Grand-Place - Grote Markt
Grand-Place, or Grote Markt, is Brussels' historic central square and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
- Must see
- Historic site
- Brussels
Country guide
Belgium covers 30,689 km² and holds more than 11.8 million people, a density of 383 per km² that ranks sixth in Europe. It is divided three ways — Flanders in...
Photograph · Naval S from Berlin · CC BY 2.0
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Belgium covers 30,689 km² and holds more than 11.8 million people, a density of 383 per km² that ranks sixth in Europe.
It is divided three ways — Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south, the Brussels-Capital Region in the middle — and the language divides with it: Dutch for about 60 per cent of the population, French for about 40, German for the one per cent in the East Cantons. The choice for a visitor is largely between Brussels, which carries the seats of the European Commission and Council and the headquarters of NATO, and the Flemish cities: Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Leuven.
Checked 2026-08-25
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Ank Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
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Grand-Place, or Grote Markt, is Brussels' historic central square and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.
The Atomium is a building in the shape of a cube standing on one corner, and it is a model of something: the unit cell of an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times.
Manneken Pis is a bronze fountain figure of a small boy urinating, 55.5 centimetres tall, set in a stone niche on the corner where the Rue du Chêne meets the Rue de l'Étuve, a short walk downhill from the Grand-Place.
Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles - Stadhuis van Brussel
The City Hall of Brussels is the working seat of the city's administration and the only building on the Grand-Place that a visitor can go inside on a ticket.
Galeries royales Saint-Hubert - Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen
The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries are a prestigious ensemble of glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels. Designed by architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer and inaugurated in 1847, they represent one of Europe's earliest covered shopping passages.
Musée Horta - Hortamuseum
The Horta Museum is the house and architectural studio that Victor Horta built for himself in Saint-Gilles, and it is the only building on the Art Nouveau circuit in Brussels that a visitor can walk through room by room.
Musée Magritte Museum
The Musée Magritte Museum is a museum devoted entirely to René Magritte (1898-1967), installed in the Hôtel Altenloh on the Place Royale and run by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule - Sint-Michiels-en-Goedelekathedraal
The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula stands on the Treurenberg slope in central Brussels, dedicated to the two patron saints of the city and built in Brabantine Gothic.
Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée - Belgisch Stripcentrum
The Comic Art Museum, still widely signposted and registered under its founding name Belgian Comic Strip Center, occupies a department store that was never meant to hold pictures.
Parc du Cinquantenaire - Jubelpark
Cinquantenaire Park, also called Jubelpark, is the formal park and monumental complex in Brussels' European Quarter, made for Belgium's fiftieth anniversary in 1880. It began on the former Linthout drill ground and expanded after the 1880 national exhibition.
Mini-Europe is a miniature park at the foot of the Atomium in Laeken, in the north of Brussels, where some 350 monuments from across the European Union are rebuilt at a scale of 1/25 and set into roughly 2.5 hectares…
Musée Oldmasters - Oldmasters Museum
The Old Masters Museum is one of the four sites that make up the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, a federal institution whose main entrance is at Rue de la Régence 3, on the slope below the Place…
Musée des instruments de musique - Muziekinstrumentenmuseum
The Musical Instruments Museum, universally called the MIM, is a federal Belgian museum of roughly ten thousand instruments, of which about twelve hundred are on show.
Palais Royal - Koninklijk Paleis
The Royal Palace of Brussels serves as the official palace of the Belgian King and houses the administrative services of the monarchy. Despite its name, it is not the royal residence; the King lives at the Palace of Laeken.
Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique - Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België
The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium is a major natural history museum located in Brussels. Its local names are Muséum des sciences naturelles de Belgique in French and Museum voor Natuurwetenschappen van België in Dutch, reflecting Belgium's bilingual character.
Autoworld is a motor museum located in Brussels, Belgium. The institution occupies a historic building within the Parc du Cinquantenaire complex, a prominent architectural setting in the European capital.
Musée BELvue - BELvue Museum
BELvue is a museum located in Brussels, Belgium. It occupies a historic building and presents exhibitions related to Belgian history, democracy, and society. The museum is situated in the Royal Quarter of Brussels, near the Royal Palace.
Maison de l'Histoire européenne - Huis van de Europese geschiedenis
The House of European History is a museum in Brussels dedicated to the history of Europe and European integration. Located in the European Quarter near the European Parliament, it occupies the Eastman Building, a former dental institute.
The Parlamentarium is the visitors' centre of the European Parliament, located in Brussels. It serves as an exhibition space designed to inform the public about the European Parliament's role, history, and democratic processes.
Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon - Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Zavelkerk
The Church of Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon is a Roman Catholic church in Brussels, Belgium. Its local names are Église Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon in French and Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Zavelkerk in Dutch.
Bourse - Beurs
Bourse Palace, known locally as Bourse or Beurs, is a historic landmark on Boulevard Anspach 80 in central Brussels. The building stands in the pedestrian zone beside Grand-Place and combines public halls with visitor attractions, hospitality venues and services.
Palais de justice - Justitiepaleis
The Palace of Justice of Brussels, known locally as Palais de justice or Justitiepaleis, stands as one of Belgium's most monumental law courts.
Parc de Bruxelles - Warandepark
Brussels Park, known locally as Parc de Bruxelles and Warandepark, is a public park situated in the heart of Brussels. It lies adjacent to the Royal Square and the Belgian Parliament building.
Bois de la Cambre, known in Dutch as Ter Kamerenbos, is a public park situated in Brussels, Belgium. It occupies a significant green space within the urban environment of the Belgian capital.
Coudenberg
The Palace of Coudenberg was a medieval royal and imperial palace located on Coudenberg hill in Brussels. It served as the seat of government for the Dukes of Brabant and later for the Habsburg rulers.
Five to seven days covers Brussels plus two or three rail-linked cities such as Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Leuven or Liège. Staying in one or two bases avoids losing time to repeated hotel changes in this compact network.
Belgium’s foreign-affairs service publishes visa and short-stay requirements. Check the rule for the passport being used and the full Schengen itinerary, especially when Belgium is not the first external border crossed.
Brussels Airport connects directly with Belgium’s national rail network, and intercity trains link the principal cities without compulsory reservations. Local buses, trams and metros belong to separate regional operators, so one urban ticket is not automatically valid nationwide.
April through June offers long sightseeing days, while September usually retains workable conditions with fewer peak-summer pressures. Belgian weather remains changeable, making a waterproof layer useful in any of these months.
The euro (EUR) is Belgium’s currency. Card and cash acceptance can differ between a station machine, a market stall and a small business, so retain a second payment method rather than assuming one card will work everywhere.
Belgium uses 112 for emergencies and Type C or E plugs at 230 V. The recorded national guidance says mains tap water is safe.