4 Best Sights in Brussels, Belgium

This jewelry box of a square is arguably Europe's most ornate and theatrical. It's also a vital part of the city—everyone passes through at some point. At night, the burnished facades of the guild houses look especially dramatic. Try to make it here for the Ommegang, a historical pageant re-creating Emperor Charles V's reception in the city in 1549 (in June and July), or for the famed Carpet of Flowers, which fills the square with color for four days in mid-August on even-numbered years. Dominating the square is the magnificent Gothic-era Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall). Work began on it in 1402, and it's nearly 300 years older than the surrounding guild houses. The belfry is topped by a bronze statue of St. Michael crushing the devil beneath his feet. 

At the bustling center of the city is the triangular wedge of the Grote Markt, home to the magnificent St. Peter's Church and Town Hall. On one side are the old guild houses, now café-bars. Gaze up to the tips of their gabled roofs and you'll spy elaborate decorations, from dancing girls to sailing ships, that lend a clue to their former masters. On the other side is the Tafelrond, formerly a theater that was destroyed in 1817. This was rebuilt in the Gothic style as a bank; now it's a very expensive (€400 a night) boutique stay. 

Once nothing more than a sandy hill, "Sand Square" is now an elegant place, surrounded by numerous restaurants, cafés, and antiques shops, some in intriguing alleys and arcades. For a little tranquillity, pop into the beautiful Église Notre Dame du Sablon at the eastern end of the square, a flamboyant Gothic church founded in 1304. It's one of Brussels’s most beautiful churches, and at night its stained-glass windows are illuminated from within to magical effect. Opposite the Grand Sablon, you'll find the pretty garden place du Petit Sablon. It's surrounded by a magnificent wrought-iron fence, topped by 48 small bronze statues representing the city’s guilds.

If you find the Grand Place overrun by tourists, come to this square/market, a favorite among locals, who come to shop for necessities and banter with fishmongers (Thursday–Saturday 7–5; Wednesday organic market 7:30–3). At night, the square often has a mobile bar, while the fishmonger serves great seafood (see Restaurants). In the evening the action moves to the old Vismet (fish market), which branches off from the Eglise de Ste-Catherine. A canal used to run through here; it's now reduced to a couple of elongated ponds, but both sides are lined with seafood restaurants, some excellent, many of them overpriced. In good weather, there's waterside dining.