How to spend a day in Brussels, Belgium

Last Updated on October 29, 2023

In March Ryan, Nick, and I took our first family holiday since moving to the UK.

Our destination was Belgium, where we were lucky enough to check out Gent, Antwerp, Brussels, and Bruges.

Our third stop was the capital of Belgium, Brussels, and may I say the capital of chocolate? I’m not sure if it was just because we were visiting over Easter, or if chocolate is just Brussels thing, but every corner we turned there was chocolate shop upon chocolate shop. Chocolate eating opportunities definitely outnumbered waffle ones – and I’m not complaining!

At one count there were six different chocolatiers next to and across from each other. Check out this massive gorgeous example:

Apart from gorgeous examples of chocolate, here are my highlights from our Brussels adventure:

What to see

The Royal Palace
It started raining as soon as we reached The Royal Palace, which made me very tempted to skip this attraction all together and avoid making Ryan’s cold even worse. However, by some chance of luck the rain stopped as soon as we got out of the car, so we braved the elements and took a walk through Brussels Park to view the Palace from the outside.

Unfortunately the Palace was closed when we were there, but it is open to the public after the National Holiday on July 21 until September.

Address:
Rue Brederode 16,
1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
This Cathedral is a 10 minute walk from The Royal Palace, and is perfectly situated right next to the main square. The Cathedral took 300 years to complete, and was completely restored between 1983 and 1989.

Inside the Cathedral there are gorgeous tall columns and arches, and stunning glass stained windows.

Address:
Place Sainte-Gudule,
1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
Looking for chocolate? Here is THE place! It’s where the massive Easter Egg above was found, and it feels like every second shop is dedicated to chocolate.

This Galerie was one of the first shopping arcades built in Europe, and aside from its fantastic shopping opportunities, its gorgeous glass curved roof and wide spaces makes for a relaxing walk.

At the entrance to the Galerie you will find Brussel’s main square, filled with restaurants, more chocolate shops, and of course waffles.

Address:
Galerie du Roi 5,
1000 Brussel, Belgium

Jeanneke Pis
When researching what to do in Belgium, Manneken Pis always came up. So on our way to it we stumbled across a lesser-known sculpture called Jeanneke Pis.

Jeanneke Pis was installed as a counterpoint to Manneken Pis in 1987, and the only way we discovered it was by following a large line of tourists walking up the narrow Impasse de la Fidélité (Fidelity Alley), which contains many restaurants. The red bars in front of the sculpture have been installed to protect it from vandalism.

Address:
Impasse de la Fidélité 10-12,
1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Manneken Pis
This attraction was packed with tourists taking photos of the sculpture, which is meant to symbolise the city’s sense of humour.

There’s a whole background about the choice of costumes that the statue wears, which I was curious about when I came home. In a nutshell, Manneken Pis is dressed in different costumes multiple times a week; his wardrobe has over 900 choices, and what he wears often reflects the traditions of special visitors in the city.

Address:
1000 Brussels, Belgium

Grand-Place
Grand-Place was on my to do list, but I thought it was the little square outside Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, so was pleasantly surprised when we came across it on our way to Manneken Pis.

The Grand-Place has to be one of the most awe inspiring and beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and I can see why it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. Every building was more gorgeous than the next, words really can’t describe how gorgeous this place was, you really have to see it for yourself.

Address:
1000 Brussels, Belgium

Food to try
Aside from delicious morsels of chocolate found all over Brussels, you simply can’t go to Brussels without eating a waffle, or two.

Waffles are sure to change any bad mood, just ask Ryan, it was the only thing he would eat all day.

There are two types of waffles sold in Brussels, the Brussel Waffle and the Liege Waffle. The Brussel Waffle is light and crispy, whilst the Liege Waffle is thicker and has the texture of bread dough.

I got a Brussel Waffle with chocolate, but other toppings available included strawberries, bananas, cream and many more.

Final thoughts
Brussels is a large city with plenty of shopping opportunities, chocolate eating opportunities, and beautiful buildings and statues. It’s definitely worth a stop on your very own Belgium adventure.

What’s on your Brussels to do list?