The lovely butchers' guildhall, featuring a carved swan above the door, hosted Karl Marx in 1847. Ironically, it’s now home to the Grand Place's finest upmarket restaurant.
©Analia Glogowski/Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museum Plantin-Moretus
25.78 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
0.39 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
0.02 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
0.38 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
1.53 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
1.55 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
27.18 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
16.65 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. L’Étoile
The square’s smallest building, surmounted by a star, is where city hero Everard ’t Serclaes died in 1388. A fairly contemporary ‘tradition’ claims you’ll…
2. L’Arbre d’Or
Notice the hop plants climbing columns here! At the former brewers' guildhall, which is still the Belgian brewers’ headquarters, two atmospheric but small…
3. Musée de la Brasserie
0.02 MILES
Brussels’ brewery museum is authentic in the sense that it occupies the basement of the brewers’ guildhall and has some 18th-century brewing equipment…
4. Brewery Museum
0.02 MILES
Entry includes a beer supped amid barrels and delightfully antiquated wooden brewers’ tools: with the BrusselsCard it’s a great opportunity for a free…
5. Statue of Everard 't Serclaes
0.02 MILES
A 1902 statue of city hero Everard ’t Serclaes depicts his reclining corpse. A fairly contemporary ‘tradition’ claims that rubbing the statue will bring…
6. Grand Place
0.02 MILES
Brussels’ magnificent Grand Place is one of the world’s most unforgettable urban ensembles. Oddly hidden, the enclosed cobblestone square is only revealed…
7. Dukes of Brabant Mansion
0.03 MILES
Six 1698 houses sit behind this single palatial facade, reworked in 1882. Had the imperial governor had his way after 1695, the whole square would have…
8. Hôtel de Ville
0.04 MILES
Laboriously built between 1444 and 1480, the splendid, slightly asymmetrical Hôtel de Ville was almost the only building on the Grand Place to escape the…