Brussels in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Brussels covers 22 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Brussels rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Grand-Place: Brussels' UNESCO-listed central square, surrounded by stunning 17th-century guild houses, considered by Victor Hugo to be the most beautiful square in the world.
2. Manneken Pis: A beloved 17th-century bronze statue of a little boy urinating, symbol of Brussels' irreverent spirit, with a wardrobe of over 1,000 donated costumes.
3. Atomium: Brussels' iconic 102-metre steel structure representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, built for the 1958 World's Fair and now a landmark museum and observation tower.
4. Mini-Europe: A delightful miniature park next to the Atomium featuring 350 scale models of Europe's most iconic monuments at 1:25 scale, from Big Ben to the Colosseum.
5. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: One of Belgium's greatest museum complexes, housing centuries of masterworks including Bruegel, Rubens, and the world's largest Magritte collection in the adjacent Magritte Museum.
6. Magritte Museum: The world's largest collection of works by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte, housed in a beautifully renovated 18th-century mansion adjacent to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.

Afternoon

1. European Parliament: The directly elected legislative body of the European Union, based in the Espace Léopold complex in Brussels, open to free public visits and home to the award-winning Parlamentarium visitor centre.
2. Royal Palace of Brussels: The official palace of the Belgian monarchy, open free to the public each summer, celebrated for its magnificent state rooms including the extraordinary ceiling covered with 1.4 million iridescent beetle wings by artist Jan Fabre.
3. Horta Museum: The UNESCO-listed former home and studio of architect Victor Horta, considered the finest Art Nouveau domestic building in the world, with its extraordinary stained glass, ironwork, and sinuous plant-inspired interiors.
4. Notre-Dame du Sablon: A magnificent 14th–15th century Flamboyant Gothic church in the elegant Sablon district, known for its extraordinary stained glass windows and the Renaissance chapel of the Thurn und Taxis family.
5. Place du Grand Sablon: Brussels' most elegant square, home to a celebrated weekend antiques market and the finest chocolatiers in the city, including Wittamer and Pierre Marcolini.

Day 2

Morning

1. Belgian Comic Strip Center: A world-famous museum celebrating Belgium's extraordinary comic strip heritage, home of Tintin, Lucky Luke, and the Smurfs, housed in a spectacular Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta.
2. Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert: One of Europe's oldest grand covered shopping arcades, opened in 1847, a magnificent glass-vaulted passage lined with chocolatiers, perfumeries, a theatre, and elegant boutiques, a European landmark of refined commerce.
3. Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula: Brussels' magnificent Gothic cathedral, co-dedicated to the city's patron saints, with twin towers, an extraordinary collection of 16th-century stained glass windows, and a Romanesque crypt dating to the 11th century.
4. Cinquantenaire Park & Triumphal Arch: A vast triumphal arch and parkland in the EU quarter, built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence, housing world-class museums of art, history, military history, and a spectacular collection of vintage automobiles.
5. Parc de Bruxelles: An elegant 18th-century formal garden at the heart of historic Brussels, stretching between the Royal Palace and the Parliament, where Belgian revolutionaries fought in 1830 to win their independence.
6. Place Royale: Brussels' elegant neoclassical central square, dominated by an equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Crusader ruler of Jerusalem, built on the site of the medieval Coudenberg Palace.

Afternoon

1. Ixelles & Place Flagey: Brussels' most vibrant and cosmopolitan commune, centred on Place Flagey and its iconic art-deco former radio building, famous for Art Nouveau architecture, weekend vintage markets, and Brussels' most diverse cultural scene.
2. Molenbeek & Canal District: Brussels' multicultural canal district, with an industrial heritage now undergoing creative regeneration, featuring Tour & Taxis event complex, street art, independent galleries, and the planned Kanal Centre Pompidou.
3. Laeken & Royal Greenhouses: The royal domain of Laeken contains the Belgian royal family's private château, spectacular iron-and-glass greenhouses open briefly each spring, and two extraordinary exotic pavilions built by Leopold II, the Japanese Tower and Chinese Pavilion.
4. Belgian Chocolate & Tintin Shop: Brussels is the world capital of chocolate, home of Godiva, Neuhaus (inventor of the praline in 1912), Côte d'Or, and hundreds of artisan chocolatiers, and the spiritual home of Tintin, Belgium's most beloved comic hero.
5. Brussels Beer Museum & Delirium Café: Belgium's extraordinary beer culture on full display: the Brussels Beer Museum on the Grand-Place and the legendary Delirium Café, holder of the Guinness World Record for the most beer brands available, with over 3,000 types.

Full Brussels guide and all stops → · Other itineraries: 3 days