one end of the square.

It is also the best place to stay for museums. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts, including the Magritte Museum, are a few minutes away on Place Royale, while the MIM musical instruments museum occupies an Art Nouveau building on Mont des Arts. Below Sablon is the working-class Marolles neighbourhood, with its flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle.

See hotels in Sablon here.

Evenings are quieter here than around Grand Place or Sainte-Catherine. There are good restaurants and wine bars around the square, but no nightclubs, making Sablon my choice for a couples’ weekend.

The drawback is the limited choice. There are only two proper hotels on the square itself, and when I searched, I found no good hotels for less than around €165 per night. Book well ahead. You should also expect hills, and the metro is not right on your doorstep.

Hotels in Sablon

The Hotel Brussels – best hotel for a spa and views

The Hotel Brussels is a four-star hotel with a guest rating of 8.8 from more than 10,000 reviews. It stands on Boulevard de Waterloo between Sablon and Avenue Louise, with rooms offering panoramic city views. There is a spa with saunas and a hammam, a gym, a restaurant and a bar, and Louise metro station is 200 metres away. You are up on the hill, so Grand Place is around a 15-minute walk away.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “The spa had two saunas, a hammam and relaxation rooms with a fantastic view.”

See photos and book The Hotel Brussels here.

NH Collection Brussels Grand Sablon – best location in Sablon

NH Collection Brussels Grand Sablon is a four-star hotel right on the square, with a guest rating of 8.9 from more than 3,600 reviews. It offers air conditioning, a gym, a restaurant and breakfast, and some rooms have views. Trams stop nearby. Drivers should know that the hotel garage is small, often full, and costs €36 per night.

One guest says on Booking.com: “The hotel facilities were very nice, clean and comfortable. The rooms are spacious and clean.”

See photos and book NH Collection Brussels Grand Sablon here.

9Hotel Sablon – cheapest hotel near the square

9Hotel Sablon is a four-star hotel rated 8.2 by guests, on a quiet side street around 200 metres from Place du Grand Sablon. It has a heated indoor pool, a sauna and a steam room, and the rooms are air-conditioned. It was the cheapest hotel I found in Sablon. One guest says the rooms are very small, and parking costs €30 per day.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Good location, very central, but the street the hotel is on is lovely and quiet.”

See photos and book 9Hotel Sablon here.

4. Ixelles and Avenue Louise – best area for shopping and local life

• Distance from the centre: From 1.5 kilometres at the northern end near Louise to around 2.5-3 kilometres near Place du Châtelain. Most visitors will not want to walk that far.
• Transport: Louise and Porte de Namur metro stations are on lines 2 and 6. Trams 8 and 93 run along Avenue Louise, while tram 81 and several bus routes stop at Place Flagey.
• Journey from the airport: Around 18 minutes by train to Bruxelles-Central or 23 minutes to Bruxelles-Midi, followed by the metro or tram.
• Price range: € to €€€. Budget hotels were approximately €115-140 per night, mid-range hotels €135-185, and five-star hotels €200-250.
• Safety: I found no particular warnings for this area. Watch out for pickpockets, as elsewhere in the city.

Ixelles lies south of the centre. Avenue Louise is Brussels’ upmarket shopping street, lined with international fashion houses, while cafés, wine bars and small restaurants fill the side streets around Place du Châtelain. A market takes place on the square every Wednesday from 2 pm to 7 pm.

This is also the neighbourhood for Art Nouveau. Architect Victor Horta’s own house and studio, now a museum, are in neighbouring Saint-Gilles. Together with three of his other town houses, they joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000. Further east are Place Flagey and the Étangs d’Ixelles ponds.

See hotels in Ixelles here.

Ixelles works best for return visitors to Brussels or anyone staying for more than a couple of days. You get more local life and better restaurants than in the centre, and hotels are generally cheaper than around Grand Place.

The drawback is the distance. From the southern part, you depend on the tram, and transport operator STIB planned major track works on Avenue Louise starting in summer 2026, affecting lines 8 and 93. Check transport arrangements before booking, or choose a hotel within walking distance of Louise metro station.

Hotels in Ixelles and near Avenue Louise

Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s – best luxury hotel with a pool

Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s is a five-star hotel on Avenue Louise itself, with a guest rating of 8.5. It has an indoor pool, a spa with a sauna, hammam and hot tub, a gym, a restaurant and a bar, and Louise metro station is around 400 metres away. Its price was considerably lower than the five-star hotels near Grand Place. The hotel has no private underground car park, and guests say you need to book a time slot for the pool.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Very clean and beautiful rooms, very polite staff, a good location and good breakfast.”

See photos and book Steigenberger Icon Wiltcher’s here.

Hygge Hotel – best mid-range hotel close to the metro

Hygge Hotel borrows its name from Danish and is a three-star hotel with a guest rating of 8.4 from more than 4,000 reviews. It is on a side street around 300 metres from Louise metro station, with a garden, a bar and a lift. The rooms are simple and there is no air conditioning, although fans are available.

One guest says on Booking.com: “The hotel entrance is so beautiful! A nice, clean room and a comfortable bed.”

See photos and book Hygge Hotel here.

ibis Brussels Centre Chatelain – best budget option

ibis Brussels Centre Chatelain is a three-star hotel rated 8.2 by guests. It was one of the cheapest good hotels I found anywhere in Brussels, offering air conditioning, a lift, a bar, a restaurant and a small garden with a terrace. It is just under a kilometre’s walk from Place du Châtelain. Grand Place is around three kilometres away, with no nearby metro station, so you will need the tram or bus.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Very nice and functional rooms.”

See photos and book ibis Brussels Centre Chatelain here.

5. The European Quarter – best area for an affordable weekend stay

• Distance from the centre: Around 1.5-2 kilometres east of Grand Place. Most visitors take the metro.
• Transport: From Schuman and Maelbeek metro stations, lines 1 and 5 run directly to Gare Centrale and De Brouckère. Trône is on lines 2 and 6.
• Journey from the airport: Bus 12 runs directly from the airport to Schuman, Maelbeek and Luxembourg. A ticket costs €7.90 when paid for contactlessly.
• Price range: €€. At weekends, three- and four-star hotels were approximately €125-145 per night and five-star hotels €185-215. On weekdays, the same hotels cost around €235-295.
• Safety: Quiet and peaceful outside office hours. Keep an eye on your bag around busy Schuman.

The European Quarter was built for civil servants, lobbyists and politicians, and they go home on Friday afternoon. That works in your favour. When I compared prices for the same hotels, they were 33-54 per cent cheaper from Saturday to Monday than from Tuesday to Thursday. You can stay in a four-star hotel here for the same price as a modest three-star near Grand Place.

There are sights here too. The European Parliament’s visitor centre, the Parlamentarium, is free and open every day of the week, and the exhibition is available in all 24 official EU languages. The debating chamber itself can only be visited on weekdays and closes for renovation from January 2027. Nearby are Parc Léopold and Parc du Cinquantenaire, with its triumphal arch.

See hotels in the European Quarter here.

The metro gets you to the centre in a few minutes, so the distance matters less than it appears on the map. A single ticket costs €2.40 when you pay with a card or phone at the gates, and according to transport operator STIB, the maximum daily charge is €8.50.

The drawback is the atmosphere. The neighbourhood consists largely of offices, and the streets are quiet at weekends. A guest at one of the hotels says its bar closed very early on a Saturday evening. You will need to head into the centre or over to Ixelles for restaurants and nightlife, and on weekdays the price advantage disappears.

Hotels in the European Quarter

Stanhope Hotel by Thon Hotels – best-value five-star hotel

Stanhope Hotel by Thon Hotels is a five-star hotel with a guest rating of 9.2. It has a garden, a terrace, a sauna, a gym, a restaurant and a bar, and Trône metro station is 250 metres away. When I searched, it cost just under €190 per night at the weekend, less than many four-star hotels in the centre. One guest complains about a narrow, dirty balcony, and the neighbourhood around the hotel is quiet in the evening.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “The most perfect stay I have ever had!”

See photos and book Stanhope Hotel by Thon Hotels here.

Thon Hotel EU – best mid-range hotel beside the metro

Thon Hotel EU is a four-star hotel rated 8.9 by guests. Maelbeek metro station is around 100 metres from the door, with direct services to the centre. The hotel has a sauna, a gym, a garden with a terrace, a restaurant and a bar, and family rooms are available. The breakfast buffet costs €25. It stands on busy Rue de la Loi, and one guest warns that arriving by car during rush hour is difficult.

One guest says on Booking.com: “The room was clean and the bed comfortable. Breakfast is really good.”

See photos and book Thon Hotel EU here.

Radisson RED Brussels – best budget option at weekends

Radisson RED Brussels is a four-star hotel with a guest rating of 8.6, around 100 metres from the European Parliament. It has colourful interiors, a sauna, a gym, a restaurant, a bar and a pool table. At the weekend it cost less than €135 per night, while the weekday price was almost double. There is no hotel parking, and the bar may close early at weekends.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Fantastic location. Funky decor.”

See photos and book Radisson RED Brussels here.

6. Rogier and Rue Neuve – best area for large hotels with pools

• Distance from the centre: Around one kilometre north of Grand Place. It takes 12-15 minutes to walk along pedestrianised Rue Neuve.
• Transport: Rogier station has metro lines 2 and 6, plus trams 4 and 10, which run underground to Bourse and Gare du Midi.
• Journey from the airport: The airport train reaches Bruxelles-Nord in around 11 minutes, followed by a five- to ten-minute walk to the hotels.
• Price range: €€ to €€€. The cheapest hotels were approximately €120-140 per night, four-star hotels €145-215, and five-star hotels from €370.
• Safety: The square itself and the shopping streets are fine. The area north of the square towards Gare du Nord has safety problems, so stay south of Place Rogier in the evening.

Place Rogier sits at the northern end of the centre, where pedestrianised Rue Neuve begins. This is the city’s main shopping street for major chains and department stores, and from its southern end Grand Place is only a few minutes away. Some of the city’s largest hotels stand around the square.

The hotels are the reason to stay here. You get large, modern chain hotels with a pool, spa or gym for less than comparable hotels near Grand Place. Transport is good too: Rogier station has both the metro and trams, while airport trains stop at nearby Bruxelles-Nord.

See hotels near Rogier and Rue Neuve here.

There is a serious drawback to mention. The neighbourhood north of the square around Gare du Nord is one of the parts of Brussels where authorities face the biggest problems with drug dealing and public safety. In June 2026, the regional government announced a plan including 60 additional surveillance cameras around Gare du Nord and Gare du Midi. Guests at hotels near the square also say the area to the north is not particularly pleasant.

That does not mean you should avoid Rogier, but choose your hotel carefully. The three below are on the square or south of it. For character rather than facilities, the upper part of Saint-Gilles near Louise is a good alternative, with rooms from approximately €110 per night.

Hotels near Rogier and Rue Neuve

Juliana Hotel & Spa Brussels Centre – best luxury hotel with a spa

Juliana Hotel & Spa is a five-star hotel rated 8.8 by guests, on quiet Place des Martyrs between Rue Neuve and the centre. It has an indoor pool, a spa with a hammam and sauna, a restaurant and a bar, and is around 600 metres from Grand Place. It is the quietest of the three hotels and the furthest from Gare du Nord. The price, though, was more than twice that of the other two.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “The staff were very welcoming and helpful.”

See photos and book Juliana Hotel & Spa Brussels Centre here.

The Usual Brussels – best mid-range hotel

The Usual Brussels is a four-star hotel with a guest rating of 8.6. It stands on Boulevard Adolphe Max, around 200 metres from Place Rogier and 100 metres from Rue Neuve, with Grand Place around a 15-minute walk away. The rooms are air-conditioned and soundproofed, and there is a restaurant and bar. The cheapest room is a small double, and one guest says the air conditioning was noisy at night.

One guest says on Booking.com: “A small, friendly hotel that is a cheaper option than many others in Brussels.”

See photos and book The Usual Brussels here.

Cardo Brussels, Autograph Collection – best price for a hotel with a pool

Cardo Brussels is a four-star hotel rated 8.4 by guests from more than 7,800 reviews, right on Place Rogier. It has a heated pool on the top floor, a spa, a gym, a restaurant, a bar and a terrace, and its price was among the lowest in the area. Breakfast costs €32.50 per person, the sauna costs extra, and guests say the area north of the hotel is not the best.

One guest writes on Booking.com: “Lovely room. Comfortable beds. Stylish decor.”

See photos and book Cardo Brussels, Autograph Collection here.

Where Should You Avoid Staying in Brussels?

Do not choose a hotel simply because it is next to one of the main railway stations. The areas immediately around Gare du Midi, where Eurostar and the Charleroi airport bus arrive, and Gare du Nord both have problems with drug dealing and theft, and are unpleasant to walk around after dark. Use the stations, but stay elsewhere.

Light sleepers should avoid the cheapest hotels on the bar-filled streets around Place Saint-Géry and the stock exchange, especially those without air conditioning. Hotels near the Atomium and the airport are too far away for a city break, and the airport train only takes 18 minutes anyway. The European Quarter is a poor choice on weekdays, when prices are highest and you still need to head into the centre to eat.

My recommendation is simple. For a first trip, stay near Grand Place or in Sainte-Catherine, where everything is within walking distance. Couples will get the most out of Sablon, while the European Quarter is hard to beat for hotel value on a weekend break. Remember that the price shown on Booking.com does not necessarily include the city’s tourist tax, which is €5 per room per night in 2026.

From Brussels Airport, trains serve all three main stations. If you land in Charleroi, the shuttle bus takes around an hour to Gare du Midi. My guide to getting from Brussels Airport and Charleroi to the city centre compares all the options. The UK Foreign Office’s Belgium travel advice recommends taking extra care in major railway stations and on public transport, particularly at night. For an onward journey by train, read my guides to where to stay in Amsterdam and where to stay in Paris. If you’d like to add a night or two in Bruges, it’s about an hour away by direct train, and my guide to where to stay in Bruges covers the five best areas, from Markt and the canals to quiet Sint-Anna.

The post Where to Stay in Brussels? The 6 Best Areas & Places to Stay appeared first on Destination Well Known.