Places to Explore

• Cinquantenaire and Schuman

  East of the center at the end of rue de la Loi, Rond-Point Robert Schuman is the focus of the buildings that house the European institutions. During the week, the area hums with besuited politicians, lobbyists... (more)

• Gaasbeek

  Visiting Gaasbeek is like stepping inside one of Bruegel's paintings of village life. The area is called Pajottenland, and you may already be familiar with the landscape from his works, many of which were... (more)

• In and Around Ixelles

  The commune of Ixelles sprung up around the avenue Louise, which King Leopold II commissioned to connect the Bois de la Cambre woodland with the city center. Art Nouveau town houses and upscale boutiques... (more)

• Lower Town

  During the latter half of the 10th century, a village began to emerge on the site of present-day Brussels. A population of craftspeople and traders settled gradually around the castle of the counts of... (more)

• North of Center

  Don't be put off by the area's seedy reputation, because here you'll find green suburbs and some of Brussels' best tourist attractions. There are several sights clustered around the Atomium building, a... (more)

• South of Center

• Upper Town

  Uptown Brussels bears the hallmarks of two rulers, Austrian Charles of Lorraine and Leopold II, Belgium's empire builder. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which distributed bits of Europe like pieces in a jigsaw... (more)

• Waterloo

  Waterloo, like Stalingrad and Hiroshima, changed the course of history. The defeat of the French here in June 1815 ended Napoléon's attempt to dominate Europe.... The British army's top officers were... (more)