315 Best Sights in Belgium

The city's carnival museum, set within a sprawling former Augustinian college opposite the church, offers colorful context for February’s festivities and even captures their atmosphere a little. It goes into great detail on the carnival’s history, costumes, and preparation—planning begins six months in advance and, judging from the photo display, requires a few beers to kickstart—and it looks at similar carnivals from Wallonia and the rest of the world. The star attractions, however, are the private cinema, which shows nonstop films of the day’s festivities, and the VR headsets that drop you right into the day's action. Downstairs, temporary exhibitions usually focus on masks from around the world. 

This museum traces the history of the Jewish faith and the fate of its followers in Belgium. The extensive collection includes religious objects dating from the 16th century, including documents, religious items, and books. In addition, it has hosted some truly excellent temporary exhibitions, ranging from the Jewish influence on superheroes to the work of prominent Jewish artists.

The university museum's collection stands some 20,000 items strong, spanning just about any topic you care to mention, from Congolese statues to Picasso monographs. It's ordered around some slightly esoteric themes, but essentially this is just a neat way of delving into the stories surrounding the collection. Temporary exhibitions have covered everything from the history of photographing the human body to ancient religious practices. 

The costume and lace museum pays tribute to Brussels’ textile-making past. Housed in four 17th-century houses and a warehouse, the museum is something of a 17th- to 18th-century fashion show, with accessories, embroidery, and clothes on display, many featuring the delicate lace for which the city once became famous.

The Oldmasters Museum pays special attention to the so-called Flemish Primitives of the 15th century, who revolutionized the art of painting with oil. The Spanish and the Austrians pilfered some of the finest works, but there's plenty left to savor, including works by Memling, Petrus Christus, Rogier van der Weyden, and Hieronymus Bosch. The collection of pieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is particularly eye-catching; it includes The Fall of Icarus, in which the figure of the mythological hero disappearing in the sea is but one detail of a scene where people continue to go about their business. There are English-language brochures and guided tours available.

This estate once belonged to Marie of Hungary, though her castle was destroyed in 1794. In the 19th century, it fell into the hands of Raoul Warocqué, heir to a coal-mining fortune. He was also an avid collector of antiquities, having built up the world's largest collection of Tournai porcelain as well as Greco-Roman and Egyptian artifacts. Don’t miss Rodin’s statue of the Burghers of Calais, one of a few that were cast during the artist’s lifetime.

As much a love letter to Belgian beer culture as a museum. It was started by one person donating 300 (empty) bottles of Belgian beer, then volunteers sought out all kinds of brewing paraphernalia. Now it has over 2,500 bottles and some 5,000-plus glasses, as well as endless signs, logos, bits of brewing equipment, and relics of breweries long since departed. It's only open two days a week (Wednesday and Saturday), and tickets include a tasting of Schaerbeekoise and Eizelskop beers. 

Discover the mystique and mishaps of Liège’s most beloved marionette at this museum in the Outremeuse district. Here you can learn the answers to such burning questions as: How did Tchantchès meet his girlfriend Nanesse? Why did he have to eat an iron shoe to fight the measles at the age of three? Was he really designed by an Italian puppeteer? See Tchantchès in action October through April at the Sunday-morning puppet shows at 10:30, or Wednesday afternoon at 2:30. Note that the museum itself is only open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2 to 4 pm. There’s no explanatory information available in English.

This modest little museum in the town of Waterloo is housed within a former 18th-century coaching inn and was the site of the Duke of Wellington's headquarters on the 17th and 18th of June 1815. It was here that he penned his victory dispatch to the British government. Now it is filled with relics collected from the battle, as well as temporary exhibitions on other wars. 

This workshop-museum began life in 1850 when the painter, sculptor, and writer Antoine Wiertz (1806--65) agreed to leave his collection to the Belgian government before his death. All the more surprising given he was a somewhat controversial figure, drawn to create huge canvases of often shocking subjects, from a naked woman staring down a skeleton, to gruesome accounts of Greek history, and the truly macabre Premature Burial, where a hand is seen clawing its way out of a coffin.

At the western edge of Diksmuide, some 23 km (15 miles) north from Ypres, and just a mile south from the Dodengang (above), the centerpiece of this memorial site is the IJzertoren, a 275-foot tower, rebuilt in 1965 to honor defenders and casualties from both world wars and to represent the Flemish struggle for autonomy. The giant letters on the monument beside the tower (AVV-VVK), mean “Everything for Flanders, Flanders for Christ.” The 22-story tower houses a museum chronicling the two wars and the emancipation of Flanders using images, text, and sound. The top floor and the roof terrace provide a splendid view of the entire area.

This museum, in a flamboyant 16th-century Renaissance palace, has an extensive collection of artworks and period bric-a-brac that illustrate life during the height of the Burgundian Netherlands in the 15th and 16th centuries. One particularly noteworthy treasure is a gorgeously illustrated choir book that once belonged to Margaret of Austria.

In one of Belgium's most important contemporary art venues, you'll find paintings, installations, video art, and experimental architecture from a range of international artists. Among its collection are works by Antwerp-born Flemish polymath Jan Fabre, whose often bizarre sculptures and installations have established him as a leading figure in the Belgian art world. The museum, which also contains an art house cinema and library, is housed in a renovated grain silo. There's also a rooftop café.

In one of Belgium's most important contemporary art venues, you'll find paintings, installations, video art, and experimental architecture from a range of international artists. Among these works is a collection by the Antwerp-born Flemish theater director/choreographer/artist Jan Fabre, whose often bizarre sculptures and installations have established him as a leading figure in the Belgian art world. The museum, which also contains an arthouse cinema and library, is housed in a renovated grain silo. There's also a rooftop café.

Based in the small town of Bellegem, a few miles south of Kortrijk, this historic brewery is best known for its traditional blond beer, which is found in most Belgian bars. Do, however, seek out its "Vanderghinste Roodbruin" brew, a slightly sour dark lambic blend that replicates the original beer made in 1892 by founder Omer Vander Ghinste, which he sold around Bellegem in a horse and cart. Tours last two hours and finish with a tasting.

On a clear day you can see as far as the Netherlands by climbing the 206 steps to the top of the tower of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady), which was founded in 1225 and rises high above the surrounding farmland as a symbol of Damme’s proud past. Poet Jacob van Maerlant, who lived and worked in Damme during the late 13th century, is buried under the main portal below the tower. Charles the Bold and Margaret of York were married here.

The 13th-century Church of Our Lady is arguably the grander of the two city center churches, though little remains of the original facade after the church was largely destroyed and rebuilt after the Battle of Westrozebeke in 1382. A 14th-century addition, in the form of the Count's Chapel, was built as a personal mausoleum for Count Lodewijk van Male; it, too, was heavily bombarded during World War II but has been well restored. A number of fine artworks hang here and in the church, including the Erection of the Cross by Flemish master Anthony Van Dyck. Famously, this is where the looted 500 gilded spurs, taken from the defeated French knights in the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs, were hung afterwards; these were likely later taken away by the French but were replaced in 1952 by replicas that still hang here. At the time of writing, a new augmented-reality exhibition was to be launched in the summer of 2022, where visitors can learn of the history of the battle while touring the church. Nearby, you'll also find the Artillery Tower, which was part of the original 14th-century fortifications. 

The towering spire of the plain Gothic Church of Our Lady, begun about 1220, rivals the Belfry as a symbol of Bruges. At 381 feet high, it is the second-tallest brick construction in the world. The art history highlight here is the Madonna and Child statue carved by Michelangelo, an early work. The choir museum contains many 13th- and 14th-century polychrome tombs, as well as two mausoleums: that of Mary of Burgundy, who died in 1482 at the age of 25 after a fall from her horse; and that of her father, Charles the Bold, killed in 1477 while laying siege to Nancy in France. Mary was as well loved in Bruges as her husband, Maximilian of Austria, was loathed. 

Around 4 km (2½ miles) north from Damme, Oostkerke has to be one of the cutest villages in Flanders. Every house in the tiny hamlet is white-washed, and at the center stands the imposing bulk of the Sint-Quintinuskerk, founded around 1100. Also nearby is a 19th-century mill and a 14th-century castle, albeit the former is in a poor state of repair, and the latter is now a private residence and closed to visitors. If you're in need of refreshment, Eetcafé De Knotwilg (www.deknotwilgoostkerke.be; closed Tuesday and Wednesday) serves simple snacks and full meals.

Probably the biggest reason Belgians come to this part of Wallonia is to visit the huge safari park in the grounds of a former Cistercian abbey. Look out for its botanical garden and some 7,000 animals spread over 160 acres, with everything from fish pedicures and ice-skating to the largest Chinese-style garden in Europe to keep families entertained. 

This lovely 18th-century manor house was built by Namur’s Bishop de Strickland; nowadays the Walloon Parliament meets in what was once the bishop’s private chapel, and the interior is only open to visitors by appointment. Inside, the walls are lined with art, including an Italian stucco of the four seasons in the foyer, and in the receiving room, which was originally the billiard hall, a portrait of the bishop himself.

Also located on the Citadelle grounds, this spacious park includes a large playground with miniature golf, a climbing circuit, go-carts, and electric cars.

This small park on the bank of the Ourthe offers a lighthearted variation on the concept of a formal European garden. Here, more than 250 box trees have been patiently pruned into a variety of shapes and sizes. Look for the dancing elephant, and the re-creation of Brussels’s Manneken Pis. The café terrace commands an excellent view of the village.

One of the prettiest stretches of parkland in Brussels made all the more welcome for being deep among the residential mélange of Schaerbeek. Its archways of cherry blossoms are particularly enchanting in spring. In summer there are free concerts and Glacier Cocozza, across the road, draws a queue all the way down the road for its ice creams. The park is best known for its Cherry Festival (last Sunday in June) when locals gather to compete in a highly competitive cherry-pit-spitting contest. 

This tranquil park, just next to the EU Quarter, has a strange history of failures. First, it was a poorly maintained 19th-century pleasure garden, then home a zoo in which most of the animals died (its two entrance pavilions date from this era). By the 1930s, thankfully, it found its purpose and became an important scientific library and institute, around which a pair of museums were later added. It's largely peaceful except at lunchtime, when seemingly every corner is invaded by local schoolkids. 

Among the nonmilitary sights within the Citadelle, the former officers’ mess hall is now a fragrance factory that allows you to witness the steps of isolating and combining the aromas involved in creating a fine perfume. Factory visits are by tour only, but a shop upstairs exhibits the work of local artists and sells the factory’s products.

Art lovers will want to head for nearby Sint-Idesbald---effectively a western suburb of Koksijde---to discover the Paul Delvaux Museum in a reconverted Flemish farmhouse. It is dedicated to the painter, famous for his Surrealist mix of nudes, skeletons, and trains, who died in 1994 at the age of nearly 100. This collection has work from the various stages of Delvaux’s career, including his later, somewhat eerie female nudes.

Set in the Tour & Taxis building on the riverfront, the city's first computer-game museum only opened in 2020. Its collection charts the history of gaming from 1972, the launch of the Odyssey by Magnavox, to the present day, and elicits great waves of nostalgia among those who lived through this era. 

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.

This bustling square is as old as Liège itself. For centuries it was where the city’s commercial and political life was concentrated. The 18th-century Hôtel de Ville is here, with its two entrances: one for the wealthy and one for the common people. A number of the old buildings surrounding it were among the 23,000 destroyed by German bombs. In the center stands the Perron, a large fountain sculpted by Jean Delcour, topped with an acorn—the symbol of Liège’s liberty.