5 Things to do: Brussels
1. Horta Museum
This Horta Museum is a lovely art nouveau example from the turn of the century by major architect and Belgian Victor Horta. It was Horta’s home and studio and contains period furniture. If you see only one Horta building you should see this one.
Other Horta buildings include the Maison Autrique, named for the original inhabitants. The instructions to Horta in planning the home were not to make anything extravagant, and he wanted a toilet on the first floor. Autrique wanted practical. It is very interesting to see what practical means in terms of bourgeois family life, with a premier architect, at the turn of the century. This museum features a kitchen in the basement with period pieces, and a large projector in one of the upstairs rooms. There are other period pieces in each room and generally a nice renovation.
2. Place Royale Bruxelles
This is a square surrounded by excellent museums. When you are done here, it’s a quick walk to one of the outlets of Passion Chocolates. See more information on them on our food page.
The Musee Magritte has the largest collection of Rene Magritte’s work. You’ll see some very typical Magritte works, some from other periods you might not recognize as Magritte’s style, and learn about surrealism.
Musee Fin-de-Siecle, devoted to the 1900’s.
There is also the Musee Oldmasters (15th-18th centuries); a labor art museum; museum of Antoine Weirtz, a Belgian Romantic-era painter; and the Modern Art museum (which was temporarily closed when we visited). When we are back in Brussels visiting the family we will check out these other branches of the Royale Museums collection and update this site.
Very close by is the Royale Palace of Brussels, which houses the BELvue museum and the Coudenberg museum. We got a ticket admission to both but suggest you do otherwise. The BELvue is worth seeing if you need something interactive and would like to learn about the history of Belgium, which is a good thing to do when you visit Belgium! It has a little of everything from furniture and toys to posters and politics. Descriptions of items on display are accessed via iPad screens, and it was a bit tedious to click through to the full description of something. Alternatively, one can carry around a little book given freely at the entrance; it’s in multiple languages. However, this just seems like a lot of paper. We wished the old-fashioned signage of items in a museum was more prevalent here.
The Coudenberg, an archeological exhibit with the excavations of Charles V’s palace, we found underwhelming. Maybe we are jaded, having seen archeological preservations of much greater detail in other countries, but we didn’t find much to look at, and the audio and written descriptions didn’t bring the area to life.
3. Grande Place/Manneken Pis
Pretty much every European city has a central square, typically enclosed by grand old buildings of importance, but our Belgian locals claim that the one is Brussels is the best of them all. The Grande Place has some special events, so check online to see if any coincide with your visit.
The Manneken Pis is about a 5 min walk from the Grande Place. This is iconic Brussels and Belgian, so you should visit. It’s a fountain of a boy peeing and it’s available to visit anytime by the public without fee. You may even want to visit more than once since his outfit changes several times a week. The outfits are managed by a non-profit organization, and the schedule of what he will be wearing is posted on the little fence surrounding his fountain.
4. The View
This giant ferris wheel is such a touristy thing to do, and we did it. And we had fun. I convinced Dan because 1) it was way cheaper than ferris wheel rides are in the States and 2) it was raining so our little car provided protection while 3) affording a nice view of the city despite the rain.
5. Market Day
The Marche Meudon (Wednesdays from 3pm) is a great farmer’s market in a tawny neighborhood of Brussels and near one of the best (the best?) bread/patisserie shop around, de Baere. [Av. Heydenberg 20, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium. Closed Monday and Tuesday]. You’ll also find the best waffles here. If you are coming just for the market, your biggest issue is de Baere may run out of their most popular items before the market starts at 3. (Their website has a feature where you can order the day before for pick up the next day.) At de Baere we recommend everything, but especially the craquelin–let’s just call it crack. This is a rich yeast dough with sugar crystals added on top. When the market starts you will have to wait in line for your waffles at La Galette Artisanale, but it is worth it. Order a dozen.
Best waffles in Belgium. No need to get toppings added. The basic waffle is plenty sweet.
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