Is it because French is spoken everywhere that the French feel so at home here? Or perhaps it’s the 1.2 million inhabitants, full of humour and always welcoming toward their arrogant French neighbours! Brussels is a strange metropolis landlocked in the Flemish region. A third of its inhabitants are foreigners. This helps to make it one of the most cosmopolitan and engaging capitals of Europe; a city with a rich heritage, colourful atmospheres and crazy parties... 

A flourishing commercial city in the Middle Ages and an important industrial centre in the 19th century, Brussels is today characterised by a service-oriented economy thanks to the presence of numerous headquarters of multinationals and its status as European capital. Masterpieces and emblematic buildings have been erected at every stage of its history. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Grand Place is the epicentre of the old city, framed by the City Hall with its impressive Gothic spire and the richly decorated guild houses typical of Flemish architecture. 

Praised by Victor Hugo and Jean Cocteau, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful squares in the world, an ideal starting point for strolling through the historic districts. All around, the narrow streets lined with chic gabled houses lead to the imposing 19th century Stock Exchange, the rich Galeries Saint-Hubert or the brick and wrought-iron market hall, Halles Saint-Géry. The busy rue de l'Etuve leads to the statue of Manneken-Pis, photographed like a star even if it is only a copy (the original is kept in the Maison du Roi, on the Grand-Place)! 

To take a breather, you have to climb. Neo-classical facades and perfectly straight avenues... Overlooking the old heart of the city, the Mont des Arts district, created at the instigation of Leopold II, is home to some of the most beautiful gems of Brussels. The Royal Palace with its classical architecture is to be found there, but more than that, its museums: Fine Arts (ancient art, modern art), Magritte or music.  From there, you can go on to Avenue Louise, which features Belgian designer shops, luxury labels and international brands. 

But Brussels is first and foremost an amazing architectural melting pot. A walk or bike ride will take you to the former working-class districts of Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Géry, that have now become trendy. Fans of urban exploration can also head to Saint-Gilles and Ixelles to admire the Art Deco and Art Nouveau buildings inherited from the architects Victor Horta and Paul Hankar; to Sablon, famous for its art and decoration galleries, and to Marollen. Its Place du Jeu de Balle hosts a flea market immortalized by Tintin in The Secret of the Unicorn, while antique dealers set up their stalls on the nearby pavements. 

What a contrast with the Leopold district, home of the European institutions. 30,000 people work directly for the European Union, but there are also 5,400 diplomats, 2,000 lobbyists and 1,000 international journalists who fill the place during the week and leave it empty at the weekend! There is no real coherence in the layout of the buildings. But the Berlaymont, the cross-shaped building that houses the Commission, or the Parliament's hemicycle, gives us a chance to revise European history. Their modern architecture echoes that of the Atomium, which is built in the shape of an iron unit cell magnified 165 billion times. Erected for the 1958 Universal Exhibition on Heysel plateau, the monument remains one of the emblems of Brussels.

Sites and monuments

• The Grand Place - classified by Unesco, is framed by the Town Hall with its impressive Gothic spire and the sumptuous baroque houses of the guilds. 
• Manneken-Pis - 55 cm statue of a little boy peeing. Combine the visit with the neighbouring museum which exhibits the different costumes he has been dressed in.
• Galeries Saint-Hubert - a chic neo-classical 19th century shopping mall given over to bookshops, breweries and chocolate shops. 
• Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie - the leading opera house in Brussels, dating from the 19th century
• The Stock Exchange - a 19th century neo Renaissance building with a facade of columns   
• Halles Saint-Géry - made of brick and wrought-iron, it has been renovated as an exhibition space and is located on the square of the same name, with its lively café atmosphere. 
• Cathedral of Saints-Michel-and-Gudule - in Gothic style, dominated by two refined towers. Pretty stained-glass windows, a crypt... 
• The Royal Palace - King Philip's residence opens its doors during the summer months
• Palace of Justice or Law Courts - the gigantic 2.6- hectare building, under construction for decades, is a mixture of styles, from Gothic to Neoclassical. 
• The Villa Empain - one of the most beautiful Art Deco buildings in Brussels 
• The European Parliament – a free tour of the modern building and hemicycle  
• The Atomium - erected for the 1958 Universal Exhibition, it depicts a giant iron unit cell. The upper ball houses an observatory

Parks and gardens

• Brussels Park - in front of the palace, a park with wide alleys and timeless charm
• Botanical garden - decorated with beautiful statues and vast greenhouses
• Parc du Cinquantenaire - 30 hectares of greenery, home to several museums (World Arts, Army and Autoworld, for car fans). 
• Leopold Park - in the heart of the European institutions, a lovely area of tranquillity
• Park of the Royal Castle of Laeken - near the Atomium, a park full of cherry blossoms surrounding tropical greenhouses

Museums

• City Museum - on the Grand Place, in the historic neo-gothic King's House
• Royal Museums of Fine Arts - there are three of them, bringing together masterpieces from all periods, including those of the Flemish Primitives, four paintings by Bruegel and 200 works by Magritte in a museum dedicated to the Surrealist painter. 
• Museum of Musical Instruments - a beautiful collection, in a magnificent Art Nouveau building
• Museum of Natural Sciences - to visit for its incredible dinosaur gallery 
• Belgian Comic Strip Center - in an Art Nouveau building by the architect Victor Horta, a museum dedicated to the great cartoonists, from Hergé to Franquin.
• MOOF - to admire 1300 figurines of comic book characters, from Smurfs to Asterix 
• Horta Museum - in the Saint-Gilles district, the house-studio of Victor Horta, one of the star architects of Art Nouveau. 
• Trainworld - In the former brick station of Schaerbeek (north of Brussels), the site brings the Belgian railways back to life with authentic locomotives.
• Parlamentarium - a multimedia exhibition that reminds us of the foundations of the European Union  
• House of European History - in a 1930s building with a modern glass structure, the exhibition evokes European history and integration.
• MIMA - in the building of the former Bellevue brewery, a place dedicated to urban contemporary art

• 8 May - Iris Day celebrates the birth of the Brussels region
• 16 May - every two years the Zinneke Parade passes through the city. The people in the parade wear costumes and disguises. In 2020 the theme will be the wolf. 
• May - Kunstenfestivaldesarts, an international festival dedicated to contemporary creation: theatre, dance, performance, film, plastic arts.
• July - the Ommegang celebrates the entry of Charles V into Brussels in 1549, with two folk processions to the Grand Place.
• 21 July - National Day, commemorating the oath-taking of Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians.
• July/August - Midi fair, with a huge fairground on the Boulevard du Midi.
• 9 August - Meyboom is the tradition of planting a beech tree. It is followed by processions and folklore activities.
• 13 to 16 August - every two years, the Grand Place is adorned with a carpet of begonia flowers.
• August - Brussels summer festival, with various concerts
• September - Beer Weekend, with several breweries on the Grand Place
• 27 September - festival of the Wallonia-Brussels federation, which commemorates the participation of the Walloons in the Belgian revolution of 1830. 
• 20 November - Saint-Verhaegen's Day, when students celebrate the foundation of the University of Brussels with a folklore procession. 

• Chocolate lovers will take the Neuhaus or Godiva boutiques by storm (in the Galeries Saint-Hubert). Another tasty address: Laurent Gerbaud (near the Palais Royal) who mixes chocolate with ginger from Guilin, pears from the Cape or plums from Corsica... 
• Reread Tintin before following the footsteps of Hergé's hero, from the Place du Jeu de Balle immortalized in The Secret of the Unicorn to the Théâtre de La Monnaie (The 7 Crystal Balls) via the Museum of Natural Sciences (The Broken Ear). The Tintin shop (13 rue de la Colline) welcomes keen collectors.
• The history of France changed about twenty kilometres from Brussels, in the small town of Waterloo. On the battlefield, you can visit the memorial with its modern scenography which tells the story of the defeat of Napoleon's army in 1815, before climbing the steps of Lion's Mound to admire what Victor Hugo called the “morne plaine” (the dismal plain).
   

Starters

• Shrimp croquette - based on North Sea grey shrimp
• Asparagus à la flamande - served with hard boiled eggs, melted butter, chives...
• Vol-au-vent (queen's morsel) - puff pastry filled with chicken and mushrooms

Dishes

• Endive au gratin - endives wrapped in ham with a bechamel sauce
• Mussels - available in many forms and eaten with French fries
• Waterzoi - a dish of chicken or fish, accompanied by vegetables and served as a soup meal 
• Flemish carbonade - a kind of beef bourguignon, simmered in a beer sauce 
• French fries - in a restaurant or bought in a kiosk, it's a Belgian institution! 

Desserts

• Chocolate - white or dark, flavoured or praline, it's the ideal gourmet souvenir.
• Waffles - in Belgium they are rectangular and covered with sugar. 
• Speculoos - hard, cinnamon-flavoured cookies in the shape of characters

Drinks 

• Beer - of all colours, at every meal, with hundreds of references. The famous Belgian brands (Stella Artois, Leffe...) are complemented by traditional beers, such as Brussels Beer Project, a micro-brewery located in the heart of the city (rue Antoine Dansaert). 
• Peket de Wallonie - an alcohol based on juniper (called peket in Belgium), which can be enjoyed neat or in cocktails.
• The Zizi Coin Coin - this is made near Liège, based on Cointreau and lemon juice.
• Gin - it is becoming increasingly popular in Belgium. Among the gins produced in the country are Biercée's Gin or Cockney's, the oldest Belgian gin (1838).

• Belgium Tourist Office
• Brussels Tourist Office
• Brussels International Airport (BRU)
• French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• General Consulate of France in Belgium
• French Ambassy in Belgium
• Ambassy of Belgium in France