Parc du Cinquantenaire was built during Léopold II's reign. It's best known for its cluster of museums – art, history, military and motor vehicles – which house an incredible 350,000 artefacts. The Royal Art and History Museums in the southern wing of the Cinquantenaire buildings are chock-a-block with antiquities. Autoworld, in the northern building, has a huge collection of vintage cars. There is also the massive Arcade du Cinquantenaire, a triumphal arch built in 1880 to celebrate 50 years of Belgian independence.
Parc du Cinquantenaire
Top choice in Brussels
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
26.13 MILES
The medieval building and 1622 courtyard garden alone would be worth a visit, but it's the world's oldest printing press, priceless manuscripts and…
1.56 MILES
This 1899 former department store is an art nouveau showpiece with a black facade aswirl with wrought iron and arched windows. The building contains the…
1.9 MILES
Brussels’ magnificent Grand Place is one of the world’s most unforgettable urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the enclosed cobblestone square is only revealed…
1.57 MILES
Strap on a pair of headphones, then step on the automated floor panels in front of the precious instruments (including world instruments and Adolphe Sax’s…
2.05 MILES
The typically austere exterior doesn’t give much away, but Victor Horta’s former home (designed and built 1898–1901) is an art nouveau jewel. The…
2.42 MILES
One of Brussels’ overlooked architectural wonders, this splendid Napoleon III–style palace
28.34 MILES
Set on the grounds of a former Cistercian Abbey, this 65-hectare park is home to more than 5000 animals (including pandas, koalas, gorillas and lemurs)…
15.11 MILES
The inventive and touchingly nostalgic Hergé Museum celebrates the multitalented creator of comic-strip hero Tintin with an engaging, inventive and…
Nearby Brussels attractions
0.05 MILES
Autoworld displays one of Europe’s biggest ensembles of vintage and 20th-century cars. Among all the four-wheelers, notice the Harley Davidson the present…
2. Musée Royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire Militaire
0.07 MILES
Extensive displays of weaponry, uniforms, vehicles, warships, paintings and documentation dating from the medieval period through to Belgian independence…
0.12 MILES
Built in 1905, this stunning house was the home of architect and painter Paul Cauchie (1875–1952), and its sgraffito facade, adorned with graceful female…
0.13 MILES
This astonishingly rich collection ranges from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and Meso-American masks to icons to wooden bicycles. Decide what you want to…
0.57 MILES
The European Commission, the EU’s sprawling bureaucracy, centres on the vast, four-winged Berlaymont building. Built in 1967, it’s striking but by no…
0.7 MILES
Steep-sloping Parc Léopold was Brussels Zoo until 1880 and now forms an unexpectedly pleasant oasis, hidden away just behind the EU Parliament.
0.7 MILES
Housed in the beautifully renovated Eastman Building in Parc Léopold, this airy, elegant new museum takes you into some dark corners of European history,…
0.71 MILES
The haunting facade of this narrow building is an extravagance of knotted and twisted ironwork. It was built in 1903 for painter Léonard St-Cyr by Gustave…