This centre offers a definitive and enjoyable overview of the country’s vibrant comic-strip culture. Even if you’re not excited by the ‘ninth art’, do peep inside the superb 1906 art nouveau building, a Victor Horta classic built as a fabric store with a wrought-iron superstructure and a glass roof. You don’t have to pay an entrance fee to enjoy the central hallway or to drink a coffee at the attached cafe.
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Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée
Top choice in Brussels
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museum Plantin-Moretus
25.42 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…
Old England Building
0.59 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…
Grand Place
0.46 MILES
Brussels’ magnificent Grand Place is one of the world’s most unforgettable urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the enclosed cobblestone square is only revealed…
MIM
0.59 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…
Musée Horta
1.88 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…
St-Gilles Town Hall
1.96 MILES
One of Brussels’ overlooked architectural wonders, this splendid Napoleon III–style palace sports a soaring brick belfry dotted with gilt statuary. Try to…
Pairi Daiza
27.66 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)…
Musée Hergé
16.67 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
1. Marc Sleen Museum
0.03 MILES
Set in a handsome mosaiced and tiled former newspaper office right opposite the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, this free museum explores the work of…
2. Colonne du Congrès
0.17 MILES
Brussels’ 25m-tall version of Nelson’s Column is an 1850s monolith topped by a gilded statue of King Léopold I. It commemorates the Belgian constitution…
3. National Bank of Belgium Museum
0.19 MILES
Unexpectedly absorbing, the renovated National Bank Museum is far more than just a coin collection. Well-presented exhibits trace the very concept of…
4. Église Notre-Dame du Finistère
0.23 MILES
To escape the lacklustre '70s architecture, meditate awhile in this 18th-century church whose baroque interior features a remarkable 1758 altarpiece, its…
5. Cathédrale des Sts-Michel & Gudule
0.24 MILES
Host to coronations and royal weddings, Brussels’ grand, twin-towered cathedral bears at least some resemblance to Paris’ Notre Dame. Begun in 1226,…
6. Jeanneke Pis
0.32 MILES
Squatting just off Rue des Bouchers, this pigtailed female counterpart of Manneken Pis is the work of sculptor Denis Adrien Debouvrie, who installed her…
7. Rue des Bouchers
0.34 MILES
Uniquely colourful Rue and Petite Rue des Bouchers are a pair of narrow alleys jam-packed with pavement tables, pyramids of lemons and iced displays of…
8. Galeries St-Hubert
0.39 MILES
When opened in 1847 by King Léopold I, the glorious Galeries St-Hubert formed Europe’s very first shopping arcade. Many enticing shops lie behind its…