Brussels on foot, from the Grand-Place to the upper town: what is free and what needs a ticket
A walk through the centre of Brussels, from the Grand-Place and Manneken-Pis up past the cathedral and the Mont des Arts to the royal quarter and the Sablon: what you see for free, which doors need a ticket, and what the partner sells along the way.
On the evening of 13 August 1695 a French army under Marshal de Villeroy, drawn up on the high ground west of Brussels, began to fire mortar bombs and red-hot shot into the city. Louis XIV wanted to draw his enemies away from the siege of Namur. The firing went on until the 15th. The gunners took the spire of the Town Hall as their mark, and when the fires died down some four thousand houses were gone, those around the main square among them. The spire was still standing.
The guilds rebuilt their houses on the square within about five years, in stone, to designs the city had to approve. That is why the Grand-Place looks as if it had been made in one piece. It is also the start of the best short walk in Brussels: from the merchants' town at the bottom of the slope to the royal quarter at the top, forty minutes without stops and half a day with them. Most of it costs nothing.
Lower town, upper town
Brussels grew on a hillside. Trade and the guilds were at the bottom, beside a river that now runs underground. The court was at the top, on the hill called Coudenberg. Central Station sits between the two, five minutes from the Grand-Place.
The walk below goes uphill, because most visitors begin at the square. If your legs prefer it, take a tram or the metro to the top and do it in reverse.
Around the Grand-Place
The square
The square itself is free at any hour, and is at its best early in the morning and after dark, when the fronts are lit. The Town Hall, of the fifteenth century, carries a spire about 96 metres high with a gilded St Michael on top. Facing it is the Maison du Roi, which never housed a king: it was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 1870s and holds the Brussels City Museum, which needs a ticket. The inside of the Town Hall is seen on guided visits, also with a ticket.
Manneken-Pis
Five minutes to the south-west, on a street corner, is a bronze boy about 55 centimetres tall. The figure in the niche is a copy placed there in 1965. The original, cast in 1619 by Jérôme Duquesnoy, is in the City Museum. He is often dressed: his wardrobe has passed a thousand costumes. Looking is free.
Manneken-Pis in his niche. The statue on the corner is a copy. Photo: Benoit Brummer (Trougnouf), via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
The arcades and the Bourse
North-east of the square, the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert opened in 1847, among the first glass-roofed shopping arcades in Europe. Walking through costs nothing. West of the square stands the Bourse, the former stock exchange of 1873, whose great hall is now a public passage. The beer museum on its upper floors, Belgian Beer World, needs a ticket.
The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, opened in 1847, in the evening. Photo: Diego Delso, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The climb: cathedral and Mont des Arts
Behind Central Station, the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula was begun in 1226 and took nearly three centuries to finish. Its nave is free to enter.
From the station, steps lead up through the Mont des Arts, a formal garden laid out in the 1950s. Turn round at the top: this is the free view of Brussels, with the spire of the Town Hall rising out of the lower town.
From the top of the Mont des Arts: the garden, the lower town and the spire of the Town Hall. Photo: iMahesh, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A few steps higher is the Old England building, a department store of 1899 in iron and glass. It houses the Musical Instruments Museum, which needs a ticket.
The upper town
Place Royale is a white, symmetrical square of the 1770s, built over the ruins of the old palace of the dukes of Brabant, which burned down in 1731. What survives of that palace lies under the paving and can be visited, with a ticket, as the Coudenberg. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts and the Magritte Museum are on the same square, each with its ticket.
A minute away, the Royal Palace faces the park. It is the king's place of work, and by tradition its state rooms open to visitors without charge for some weeks in summer: check before counting on it. The BELvue Museum next door tells the history of Belgium and needs a ticket. The park is free.
From Place Royale, a straight street runs south to the Sablon. The church of Notre-Dame du Sablon is free. So is the garden opposite, the Petit Sablon, whose railings carry 48 small bronze figures, one for each of the old trades of the city. The walk ends five minutes further on, at the terrace in front of the Palace of Justice, with the widest view over the lower town. A free public lift goes down from there to the Marolles quarter.
The garden of the Petit Sablon, with the monument to the counts of Egmont and Hoorn. Photo: iMahesh, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What needs a ticket, in short
- The Brussels City Museum and the guided visit of the Town Hall.
- Belgian Beer World, in the Bourse.
- The Musical Instruments Museum.
- The Coudenberg, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Magritte Museum and the BELvue Museum.
Everything else on the route is free. One or two interiors are enough for a day. Many museums in Brussels close on Mondays.
Reading the partner's listings
- The Central Brussels audio tour is commentary in the partner's app, in fourteen stops. It runs from Place Royale down to Manneken-Pis, the downhill direction. It includes no tickets.
- The Musical Instruments Museum ticket with a city audio tour is entry for a time you choose and an audio walk from the museum down to the Bourse.
- The Belgian Beer World ticket is entry, a beer on the rooftop and an audio walk through the lower town.
- The BELvue Museum ticket with a city audio tour is entry and an audio walk through the centre.
In all three bundles the partner's audio is for the streets. It does not guide you through the rooms of the museum. Other listings in Brussels, such as the Atomium, are far from the centre and not part of this walk.
These are the tickets and audio tours our partner sells along this route, with today's prices:
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on WeGoTrip
Attraction Tickets Brussels: Musical Instruments Museum Ticket & Cityscape Audio Tour
Book on WeGoTripfrom€24.15
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on WeGoTrip
City tours Brussels: Belgian Beer World Ticket, Beer Tasting & City Highlights Audio Tour
Book on WeGoTripfrom€28.56
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on WeGoTrip
History & Heritage Central Brussels: Discover the City’s Historic Quarter with an In-App Audio Tour
Book on WeGoTripfrom€11
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on WeGoTrip
Attraction Tickets Brussels Walking Tour with The View Ferris Wheel Ticket
Book on WeGoTripfrom€14
Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
From here
Below the Palace of Justice, the Marolles quarter holds a flea market every morning on Place du Jeu de Balle. The Atomium is at the northern edge of the city, reached by metro. For the rest of Brussels, or a route on to Bruges and Ghent, open the trip planner for Belgium.
Cover photo: iMahesh, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Grand-Place in Brussels free?
Yes. The square is a public space, open at all hours. Only the Brussels City Museum in the Maison du Roi and the guided visit of the Town Hall need a ticket.
How long does it take to walk around central Brussels?
From the Grand-Place up to the Palace of Justice is about forty minutes of walking. With stops at Manneken-Pis, the arcades, the cathedral, the Mont des Arts and the Sablon, allow half a day, and longer if you enter a museum.
Is the Manneken-Pis on the street the original?
No. The statue in the niche is a copy placed there in 1965. The original of 1619 is kept in the Brussels City Museum on the Grand-Place.
Where is the best free view of Brussels?
From the top of the steps of the Mont des Arts, looking over the garden to the spire of the Town Hall, and from the terrace in front of the Palace of Justice.
Which sights in central Brussels need a ticket?
The City Museum, the Town Hall visit, Belgian Beer World, the Musical Instruments Museum, the Coudenberg, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Magritte Museum and the BELvue Museum. The squares, churches, arcades, gardens and viewpoints are free.
