Brussels, Capital of Belgium

Brussels Travel Wiki

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Travel to Brussels

Read about and get inspiration for a trip to the city, check for the cheapest flights and hotels in Brussels

Travel and vacation in Brussels, Belgium

Here you can find information about travel and holiday trips to Belgium. You will find travel deals as well as general travel information, guides, “good to know” and facts about Belgium. We try to find the best travel video about the city and its surroundings and we write about the best sights, shopping and things to do. You will also find updated current weather and forecasts. The current exchange rates are also updated many times a day.

Best of Brussels

What to see and do in Brussels ?

Brussels Card gives big discounts

A Brussels Card is available for discounts at many attractions. Available in 24 hr, 48 hr and 72 hr versions, it offers a free guidebook, free entry to many museums, free use of public transit, and discounts at various shops, restaurants and attractions. The card can be purchased on-line in advance for a discount, or at the tourist offices at: Grand-Place, Midi/Zui station, BIP. Some museums also sell the card.

Brussels Christmas Market

Situated in the heart of Belgium, there is nothing more spectacular than when Brussels transforms itself from late November to early January into an enchanting Winter Wonderland. An illuminated Ferris wheel dominates the skyline, surrounded with vibrant Christmas markets and a skating rink –boasting views that wouldn’t look out of place on a Christmas card. Around the Bourse, Place Sainte Catherine and the Marche aux Poissons, you’ll find hundreds of wooden chalets selling everything from unique gifts and souvenirs to delicious seasonal cuisine. Whether your Brussels Christmas markets are about finding that special gift for a loved one or simply immersing yourself in Christmas spirit, you’ll find plenty to discover on your break.

Make your way through the 2km-long illuminated walk route through the city centre and you’ll soon find a myriad of stalls selling seasonal gifts and souvenirs. The Winter Wonders market, held against the spectacular backdrop of Place Sainte Catherine is oozing with continental atmosphere and littered with those iconic wooden chalets selling everything from handmade local crafts to seasonal food and drink. Grab yourself some festive tree decorations as a souvenir or make the most of Belgium’s most popular export – Belgian chocolate. Just try and hold off eating it all before you’ve had a chance to take it home!

If there is anything you’ll take away with you from your trip to Brussels Christmas Markets, it is the lingering scent of chocolate. Famous for its delicious Belgian chocolate, you’ll find plenty of charming stalls selling deliciously luxurious hot chocolate in a variety of flavours as well as boxes of pralines and truffles for you to take home. For other sugary treats, try some of the marzipan-cured products that grace the stalls, as well as delicious gingerbread. If you’re feeling peckish after all that shopping, you’ll find plenty of hot food to give you some warmth on a cold winter’s day. Try delicious black or white sausages ready to eat or sweet Belgian waffles covered in – you guessed it – chocolate!

You’ll find plenty of things to do in and around the Christmas markets in Brussels besides fantastic shopping opportunities. Away from the food and souvenir stalls there is a 35m toboggan slope ideal for zooming down – providing lots of fun for the young and young at heart. If you’ve got a head for heights, you can head towards the big-wheel, where you’ll experience a ride into the sky illuminated by a plethora of tiny lights. Of course, nothing completes a winter wonderland than a skating rink and Brussels Christmas markets boast the biggest in Belgium. Buckle up your skates for a trip on the ice, while attempting to avoid any Bambi-esque moments!

Belgian Beer Festival

This is the Belgian Beer Festival, Brussels the time of year when centuries of expertise come together in one exceptional showcase of brewing craft. Held in the Grand Square, Brussels, this gathering of Belgium’s finest name beers, along with lesser-known local gems, is bound to impress anyone that takes a ‘good’ drink to really mean ‘Good.’

Belgium holds all but one of the genuine Trappist’s beers within its borders. These monk-crafted delicacies are linked in name rather than their nature. Their properties vary wildly from light and fruity, to hoppy and rich in depth. Almost every beer has its own glassware too, so expect some odd shapes being tipped back around the square. A personal favourite would have to Delerium Tremens. Named after the ‘tremors’ and ‘delirium’ suffered by those going through acute alcohol withdrawal, this is a drink with a sense of humour. It’s even served in a glass with pink elephants around the rim. Why pink elephants? Because as an 8.5% beer, that’s exactly what it’s supposed to make you see.

The festival attracts a whole host of entertainment. There are activities for kids, to soften the blow of not being able to enjoy the drinks, and a range of jazz and traditional music enlivening the atmosphere. The square itself is the centre point of Brussels, and as such is wreathed in fantastic cafés and bakeries. So on the odd chance that you’re not there to sample the array of Belgium beer, or just want a break from their sensory massage, you’ll still find plenty of beauty outside the glass too.

Brussels history

The history of Brussels is closely linked to that of Western Europe. Traces of human settlement go back to the Stone Age, with vestiges and place-names related to the civilisation of megaliths, dolmens and standing stones (Plattesteen, Tomberg). During late antiquity, the region was home to Roman occupation, as attested by archaeological evidence discovered near the centre. Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, it was incorporated into the Frankish Empire.

The origin of the settlement which was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus’ construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel. Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island.

Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven, gained the County of Brussels around 1000, by marrying Charles’ daughter. Because of its location on the shores of the Senne, on an important trade route between Bruges and Ghent, and Cologne, Brussels became a commercial centre specialised in the textile trade. The town grew quite rapidly and extended towards the upper town (Treurenberg, Coudenberg and Sablon areas), where there was a smaller risk of floods. As it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. Around this time, work began on the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (1225), replacing an older Romanesque church. In 1183, the Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant. Brabant, unlike the county of Flanders, was not fief of the king of France but was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. In the early 13th century, Brussels got its first walls, and after this, the city grew significantly. To let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected, between 1356 and 1383. Traces of it can still be seen today, mostly because the small ring, a series of roadways bounding the historic city centre, follows its former course.

In the 15th century, by means of the wedding of heiress Margaret III of Flanders with Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a new Duke of Brabant emerged from the House of Valois (namely Antoine, their son). In 1477, the Burgundian duke Charles the Bold perished in the Battle of Nancy. Through the marriage of his daughter Mary of Burgundy (who was born in Brussels) to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, the Low Countries fell under Habsburg sovereignty. Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Burgundian Netherlands, also known as the Seventeen Provinces, and flourished. After the death of Mary in 1482, her son Philip the Handsome succeeded as Duke of Brabant. In 1506, he became King of Castile, and hence the period of the Spanish Netherlands began.

In 1516, Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. Upon the death of his grandfather Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Charles became the new ruler of the Habsburg Empire and was subsequently elected Holy Roman Emperor. It was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had greatly expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant, but it was destroyed by fire in 1731. In the 17th century, the city was a capital of the lace industry.

In 1695, during the Nine Years’ War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery. Together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels. The Grand Place was destroyed, along with 4,000 buildings – a third of all the buildings in the city. The reconstruction of the city centre, effected during subsequent years, profoundly changed its appearance and left numerous traces still visible today.

Following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Spanish sovereignty over the Southern Netherlands was transferred to the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg. This event started the era of the Austrian Netherlands. Brussels was captured by France in 1746, during the War of the Austrian Succession, but was handed back to Austria three years later. It remained with Austria until 1795, when the Southern Netherlands were captured and annexed by France, and became the capital of the department of the Dyle. The French rule ended in 1815, with the defeat of Napoleon on the battlefield of Waterloo, located south of today’s Brussels-Capital Region. With the Congress of Vienna, the Southern Netherlands joined the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, under William I of Orange. The former Dyle department became the province of South Brabant, with Brussels as its capital.

In 1830, the Belgian revolution took place in Brussels, after a performance of Auber’s opera La Muette de Portici at La Monnaie theatre. The city became the capital and seat of government of the new nation. South Brabant was renamed simply Brabant, with Brussels as its administrative centre. On 21 July 1831, Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, ascended the throne, undertaking the destruction of the city walls and the construction of many buildings.

Following independence, Brussels underwent many more changes. It became a financial centre, thanks to the dozens of companies put into orbit by the Société Générale de Belgique. The Industrial Revolution and the building of the Brussels-Charleroi Canal brought prosperity to the city through commerce and manufacturing. The Free University of Brussels was established in 1834. In 1835, the first passenger railway built outside England linked the municipality of Molenbeek with Mechelen.

During the 19th century, the population of Brussels grew considerably; from about 80,000 to more than 625,000 people for the city and its surroundings. The Senne had become a serious health hazard, and from 1867 to 1871, under the tenure of mayor Jules Anspach, its entire course through the urban area was completely covered over. This allowed urban renewal and the construction of modern buildings of hausmannien style along central boulevards, characteristic of downtown Brussels today. Buildings such as the Brussels Stock Exchange (1873), the Palace of Justice (1883) and Saint Mary’s Royal Church (1885) date from this period. This development continued throughout the reign of King Leopold II. The International Exposition of 1897 contributed to the promotion of the infrastructure. Among other things, the Colonial Palace (today’s Royal Museum for Central Africa), in the suburb of Tervuren, was connected to the capital by the construction of an 11-km long grand alley.

During the 20th century, the city hosted various fairs and conferences, including the Solvay Conference on Physics and on Chemistry, and three world fairs: the Brussels International Exposition of 1910, the Brussels International Exposition of 1935 and the Expo ’58. During World War I, Brussels was an occupied city, but German troops did not cause much damage. During World War II, it was again occupied by German forces, and spared major damage, before it was liberated by the British Guards Armoured Division on 3 September 1944. The Brussels Airport, in the suburb of Zaventem, dates from the occupation.

After the war, Brussels underwent extensive modernisation. The construction of the North–South connection, linking the main railway stations in the city, was completed in 1952, while the first premetro was finished in 1969, and the first line of the metro was opened in 1976. Starting from the early 1960s, Brussels became the de facto capital of what would become the European Union, and many modern buildings were built. Development was allowed to proceed with little regard to the aesthetics of newer buildings, and many architectural landmarks were demolished to make way for newer buildings that often clashed with their surroundings, giving name to the process of Brusselisation.

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