3-day itinerary in Brussels. Capital of Belgium and sometimes not so taken into account for a visit, travel companions today welcome you to Brussels!!
This 3-day itinerary through Brussels can be adopted for two if it is the time you have.
Indice:
Day 1 in Brussels
On this first day of the 3-day itinerary through Brussels, we’ll start off in style. Fernando and I always say one thing about the city: if it had nothing but nothing else to see (which we don’t think it does) it might still be worth visiting Brussels to see this…
Grand Place
And we do not fall into the cliché of the most beautiful square in Europe, one because it always hurts sensibilities, two because beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and three because although we know many and very varied ones, we do not know all the squares in Europe, nor would we be up to the task of giving that verdict. But I simply say that, to my eyes… it is beautiful.
World famous for its ornamental richness, it is surrounded by the houses of the gremios, the city hall and the King’s House.
The Grand-Place in Brussels was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
Here we will first stop to look in detail at the buildings, the ornamentation, it is the moment that you abstract yourself in time and space and you only look at people looking for that perfect photo.
Here at numbers 26 and 27 is what was Victor Hugo’s house during his exile.
The Town Hall, the building dates back to 1459 and is the most imposing in the square. Guided tours are available on certain dates. Brussels City Council website.
The King’s House is the other building, here is the Museum of the City and we visited it. The entrance fee is €10. And it is included with the Brussels Card. The latter accompanied us during the tour,
To the left of the Town Hall there is a bronze statue whose arm is said to bring good luck if touched. This is the statue of Everad´t Serclaes, executed in the 14th century while defending Brussels.
Free tours of Brussels depart from here, it is a good idea to do it for that first contact with the city.
Manneken Pis and his wardrobe
We walk towards the most famous statue in the city, this little peeing boy catches the attention of tourists despite his size. The Manneken Pis is a statue of about 50 centimetres that represents a boy urinating in a fountain. This statue is not the original, it is in the city museum that we just saw.
This boy is given many outfits by official visitors from other countries. He has more than 1,000. The entire wardrobe is put on display very close to here. The Mannekin Pis wardrobe can be visited. The entrance fee is €5 and is included in the Brussels Card.
We now go to a market and a very lively area.
Saint Gery Market
This former market is a center for exhibitions, events, and entertainment. You have bars to have a drink too.
Saint Catherine’s Church and Place
Our lively walk will take us to meet the dog urinating and we will follow our steps to Saint Catherine’s Church and the square of the same name.
The construction of this church dates back to 1854, although, as with many other churches, there is evidence of a chapel on the site much earlier. Admission is free and well worth the visit.
The area around the church and Saint Catherine Square and its fountain are full of bars. It is a very nice area for a walk. Here we will see the Black Tower, a medieval tower that is one of the best preserved remains of the first fortifications of Brussels, built at the beginning of the 13th century.
We are now going to end this day in a place that I recommend you visit, the Brussels Stock Exchange Building
Stock Exchange Palace
The Stock Exchange Palace was erected between 1868 and 1873, a true marvel of neoclassical style where the Stock Exchange operated until 1996, Today far from the movement of the stock exchange the building houses exhibitions, cafes and the Belgian Beer World, an exhibition dedicated to the history of Belgian beer.
You can enter the building for free and I encourage you to do so, it is really worth it.
If you want to enjoy fabulous views from the top, you can do so by accessing the Belgian Beer World. The entrance fee for this beer museum and tasting is €17, which is included in the tourist pass.
But what we didn’t know before going is that the sky bar is open after the exhibition closes from 5:30 pm. So I think it’s a great idea if you just want to come for a drink and enjoy these views in the evening.
End of the beginning of this three-day itinerary through Brussels, let’s rest!
Day 2 in Brussels
Today we would start in another area of the city to visit two very emblematic attractions of the city. We head to the Central Station to take the metro.
The Brussels Card includes transport, but you must redeem the code at the machines at the bus stop. After obtaining the pass we could use it on all public transport.
Our stop would be at the Atomium, and there we could visit it and Mini Europe. The metro station leaves you just a few steps away from both.
Atomium
Erected for the 1958 World Fair in Brussels, the Atomium has become a true symbol of the Belgian capital. Made of steel and aluminium, the structure represents 9 iron crystal atoms.
It can be accessed, the entrance fee is €16. You can also get the Mini Europe combo for €32, 20. You have a discount if you have the tourist card.
And now we are going to make this visit that if you go with children it is a very good option, but if not it is also fun.
Are you planning to visit Bruges?, don’t miss our last visit to Bruges
Mini Europe
Mini Europe houses scale reproductions of some of the European Union’s best-known monuments. The exhibition is made up of about 350 buildings representing 80 cities.
This is how you walk discovering places, and admiring the quality of the models. The ticket price is €23 and as we said combined with the Atomium €32.20.
We travel again by metro on this second day of the itinerary through Brussels, now to the Cinquantenaire Park.
Cinquantenaire Park and Autoworld
The Cinquantenaire Park is a large public urban park, of 30 hectares in the easternmost part of the European quarter.
We admire the arch and the rest of the works here. Most of the buildings in the U-shaped complex overlooking the park were for the 1880 National Exposition.
We find here the Museum of the Armed Forces, the Royal Museums of Art and History. But we are going to visit a different museum, the Autoworld.
This museum has a collection of more than 300 cars. If you like cars, you will find a great collection here.
The entrance fee is € 17 and is included in the Brussel Cards
It was time to return to the old part of the city to continue walking its streets.
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
This beautiful Gothic building began to be built in 1226 and was completed in 1500.
After a look inside, we will continue our steps to the Royal Galleries Saint Hubert.
Royal Galleries Saint Hubert
Opened in 1847, they are among the oldest in Europe. They are made up of three shopping arcades: the Queen’s Gallery, the King’s Gallery and the Princes’ Gallery.
There are jewellers, luxury boutiques, traditional shops, pastry shops, and chocolate shops, don’t miss them.
After this elegant tour we will go to the typical Belgian brewery Delirium.
Delirium Café
In this alley, the alley of Fidelity we find Janneken pis, the meona girl, and in front of Delirium café.
It has the largest variety of beers in the world on its menu, currently more than 3,000 different ones. If you don’t like beer, I encourage you to go in to see the interior decoration. With several floors, 8 bars and a decoration with old advertising posters, and more, it is a must-see in Brussels.
The day would end up wandering around the area, the movement is very lively, end of this second day of the itinerary of 3 in Brussels.
Day 3 in Brussels
Today we start at the Comic Museum.
Museum and Comic Book Route
Brussels is known as the comic book capital of the world. Characters such as Tin tin or The Smurfs have been created by Belgians
In this museum we will take a tour through the history of comics. If you like comics it may be a good option, but if not it is not a must-see. The Art Nouveau building that houses it is very beautiful. The entrance fee is €13 and is included in the tourist pass.
In Brussels you can take a tour called the Comic Strip Route where you will discover murals painted on the walls of houses and buildings with scenes from the most famous comics. It is a very nice walk, very entertaining and will take you all over the city. I share a map on the blog with the points where the murals are.
We continue with the 3-day itinerary in Brussels and we are going to….
Monts des Arts and Museum of Musical Instruments
Here we begin a walk that will take us to the Mont des Arts. It is one of the most beautiful viewpoints in Brussels. A walk around here is a very nice thing to do. We do it in a relaxed way, enjoying ourselves, and we arrive at an Art Nouveau house that will catch your attention.
It is the Museum of Musical Instruments, occupies the old Old England shop, which is one of the best examples of Art Nouveau in Brussels.
The entrance fee is €15 and is included in the tourist pass. After this visit, which in my case I did because I like everything related to music, we continued walking until we found
Church of Santiago located in the Place Real, a beautiful building.
Royal Palace of Brussels
And from here a few steps take us to the Royal Palace of Brussels
The Royal Palace of Brussels is the administrative residence and main place of work of the King. It can commonly be visited from July 21, until September 7. Admission is free. It is currently under renovation and cannot be visited. Official website of the Royal Palace of Brussels
We retrace our steps and go to
Our Lady of Sablon
In late Gothic style it is one of the most beautiful churches in the city. Notre Dame du Sablon was built in the 15th century, on top of an old chapel built in 1304. Admission is free.
The Sablon district is known for being the antique dealers’ quarter of Brussels, proof of that is this flea market
We are going to a high point in the city and a visit to do, the visit to the
Courthouse
Built between 1866 and 1883 under the reign of Leopold II, it is the seat of the Judiciary and the courts of justice of Belgium. It is the largest courthouse in the world.
This impressive work caused a great controversy in 1883, the year in which its construction began. With an initial budget of 4 million Belgian francs, this multiplied until reaching 50 million.
At the end of the Second World War, on the eve of the liberation of Brussels, the Germans withdrew from the city but not before setting fire to the palace in order to destroy it. As a result, the dome collapsed, and part of the building was badly damaged. Four years later, its restoration was carried out.
Its restoration began in the 1980s because it was in a state of disrepair and is still ongoing, as evidenced by the fact that the scaffolding itself has had to be restored. The entire Palace is scheduled to be restored by 2030, coinciding with the country’s bicentennial.
Admission is free, and it’s beautiful inside.
After this visit we take the opportunity to climb the Ferris wheel that is at its feet.
Basilica of the Sacred Heart
We added it the next day because we had run out of time. It is the Sacred Heart Church. In Art Deco style, construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1969 because construction was halted during the World Wars. It is the sixth largest church in the world.
You can also add a visit to the European Parliament area and also the same with reservation.
**Practical information for this 3-day itinerary in Brussels
Let’s now go to the practical information to put together this 3-day itinerary through Brussels.
As we said, it is halfway between Paris and Amsterdam, so if you include it in your tour you can go from one or the other by train or bus. Being faster by train but more expensive.
We went by rented car for the whole tour of Belgium.
Search for a car on Discovercars
They campaigned on us as always the Holafly esim to have unlimited internet all the time.
Having internet is always important. During this trip to Belgium we communicated with the Holafly eSim, we took out the Europe eSim, which has unlimited internet, because of the amount of days we were there and it was a very good option. You activate it with a QR code, follow the instructions and it’s ready to use, it doesn’t work in all mobile models, so check the page to see if it can be useful for you. With our code you have a 5% discount on the purchase. I leave here the link with discount for the followers of Europe Accompanied! Holafly discount code, EUROPAACOMPAÑADA5
And travel insurance, because traveling with insurance is essential, from our link you have a 5% discount. Get your travel insurance quote with 5% off.
We use the Brussel Card, you have with and without transportation, from 24 hours to 72 hours.
We stayed three nights and chose to do it the Warwick this time. It wasn’t cheap but a very good hotel just a short walk from the Grand Place, with on-site parking, breakfast and very good service. It was a good decision to stay in it.
Have you seen our previous visit to Brussels?, on that occasion we chose another hotel.
We had dinner once at an Italian restaurant, Sole de Italia, and the other two times at the hotel restaurant, Chutney, which was very, very good, as was the hotel.
Excursions that can be done from Brussels in addition to this 3-day itinerary in the same. Bruges and Ghent are very good options from Brussels but also Namur and Dinant is an excellent option if you already know the others.
Video and map
NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links.
