[Due to the current situation linked to the coronavirus epidemic , the opening dates of the monuments and establishments mentioned in the article are likely to be modified for the year 2020.]
The Atomium
It is the symbol of Brussels and Belgium: the Atomium. Built for the 1958 World's Fair - the first in the post-war era, it symbolized technology and progress. Its nine spheres represent an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. In 1958, the elevator to the upper sphere was the fastest in Europe. Today, with its glass ceiling, it continues to make its small effect. From the top, you have a 360 degree view of Brussels. Squeaks? Normal, the structure moves with the wind. Even the lights rock on the ceiling! Going back down, a stop at the exhibition on the history of the place allows you to admire the structure of the monument from the inside.
Well seen.- The entrance ticket to the Atomium also gives access to the neighboring ADAM Brussels Design Museum. You will discover the Plasticarium, a collection of 2,000 plastic objects from the 1950s to the present day.
Atomium, square de l'Atomium, 1020 Brussels. Phone. : +32 2 475 47 75. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (ticket office closes at 5.30 p.m.). Price 16 €. Metro access "Heysel".
The main square
New LED lighting magnifies the facades of the Grand-Place after dark. visit.brussels - Eric Danhier
Cocteau said of it that it is "the most beautiful theater in the world". Since then, the Grand Place in Brussels has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its remarkable architecture. It is to the French bombing of 1695 that this old market owes its current physiognomy. During the reconstruction, each corporation wanted to offer a house more ornate and more golden than its neighbor ... Want to see what is hidden behind the facades? Enter the breweries that provide access to the floors. Like Le Roy d'Espagne (the former home of the bakers' corporation) or La Chaloupe d'Or. Also push the door of the Maison du Roi, the museum of the City of Brussels, which houses in particular the real Manneken-Pis (the one installed a few streets away being only a replica). As for the majestic Town Hall which dominates the square, do not hesitate to book a guided tour to stroll through the rooms with red and gold decor.
The good idea: come back in the evening. The lighting is splendid thanks to more than 1600 LED projectors which highlight every detail of its architecture.
Also read: 48 hours in Brussels: between BD and Art Nouveau, cultural stroll in the Belgian capital
The European Parliament
The European Parliament's hemicycle is visited during the week. Pixabay - Florian Pircher
Passing through Brussels, lovers of news will want to take a tour of the European Parliament. It was for them that the Parlementarium was created. The place is very crowded ... but moderately interesting. You will be entrusted with an iPhone for a guided audio tour in vast, somewhat empty spaces… Bad tongues will say that it is like the European institutions: bling-bling and incomprehensible. Instead, take a walk two blocks further to the House of European History. An exhibition well done for those who want to revise their history lessons of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is also possible to visit the Chamber of the Parliament. Or even attend a plenary session when MEPs are in Brussels.
Hemicycle of the European Parliament, Paul-Henri Spaak building, rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60, B-1047 Brussels. Open Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. No visit is possible on weekends, office closing days, or holidays. Free admission. Bus access: "Luxembourg".
The Royal Museum for Central Africa
Housed in this neoclassical palace, the old museum of Africa has made a clean sweep of the past. visit.brussels - Jean-Paul Remy
"Everything passes, except the past". It is with this phrase that the AfricaMuseum welcomes you. The place indeed has a busy past. In 1897, King Leopold II organized a colonial exhibition "embellished" with a human zoo in his domain of Tervuren, on the outskirts of Brussels. In the process, a neoclassical palace was built to house a permanent museum. The place is magnificent, the collections extremely rich ... A century later, the colonial point of view seems unbearable. In 2018, the museum therefore makes a clean sweep of the past. He reorganizes his collections, gives a voice to Africans and addresses the annoying themes. To discover during a guided tour to understand the issues.
WE love. - A tram line was created in 1897 to link Tervuren to the city center. It still exists and has lost none of its charm since it crosses the Soignes forest. The journey takes around twenty minutes.
AfricaMuseum, Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren. Phone. : +32 2 395 82 50. Closed on Mondays. Price 12 €. Tram access "Tervuren Station".
Coudenberg Palace
It is a whole underground city that is discovered at Coudenberg. Marcel Vanhulst
A stone's throw from the current royal palace in Brussels was once a sumptuous palace which was notably that of Charles V: the Coudenberg. He disappeared one night in February 1731, during a great fire. In the years that followed, the remains were razed and then filled in to give birth to the neoclassical district of Place Royale. But in the basement, many vestiges of the old palace are still there ... Unearthed by recent work, they are accessible to the public for an astonishing labyrinth visit in the underground. The walk ends at the Coudenberg museum, where objects from archaeological excavations are on display.
WE love. - The mystery of the underground passages means that one enters the Coudenberg by the Bellevue hotel, which is none other than the right wing of the royal palace. It is only rarely open, but you can catch a glimpse of its gardens and interiors as you pass.
Coudenberg Palace, entrance via BELvue, Belgian history museum and center for democracy, 7 place des Palais, 1000 Brussels. Phone. : + 32 2 500 45 54. Open Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends + July and August: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Price 7 € (Coudenberg + BELvue museum 12 €). Access to tram and bus "Royale", metro "Gare Centrale" or "Parc".
The Museum of Musical Instruments
Evocation of the Belgian Adolphe Sax and his saxophone at the Museum of Musical Instruments. Christine Masuy / Le Figaro
It is behind the magnificent Art Nouveau facade of the old Old England stores that the Museum of Musical Instruments of Brussels (MIM) is nestled. It is renowned for its rich and varied collections. Particularly around Adolphe Sax, the child of the country, who invented "the Belgian clarinet" before giving him his name: the saxophone. The set will delight music lovers, but it will be able to disconcert the others by its somewhat muddled organization. In all cases, take an audio guide: it allows you to hear a series of instruments over the course of the visit.
Good to know. - The place is also famous for its brasserie on the top floor, offering a breathtaking view of the city center. Unfortunately, it is currently closed for an indefinite period.
Musical Instrument Museum, 2 rue Montagne de la Cour, 1000 Brussels. Open Tuesday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket sales end 45 minutes before the doors close. Price 10 €. Access to tram and bus "Royale", metro "Gare Centrale".
The Magritte museum
Magritte Museum - Magritte, Black Magic. Ch. Herscovici - SABAM
With his blue skies crossed by fluffy clouds, René Magritte (1898-1967) established himself as the most popular of the surrealist painters. It was normal for his country to dedicate a museum to him, which now brings together more than 200 works. Besides paintings, drawings and sculptures, it also offers some pretty archives. We follow the life and work of the artist chronologically. It's pretty classic ... But after all, was Magritte not a petty bourgeois who painted at a fixed time under his ball hat?
To know. - This museum is very popular. If you fear the crowds, avoid weekends and school breaks. Another thing: the layout of the premises could make you miss the last room. It would be a shame since this is where two paintings from the “Empire of Lights” series are hung.
Magritte Museum, 1 place Royale, 1000 Brussels. Phone. : +32 2 508 32 11. Open every day. Price 10 €. Access to tram and bus "Royale", metro "Gare Centrale" or "Parc".
Horta museum
The personal home of Victor Horta can now be visited as a museum. visit.brussels - Jean-Paul Remy
Victor Horta is the Belgian master of Art Nouveau. It was he who converted Guimard to this style, which he later marked the Paris metro. Horta lived in Brussels and had a house built there around 1900. A true masterpiece of total art since Horta had designed everything there: architecture, balustrades, woodwork, furniture… Everything down to the smallest decor details. Today renovated to be open to the public, the building gives the impression of being inhabited, as if Victor Horta (1861-1947) was going to go there any minute.
Good plan. - In addition to his personal house, three other Brussels dwellings designed by Horta are classified as World Heritage by UNESCO: the Tassel hotel, the Solvay hotel and the van Eetvelde hotel. Several tourist companies (arkadia.be, itineraires.be, bruxellesbavard.be) offer guided walks from one to the other.
Horta Museum, 25 rue Américaine, 1060 Brussels. Phone. : +32 2 543 04 90. Open Tuesday to Friday from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. (last entry at 5 p.m.) and from 11 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays (last entry at 5 p.m.). Price 10 €. Tram access "Janson", bus "Trinité".
The Belgian Comic Strip Center
In the hall of the Belgian Comic Strip Center, we are greeted by Tintin's rocket. visit.brussels - Daniel Fouss
A comic strip museum in Brussels, that seems logical. But it's not quite a museum, you might as well know it. The Belgian Comic Strip Center (CBBD) mainly presents beautiful temporary exhibitions. For the rest, it mainly evokes the world of Peyo ( The Smurfs ), Roba ( Boule and Bill ) and Hergé ( Tintin ). Fans of the latter will instead travel to Louvain-la-Neuve (about thirty kilometers) to visit the museum dedicated to it. If the CBBD is worth the detour, it is also for the building that houses it: an old fabric store designed by Victor Horta and whose Art Nouveau structure has been perfectly preserved. Starting with the large hall where the rocket with red and white tiles of the most famous reporter is stationed.
Good plan. - It is raining ? Do you want to take a break? Take a seat in the Bedethec to re-read an adventure of Natacha or Gaston Lagaffe . The books are placed on the shelves formerly designed by Horta.
Belgian comic strip center, 20 rue des Sables, 1000 Brussels. Phone. : +32 2 219 19 80. Open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Tuesday to Saturday for the library). Price 10 €. Bus access "De Berlaimont".
Train World, the train museum
Train World, at the time of the first steam locomotives. Christine Masuy / Le Figaro
Did you know ? The first train in continental Europe circulated in Belgium in 1835. Train World traces the entire history of the railway since that time. From the first steam locomotives to TGV, from the Orient-Express (launched by a Belgian) to the TEE. Everything is there, life size. The oldest (175 years old) steamer called Le pays de Waes is plunged into darkness (coal, of course) like her neighbors. A clever play of light emphasizes their shapes up to the driver's station, accessible to all. We then jump off the train to visit the gatekeeper's house (the real one, the museum was built around it), walk along a “ghost” train (reminiscent of the dark hours of Nazi deportations) or cross a forest of clocks that seem to go up. time keeping. Train World is installed in the hall of the oldest Brussels station: that of Schaerbeek (still in operation).
Good to know. - Allow three hours to fully enjoy the experience.
Train World, 5 place princesse Elisabeth, 1030 Schaerbeek. Phone. : +32 2 224 74 98. Open Tuesday to Sunday, including public holidays (except 25/12 and 01/01), from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry at 3.30 p.m. Price 12 €. Tram and bus access "Schaerbeek Gare".
Travelogue
GO THERE
About 30 Thalys trains connect Paris to Brussels every day in 1 hour 22 minutes. www.thalys.com.
From regional airports, you can reach Brussels Airport (15 km from the city center) or Brussels South Charleroi Airport (60 km).
IN PRACTICE
To take advantage of public transport without counting, buy a Jump card (stib.be).
The Brussels Card gives access to 41 Brussels museums and various other advantages (brusselscard.be).
MORE INFO
Wallonia-Brussels Tourist Office: www.belgique-tourisme.fr.
