Despite being in the headlines lately for all of the wrong reasons, Brussels is still an interesting place to visit. An easy 2 hour train ride from Amsterdam, this charming city lies in the heart of Belgium and is home to the European Union’s unofficial capital.
While I enjoyed my short visit to Brussels, I doubt I’d ever go back. Our itinerary had us in Brussels for 2 1/2 days, and we ended up using a full day of that to go to Brugge instead. We hit all of the major tourist spots in Brussels in the short time that we were there, but it still felt like there wasn’t much to see or do in the heart of the city.
We got to Brussels around 2:00P on the train from Amsterdam and grabbed a taxi to check into our hotel. The Dominican was just north of the Grand Place, which should be the starting point for anyone visiting Brussels for the first time. Cristina and I took a slightly different approach, and decided to get beer first. (Yeah, like you’re surprised). After a little wandering around, we managed to find the Delirium Cafe, conveniently located just a few blocks from our hotel. The “obvious” entrance was closed, and we had to walk around the block (getting lost twice) to get to the real entrance, which was down a dead-end alley. This didn’t feel sketchy at all, nope, not one bit. We went in and found a great bar that really reminded me of a country/ western bar in the midwest with a hint of a dive bar, complete with big wooden tables and random kitsch on the walls. I didn’t think to check for sawdust on the floor, but it wouldn’t have surprised me at all. We ordered a few high-proof beers and started a conversation with a Dutchman who happened to be nearby. After finishing our beers, we decided to start checking out the sights. Down the alley, closer to the dead end, was Jeanneke Pis, the sister statue to Brussels’ famous Mannekin Pis. It’s tucked away in a small alcove, and the statue is about a foot tall, so it would be easy to miss, except for the crowd of people standing around it taking pictures. We took the obligatory picture, asked each other why Jeanneke Pis was one of the top 10 things to see in Brussels, lowered our expectations for the rest of the city, and went on our way. From there, we wandered through the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, which is a 14th century building that’s been renovated to have a lot of modern shops. It’s a fun walk to look around and window shop. It almost feels like the Venetian in Las Vegas. (It’s pretty sad that I use Vegas as my baseline for stuff like this).
At this point, we thought it was time to hit the #1 spot to see in Brussels. We headed towards the Grand Place and walked around. Built up over centuries, Grand Place feels like the town square, with old political buildings on all four sides. Now, they’re home to bars, hotels, and chocolate shops. Nearby is a chocolate museum, which was unfortunately closed at this hour. We did, however, find a cigar shop, where I grabbed a medium-bodied Cohiba to enjoy later. We made our way to Mannekin Pis (slightly less disappointing than his sister, but with far more tourists taking pictures) with a few stops at cafes along the way. Dinner was at Nuetnigenough, a small restaurant with delicious food. We had a pâté appetizer, and I had veal meatballs in a light gravy for my entree. They don’t do reservations, but the wait wasn’t long when we got there, so if you’re in the area, definitely stop in. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for one more drink and then we called it a night. Just for reference, all of this took place within a 5 or 6 block radius. It’s a short walk from each of these stops to the next.
The next day was our first full day in Brussels, so we decided to start our day off with a good meal. We stopped in at Peck 47 for brunch, which was quite good. From there, we returned to the Grand Place, since the square was also the home of the Museum of Belgian Brewers. For €5, you get admission to the museum and a pint of beer. The museum itself can be covered in about 5 minutes, and that’s if you stop to read everything. If you want to watch the video, that’ll probably take another 15 minutes of your life that you won’t get back. The beer was served in a section of the museum that housed old brewing equipment from back in the day, which was kind of neat. But we didn’t dawdle there; we knocked back those beers and went on our way. Our next stop was the chocolate museum that we were unable to get into the day before. A €15 admission fee here gave us tastes of 2 different types of chocolate (which had been sitting out in the open for far too long), time to wander around the museum, and the opportunity to see the presentation which we didn’t stick around for. At this point, we were laughing at how bad the “museums” were and wondering how these places also made the top 10 Things To Do in Brussels.
The rest of the day saw us wandering east to the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral, and then southward, through Grand Sablon (home of the Grote Zavel and the Église Notre-Dame de la Chapelle) and further south to Porte De Hal. Near Porte De Hal, we stopped at Le Bistro for a drink and something to snack on while we looked out over the Parc de la Porte De Hal. The meat and cheese plate left something to be desired, but it was certainly better than the cherry beer that I accidentally ordered. (In an effort to be ‘local’, I kept ordering beers that I wasn’t familiar with, and nearly every one of them sucked. Clearly I should stick with what I know.) From there, we went to Bar Tapas 177 for a little wine and some mussels. The wine was good. I won’t discuss the mussels. Fortunately, we were just trying the mussels for the sake of trying them, because we had dinner plans at Le Wine Bar des Marolles across the street. This Bib Gourmand restaurant was full, and we were fortunate to get one of the only tables that were reserved for walk-in customers. Instead of getting an entree each, we decided to go tapas style and order a few appetizers to share. The appetizers were massive, one of which could make a small meal (so the 4 that we had ordered ended up being way too much food). Our waiter was a lot of fun, laughing and joking with us, attentive but not doting, and picking some great wines to go with the meal. When we were almost uncomfortably full and slightly buzzed, we got the check. The total was less than $95, on top of which we left a nice tip. This was the best meal that we had in Brussels, and I definitely recommend checking it out. We took a cab back to the hotel and grabbed a beverage at the hotel lobby before turning in for the night.
As I mentioned earlier, the next day, we went to Brugge rather than stick around Brussels for another day. Brugge is the local/ Dutch spelling of Bruges, which is the English version. So if you want to show your friends how worldly you are, start spelling it Brugge. They’ll think you’re an idiot, but you’ll be “worldly.” A day and a half in Brussels felt like the right amount of time. I think two days would be good, to give you time to eat and drink leisurely. Most of the tourist areas feel very safe, despite the recent issues. The streets around Grand Place are a little narrower and a little darker than the streets in Amsterdam, leading it to feel a little dingier and less safe than Amsterdam did. That being said, I don’t think I felt unsafe at any point during the trip, so take it all with a grain of salt. I think Brussels would be a great place to stop for a day or two as you tour the other major cities in the region. Check out Grand Place, grab a beer at La Rose Blanche and some chocolate from Neuhaus in the Grand Place square, have dinner at Le Wine Bar des Marolles, and see the statues of pissing children. That’s Brussels in a nutshell.
