Musical Instruments Museum

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. Its first curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon, ran it until his death in 1924 and left 3,666 objects, of which 3,177 were instruments. Since 11 January 1992 the MIM has been the fourth department of the Royal Museums of Art and History, and since 2009 the RMAH has managed it directly. Tuesday–Friday 09:30–17:00; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00–17:00; Monday closed.

The displays run over four levels and are grouped into roughly ninety themed cases, each with recorded musical excerpts of the instruments in front of you. The museum divides them into four rooms. History of musical instruments in Europe is broadly chronological Western classical music, from the late medieval and Renaissance periods to the end of the nineteenth century. Keyboards traces keys and keyboards in the Western world. Musicus Mechanicus holds mechanical, electrical and electronic instruments, along with clocks and bells. Tuesday–Friday 09:30–17:00; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00–17:00; Monday closed.

The museum publishes two different figures and they do not agree, so both are given here rather than blended. Its FAQ says to allow about ninety minutes, and adds that seeing everything will easily take half a day. Its multimedia guide page says an average visit lasts about two hours. Ninety minutes is realistic only for someone who treats the recordings as optional. Arriving at 16:15 therefore buys thirty minutes of galleries, not the advertised hours. Neither is a target. Standard adult admission is €18 per person.

The museum is open Tuesday to Friday from 09:30 to 17:00 and on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00. It is closed every Monday, and closed outright on 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November and 25 December. There is no midday break: the museum itself stays open straight through. Tuesday–Friday 09:30–17:00; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00–17:00; Monday closed. Step-free entrance ramp. Elevator serving the museum. Adapted toilets. Folding seats available at the welcome desk. Two designated accessible parking spaces in front of the entrance.

The standard ticket is EUR 18 per person. It falls to EUR 14 for visitors over 65, for adults in a group of at least fifteen, and for FED+ card holders; to EUR 7 for anyone aged 18 to 25, for job seekers and for people receiving welfare benefits; and to EUR 1.25 with an Article 27 ticket. Standard adult admission is €18 per person. Step-free entrance ramp. Elevator serving the museum. Adapted toilets. Folding seats available at the welcome desk. Two designated accessible parking spaces in front of the entrance.

The address is Montagne de la Cour 2 / Hofberg, B-1000 Brussels, on the slope between the Place Royale and the lower town. No car is needed and the museum actively advises against bringing one. A Villo shared-bicycle station, number 20, sits directly outside the museum. The museum is at Montagne de la Cour 2 / Hofberg, B-1000 Brussels. Bruxelles-Central/Brussel-Centraal railway station is about 200 metres away. Metro lines 1 and 5 serve Gare Centrale and Parc stations. Trams 92 and 93 and buses 27, 38, 71 and 95 stop at Royale. Villo shared-bicycle station 20 is directly outside the museum.

One contradiction sits on the museum's own site and is worth knowing before you plan around it. The admission-fees page lists free entry on the first Wednesday of each month from 13:00; the FAQ answers the question directly with a flat no, the museum is not free on the first Wednesday or the first Sunday of the month. Step-free entrance ramp. Adapted toilets. Folding seats available at the welcome desk. Two designated accessible parking spaces in front of the entrance. Access-i certified. A companion accompanying a disabled visitor receives free admission.

Photography is allowed in the galleries, but only without flash, and that single rule shapes everything about shooting here. The cases are lit low to protect wood, gut, varnish and paper, so a phone will hunt for exposure and a fast lens earns its place. Glass is the other constant: nearly everything is behind it, and the reflections of the room's own lights are the picture-ruining problem rather than the darkness. Folding seats available at the welcome desk. Two designated accessible parking spaces in front of the entrance. Access-i certified.