1 destination · 10 things to do

Belgium

Brussels is the capital that hides its charms in plain sight. Behind the glass towers of the European quarter lies one of the most theatrical squares on earth, the gilded Grand-Place, ringed by guildhalls and a Gothic town hall, and around it a compact old town of covered arcades, chocolate shops, comic-strip murals and wood-panelled beer cafés that pour hundreds of styles. This guide books Brussels properly — the Atomium and its view from the top sphere, the Belgian Beer World experience inside the old stock exchange, a chocolate museum with a tasting, the surreal rooms of the Magritte Museum, the Art Nouveau Musical Instruments Museum, the Horta-built Comics Art Museum and the locomotives of Train World — and adds the free classics, from Manneken-Pis to the evening glow of the Grand-Place, plus the easy day trip to the canals of Bruges. Then it matches you to the right hotel, from a grand address a few steps from the Town Hall to a boutique hideaway under the glass roof of the royal galleries and a converted brewery by the canal, because in a city this walkable, the right base means you rarely need a ticket for the metro.