What Travelers Say About Brussels
Brussels is the capital of Belgium and, as the home of the main European Union institutions and NATO, the de facto capital of Europe. It grew from a 10th-century fortress town on the trade road between Cologne and the sea into a wealthy merchant city, and became the Belgian capital when the country won independence in 1830. Today it is a busy, slightly chaotic, very international place, where you hear French, Dutch, and a dozen other languages on the same street.
That split runs right through the city. Brussels sits on the language border between French-speaking Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders, and is officially bilingual, which you notice on every street sign. At its centre is the Grand Place, a small square ringed by gilded guild houses that is regularly called one of the most beautiful in the world. Around it the old town is a tangle of lanes full of chocolate shops, beer bars, and waffle stands.
There is more here than first meets the eye. Brussels was one of the birthplaces of Art Nouveau, and the curving facades of architects like Victor Horta are tucked through its neighbourhoods. It is also the spiritual home of the European comic strip, with Tintin and the Smurfs created here and murals all over town. Add some of the best food per square mile in Europe, and the city rewards anyone who stays longer than a quick day trip.