12 Things You Must Do When Visiting Brussels
Brussels is the home of amazing old European architecture, Belgium waffles, great beer, and a great city to explore.
Most places listed are free to do and see! See all the places you should go to and what to do if travelling to Brussels!
Eat Belgium Waffles
How can you go to Belgium - Brussels especially, and not eat waffles? We’d never really eaten proper waffles before we went to Brussels but we definitely filled our faces full of them while we were there!
There was a good range in price depending on toppings, but often just 1euro for a plain waffle and go up to about 8euro or so.
I often got whipped cream and caramel sauce which was amazing. The only thing about eating waffles is that they give you a very small plastic fork like a chip fork you would get from a burger van.
I couldn’t use it to break the waffle up and then had to use my hands, resulting in having whipped cream all over my face and hands but I wasn’t really complaining…
Waffle shops are all over Brussels but the road leading to mannequin de pis is literally all waffle shops.
Waffle toppings range from cream, caramel, different sauces, fruit, honestly, the varieties are endless! You can’t go to Brussels and not eat waffles!
The Belgium Waffle
The term ‘waffle’ originally appeared in Belgium literature in 1604 but no mention of an official ‘Belgium waffle’ until 1874!
The waffle dough resembles brioche some what, but can be topped with a huge variety of fruits, chocolate and sauces
2. The Delirium Bar
Tripadvisor has always been our go-to for reviews on hotels, restaurants, what to do, and see and the Delirium bar was no different. I read about it originally on Tripadvisor but going to this bar was a great experience.
We went to the Delirium bar on the first night of our interrailing trip. At this point, we were full of energy and hadn’t been ‘walked out’ for walking over 20,000 steps every day for 20+ days, and the delirium bar was so enjoyable!
It consists of 3 floors. The middle floor is the floor you go in and has maybe about 50 beers behind the bar. I don’t even like beer but I found something I liked which was fruity and didn’t taste like beer at all.
All the beers were also over 6%! So pretty strong beer for us British. Ed also enjoyed a horn of beer a few times too!
The bottom floor is all the experimental beers, this has a menu of over 2000 beers and was exceptionally busy you could barely move in there. The top floor has some experimental beers too.
The chairs were really cool as they were like a booth, but the top of the booth was the top of an old-style big beer barrel with the chairs underneath.
There was a huge range of people there from locals, to tourists, and nice to see those travelling who had made friends with others. The delirium bar was great and we visited a few times.
3. Mannequin De Pis
Ok, so although this is in my list of things to do in Brussels I wouldn’t say it’s awfully impressive.
We originally walked past it till I realized what everyone was looking at, but I suppose it’s funny. It’s cool how they dress it up in different outfits sometimes too!
History of Mannequin De Pis
The earliest mention of Mannequin De Pis was in 1451-2 but the original bronze statue wasn’t in place until 1620. The replica there now was placed in 1925
4. The Grand Place
The grand place literally is a grand place! The buildings are finished with gold around the rims of the buildings and so beautiful to look at, especially in the sun.
If you’re lucky enough they often hold beer festivals in the centre, and hold carpet of flowers here and has been a market area since the 11th century!
5. Admire the Street Art
Brussels has an abundance of street art. Pictures painted right across the side of tall buildings all over and they’re really impressive.
There are routes you can take to walk around the city to see the majority of the big street art and a good way to explore the city.
6. Visit a Cafe
We spent the first day having breakfast in a nice quaint Belgium café. We both got a croissant and this started the daily tradition of eating a croissant every day on our interrailing trip.
Ed enjoyed a coffee and I enjoyed nice orange juice. But sat there you could see trays and trays of pastries to bake and was quite fascinating to sit and watch
7. Eat Some Frites
Doing research before going to Brussels I saw a lot about frites. We had no idea what they were or whether they just chips.
Brussels has sort of takeaway shops and stalls where they sell frites and to us, they are essentially chips but they tasted amazing!
You usually buy them with cheese and a sauce but some of the best chips we’ve ever had! You can buy frites all over Brussels and are easy to pick up for a few euros.
8. Belgium Chocolate
Do we need to say anymore?
9. St Michaels and St Gudula Cathedral
There are multiple churches in Brussels, and St Michaels and St Gudula cathedral became one in the 1960s and are pretty big.
A cathedral to visit if this is your sort of thing. I always enjoy old churches for the architecture and the appreciation that it was all built without any machinery and all by hand.
A church has been on this site since the 11th century and is situated to the northeast of the city.
10. Royal Palace
Belgium is one of the few countries in Europe that still has a monarchy. Although they don’t live at the palace it is used for general affairs, court, and entertaining.
A good place to see the history of Brussels, explore the gardens, and is bigger than Buckingham Palace.
11. Park and Garden
This is a huge park in the centre of Brussels. Ed and I enjoyed our lunch sitting on a park bench in front of the fountain which was really nice.
We then had a walk around the park where there was a comics festival on. The only thing, public toilets were unisex.
There were no separate women and men toilets, they were together and had many cubicles but many urinals too, which we don’t have in Britain. Much more inclusive but not something we were used too
12. Atomium
Atomium is a little further away from Brussels and would require you to get the metro there or you can walk but takes over an hour.
It is humongous and classed as a museum now. It was a part of the world fair in the 1950s and you can also visit inside it.
Other Things to Do in Brussels
Brussels is close to other beautiful cities such as Bruges and Ghent. You can take day trips to both of these places.
From Brussels to Bruges you can get the train which only takes an hour and a train to Ghent only takes 40 minutes. Only short journeys to explore other great cities in Belgium.
Where to Stay in Brussels
There are so many places to stay in Brussels, it’s just deciding where! You can be in the inner city which is usually more expensive. Or a small walk, or train ride in.
We stayed in a quirky hotel just outside the main portion of the city which was entirely concrete inside and out! We liked the reduced price and the short walk into the main portion of the city, a good way to save those extra pennies!
If you're wanting to save even more money, then hostels could be the better option. Especially if you're wanting to socialize and meet others along the way
How to Get to Brussels
From the UK, Brussels is pretty easy to get to on the Eurostar. Usually, unless you live in London, you will also have to get a connecting train, so maybe flying could be an easier or cheaper option.
If travelling from somewhere else, flying could be the easier and more straightforward option. If you're travelling to Brussels from within Europe, why not check out travelling by bus? Easy way to save money, however, will make the journey longer
Although we only spent 2 short days in Brussels we tried to see as much as possible! Brussels is a thoroughly enjoyable city to explore even if it is just for the waffles!
You can travel to Brussels by Eurostar from London, or fly from your nearest airport. Hope you enjoy Brussels when you visit, please leave a comment on anything else you've visited in Brussels!
