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Fondation Jacques Brel
The Jacques Brel Foundation is an archive centre and museum dedicated to Brussels' raspy-voiced singer Jacques Brel (1929-78). Brel rose to stardom in Paris in the 1950s for his passionate songs that have transcended a generation. The legendary chansonnier was a transient troubadour who performed with intensity.
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Gare du Luxembourg
The remains of Gare du Luxembourg, until recently the oldest train station in Belgium, are still visible. Despite avid opposition, all but the façade of the old ticket hall has been demolished.
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Glass Elevator
A glass elevator connects the Marolles' Place Breugel with Place Poelaert in the Upper Town, offering a great way to move between the quarters plus a fab city view. It descends from the Palais de Justice, leaving you just a block from the Place du Jeu de Balle, an outdoor flea market.
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Grand Place
For one of Europe's finest urban views, head straight to Brussels' magnificent central square, Grand Place. It boasts the country's best baroque guildhalls, the beautiful Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), museums, pavement cafés , chocolate shops and intimate cellar restaurants - a combination that lures visitors in droves. Hidden at the very core of the old town, it's revealed as you enter from one of six narrow side alleys (Rue des Harengs is the best) - a discreet positioning that adds charm.
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Grand Place Guildhalls
The splendour of the Grand Place is due largely to the antique frame of Grand Place guildhalls. Each merchant guild erected its own building, which is named (no street numbers back then) and adorned with gilded statues and elaborate symbols related to its trade. When the guildhalls were obliterated in the 1695 bombardment, the guilds rallied and rebuilt their headquarters using stone (rather than partial timber as before) for the façades and adding fanciful baroque touches to the gables.
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Halles St Géry
Place St Géry is an engaging square surrounded by popular cafés and dominated by Halles St Géry, a renovated meat market that now hosts exhibitions.
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Hippodrome de Boitsfort
Several travelling circuses set up during autumn and into winter. All use animals. The Italian family-run Florilegio concentrates on acrobatics, and raises its big top annually at the Hippodrome de Boitsfort.
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Hôtel de Ville
The splendid Gothic-style Hôtel de Ville was the only building on Grand Place to escape the 1695 French bombardment - ironic, considering it was the target. It's a superb structure, with a creamy façade covered with stone reliefs of nobility and gargoyles, and an intricate 96m-high tower topped by a gilded statue of St Michel, the city's patron saint.
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Hôtel Hannon & Contretype Photographic Gallery
If you're into photographic art you might want to catch an exhibition here. Even if you're not, it's worth stopping by for the splendid Art Nouveau building in which it's housed, Hôtel Hannon, designed in 1902 by Jules Brunfaut and graced by stone friezes and stained glass.
Read more about Hôtel Hannon & Contretype Photographic Gallery
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Hôtel Solvay
Horta designed this in 1894 at the age of 33 and it's considered one of his masterpieces. It was commissioned by the Solvay family (soft-drink manufacturers), who gave him free rein in matters of design and budget. It's open only to ARAU tours; if you can't time that, the hints of Art Nouveau visible on the outside are worth a look.
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Hôtel Van Eetvelde
While the outside of this building is unusual, the interior is another Horta masterpiece (1895-1901). It was commissioned by Baron Van Eetvelde, Minister for the Congo at that time and the country's highest-paid civil servant. Exotic timbers stud the interior, and there's a central glass dome infused with African-inspired plant motifs. Admission is limited to ARAU tours.
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Ixelles Museum
The Ixelles Museum has a small but engaging collection of modern Belgian and French art. It covers most of the movements of the 19th and 20th centuries and features works by Magritte and Delvaux.
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Jeanneke Pis
Squatting just off Rue des Bouchers, this pigtailed female counterpart of Manneken Pis is the work of sculptor Denis Adrien Debouvrie, who installed her here in 1985, though she's usually partly obscured by locked iron gates.
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Koninklijk Museum Voor Midden-Afrika
Preserved insects, stuffed animals (including a huge elephant), masks, musical instruments, jewellery, and a 22m-long pirogue (canoe) crafted by the Lengola people are among the mind-boggling displays at this extraordinary museum the word's largest collection of such artefacts outside Africa. Most artefacts were plundered during King Léopold II's exploitation of the Congo in the 19th century, something that is, finally, being increasingly addressed through the museum's displays.
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Le Botanique
On the edge of St Josse, Le Botanique is the cultural centre of Brussels' French-speaking community. The impressive neoclassical glass building from 1826 originally housed the city's botanical garden. These days it supports a solid programme of theatre, exhibitions and concerts.
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Le Peruchet
Le Peruchet is one of several small private puppet theatres to survive in Brussels. It's aimed specifically at kids (as opposed to productions at Théâtre Royal de Toone) in the two-to-eight age group. Occupying an old whitewashed stone farmhouse in the middle of modern Ixelles, the theatre is totally at odds with all around it, making it one of those Brussels experiences you won't forget.
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Les Samedis du Cinéma
Hanging to see the latest blockbuster? Drop the kids off at Les Samedis du Cinéma, a supervised kid's screening (around €2.50 ) organised every Saturday morning at by the UGC De Brouckère cinema, and join other parents catching an adult film.
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Maison Autrique
The Schaerbeek house that started it all. Horta's first building of note (1893) opened its doors to the public a couple of years ago. There's little luxury or extravagance, but many design elements hint at what's to come, and it's well worth viewing.
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Maison Cauchie
Built in 1905, this stunning house was the home of architect and painter Paul Cauchie (1875-1952), and its sgraffito façade, adorned with graceful female figures, is one of the most beautiful in Brussels. A petition saved the house from demolition in 1971 and since 1975 it has been a protected monument. Try timing a visit to meet the limited opening hours; if that's not possible, the façade alone definitely warrants a visit.
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Maison du Roi (King's House)
A guildhall opposite the Hôtel de Ville, this dark, brooding building was never home to royalty, despite the name. These days it houses the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles.
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Maison St-Cyr
The haunting façade of this narrow building (up for sale in 2006 for around €730 ,000) is an extravagance of knotted and twisted ironwork. It was built in 1903 for the painter Léonard St-Cyr by Gustave Strauven (1878-1919), who worked as an apprentice to Horta and also built Art Nouveau houses in Schaerbeek.
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Manneken Pis
A national symbol and known throughout the world, Manneken Pis - a little boy cheerfully taking a leak into a pool - never fails to disappoint visitors despite its diminutive size. It's three blocks from the Grand Place.
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Mini-Europe
Over 350 miniature scale models (all 1:25) depict some of Europe's best-known architectural highlights, such as the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (which took 24,000 man-hours to create), London's Big Ben, Lisbon's Torre de Belem and Paris' Pompidou Centre; with various moving features like little railways, and even a cross-section of the Chunnel.
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Musée Antoine Wiertz
Down the road from the Musée des Sciences Naturelles is the Musée Antoine Wiertz - if you're into the shocking or nasty, it may appeal. Antoine Wiertz (1806-65) was a 19th-century Brussels artist bent on painting giant religious canvases depicting hell and other frenzied subjects. The building was Wiertz's home and studio and was also once the residence of the noted Flemish writer Hendrik Conscience.
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Musée BELvue
Attached to the palace's western end is the new Musée BELvue. An English-language audio-guide takes you through Belgium's history from independence. The museum's brochure claims 'there will be few secrets left about Belgium's past' following a visit here.
