Brussels Walking Tour: 50 Free Video Stops

This Brussels walking tour links 10 sights and 50 short video stops narrated by Clarissa, from the gilded Grand Place to the steel spheres of the Atomium. The notes below turn those stops into practical day plans, with walking order, timing, transport, etiquette and the free sights worth knowing before you go. For official visitor information and events, also check visit.brussels, the official tourism site of Brussels.

Route 1, the lower town (stops 1 and 2). Start on the Grand Place, the old market square and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ringed by the Gothic Town Hall with its tall spire, the ornate guild houses and the Maison du Roi, home of the Brussels City Museum. Walk a few minutes south to Manneken Pis on the corner of Rue de l’Étuve and Rue du Chêne. The bronze boy is smaller than most people expect, and the figure on the corner is a copy: the 1619 original by Jérôme Duquesnoy is kept safe in the City Museum.

Route 2, the hill and the upper town (stops 3 to 5). Walk back through the old centre and up to the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, with its twin Gothic towers and stained glass. Continue to the Mont des Arts, the formal garden and stairway with the best free view back over the Town Hall spire. Climb on to Place Royale and the Royal Palace, the official palace of the King of the Belgians, facing the Brussels Park.

Route 3, comics and Europe (stops 6 and 7). Walk down to the Belgian Comic Strip Center on Rue des Sables, housed in an Art Nouveau department store designed by Victor Horta, with its iron and glass hall. Then take the metro or walk east to the European Quarter, where the European Parliament rises behind Place du Luxembourg, and the Parlamentarium visitor centre explains how the parliament works.

Route 4, the north end (stops 8 to 10). Ride the metro to Heysel, the exhibition plateau in the north of the city, and walk up to the Atomium, built for the Expo 58 world fair, with nine steel spheres about 102 metres high. Finish next door at Mini Europe, the park of scale models of famous European buildings, which is open seasonally.

Between Routes 1 and 2, walk through the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, the elegant glass-roofed shopping arcades opened in the 1840s, lined with chocolate shops, cafés and bookshops. They are free to walk through, link the Grand Place area with the cathedral hill, and make a dry route on a rainy Brussels walking tour.

If you only have one day, Routes 1 and 2 give the best Brussels walking tour on foot, because the Grand Place, Manneken Pis, the cathedral, the Mont des Arts and the palace are all close together. A two-day Brussels walking tour works well as Routes 1 and 2 on day one, and the Comic Strip Center, the European Quarter, the Atomium and Mini Europe on day two.

On the way up to the palace, take a short detour to the Sablon, the old upper-town quarter around the Gothic church of Notre-Dame du Sablon. Its squares are known for antique shops, a weekend antiques market and some of the city's best chocolatiers, whose window displays are worth seeing even if you don't buy anything. The small Place du Petit Sablon garden is ringed by bronze statues of the old guilds.

For photos, the best free viewpoints on this Brussels walking tour are the Grand Place at night, when the façades are lit, the top of the Mont des Arts looking down to the Town Hall spire, and the lawn below the Atomium. In August of even-numbered years, the Grand Place is covered by the famous Flower Carpet for a few days.

Spring and early autumn are the best seasons for a long Brussels walking tour, with mild weather and fewer crowds. Summer brings festivals and the summer opening of the Royal Palace state rooms, usually from late July to early September. December is busy and festive, with the Winter Wonders Christmas market and lights around the Grand Place and the old fish market. Rain is common in every season, so carry an umbrella.

Many museums close on Mondays, and Mini Europe closes for part of the winter, so check opening times on the official websites before your Brussels walking tour. Book the Atomium in advance in high season to skip the longest queues.

The centre is compact, but the climb from the lower town to the upper town is steep. The STIB metro, trams and buses cover the city, and you can tap a contactless bank card at the gates. Metro line 6 runs to Heysel for the Atomium. Trains link Brussels Airport with the central station in a short ride.

Use the Map button at each stop to check walking time. Plan your Brussels walking tour from the bottom of the hill to the top where you can, and use a tram or bus for the climb to the upper town if your legs are tired.

The cathedral is a working church, so keep your voice low and avoid sightseeing during services. Brussels is officially bilingual, so street signs appear in French and Dutch, and a simple bonjour or goedendag is always welcome. In the European Quarter, security staff may check bags at the parliament buildings.

For food, try Belgian fries with mayonnaise from a frites stand, a warm waffle, mussels with fries, and stoofvlees, a beef stew cooked in beer. Belgium is famous for its chocolate and its beers, many brewed by monks or small family breweries. Service is included in restaurant bills, so tipping is optional on a Brussels walking tour, though rounding up is welcome.

Brussels is generally safe, but watch your bag in crowded places such as the Grand Place, the central station and the metro, where pickpockets work. Late at night, keep to busy, well-lit streets, especially around the main train stations.

Wear comfortable shoes with a good grip, because the old centre has cobbles, and the streets up to the upper town are steep. Pack a light raincoat, since showers can arrive with little warning.

Many stops cost nothing at all. The Grand Place, Manneken Pis, the cathedral nave, the Mont des Arts, the outside of the Royal Palace and Brussels Park, the European Quarter and the Parlamentarium, Heysel and the lawn around the Atomium are free to visit. The cathedral treasury, the Comic Strip Center, the Atomium and Mini Europe need tickets. That is why this free walking tour Brussels visitors can start at any hour works well: the 50 videos are free, and you only pay for what you choose to enter.

The comic strip murals are another free extra. Dozens of giant painted walls showing Belgian comic heroes, including Tintin and other famous characters, are spread across the old centre, and spotting them makes a fun trail between stops. Ask the tourist office for the route, or simply look up at the side walls as you walk.

Many Brussels museums offer free entry on certain days, often on the first Wednesday afternoon of the month, though the rules differ from museum to museum. Always confirm current prices and opening hours on each official website before your Brussels walking tour.

For accessibility, the Grand Place and the lower town have cobbles, and the climb to the cathedral and the upper town is steep. The European Quarter, the Parlamentarium and the Heysel plateau are flatter and easier for wheelchair users and strollers. Many metro stations have lifts, but not all, so check the step-free stations before you set out.

When you finish this Brussels walking tour, carry on with more free walks: the Amsterdam walking tour, the Paris walking tour, the London walking tour and the Berlin walking tour. You can browse every city on the Free City Tours home page.