If you’re wondering - where is Brussels? Then it is the capital city of Belgium, the underdog neighbour of France and Germany, and home to the world-famous Belgian chocolates. Brussels is often considered the gateway to Western Europe, offering great flight connectivity from Asia and other parts of the world. Brussels weather in late spring/ early summer is the ideal European summer weather with a cool climate, abundant sunshine with bouts of wind, rain, and overcast weather during the day.
The biggest advantage of setting your base in Brussels while you take day trips to Bruges, Luxembourg and The Battlefield of Waterloo is great public transport connectivity to all these places and lower hotel tariffs in Brussels as compared to other neighbouring bigger cities like Paris or Amsterdam.
While in Belgium, we spent an entire day exploring Brussels and we weren’t expecting anything beyond the Belgian chocolates, however, we were surprised by the history, culture and culinary delights that the city had to offer all in under 24 hours.
Table of contents
Early Morning: Begin with a breakfast of Belgian waffles and the best coffee in Brussels
We were staying at The Augustin in Brussels which is located a few minutes away from the Grand Place and the city centre. We started at 9:45 AM and took a morning walk to the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert to grab our breakfast of Belgian waffles and some of the best coffee in Brussels. Our first stop was for a scrumptious Liege Waffle topped with strawberries and vanilla ice cream at Maison Dandoy. We then enjoyed our morning cup of joe at Aksum Coffee which is bang opposite Maison Dandoy. We switched up our warm morning beverage with a cold one with our double espresso enhanced with caramel, cocoa, whipped cream, and ice cream. It was nice, light, and rejuvenating.
Late Morning: Things to see in Brussels, including the Grand Place Brussels, Mannekin Piss, and the Royal Palace of Brussels
We then walked to the Grand Place to join a free walking tour to get acquainted with the city of Brussels for the next couple of hours. The meeting point was at the Grand Place and we met fellow tourists from different parts of the world. While a lot of these walking tours are free, if the experience is enjoyable the guide appreciates a generous tip towards the end of the tour. A good tip would be around EUR 10 per person.
Our guide had a fantastic sense of humour and decoded the asymmetrical architecture of the Grand Place, led us to the famous statue of Mannekin piss with a fountain coming out in the form of a little boy’s piss, and also walked us to the Royal Palace of Brussels and how the geopolitics have evolved in that part of the world. The walking tour left us quite enlightened about Brussels and Belgium and we were hungry from all the walking by around 1:30 PM.
Early Afternoon: Explore the Brussels food scene with lunch at Woodpeckers
We then headed to one of Brussel's famous brunch spots Woodpecker St Catherine for their #PerfectlyPoachedEggs - that we tried atop some avocado on toast and in a burger. The place also has great egg-free and vegan options.
Late Afternoon: Best thing to do in Brussels: Belgian chocolate shop hopping
It was around 3 PM and we were already back near the Grand Place. We made the most of the bus network in the city to find our way back to the city center. We then put on our Willy Wonka hats to go Belgian chocolate tasting and shopping from the local boutique shops in Brussels. We wanted to avoid the Godivas and Neuhaus of the world as those chocolates are available worldwide. The 3 best Belgian chocolate shops that we visited were:- Mary’s at the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, they had some of the most delicious handmade chocolates with a small praline costing around EUR 1-2 and upwards. This place was started by a woman chocolatier and also has the Royal family of Belgium as a patron since the past few decades. I’d say they were best enjoyed in the cool Belgian weather, but we did bring them back home for our parents to enjoy.
Pierre Marcolini, which stands for its bean-to-bar experience is a relatively modern chocolatier who focuses on sustainable sourcing of cocoa from African nations. More than the chocolates, we loved their pistachio macaron and a Japanese pastry called Kumo which is an airy dessert and a blend of a gluten-free hazelnut cookie, chocolate ganache, gianduja, and yuzu. Both of these desserts contain eggs.
Elisabeth chocolatier which is another boutique chocolatier that also has eggless chocolates available and their dark chocolate truffles are worth all the extra calories.
Le Comptoir de Mathilde is a pocket-friendly option to experience Belgian chocolates, and some local French desserts like Baba au rhum, and even have decorative Belgian hot chocolate sticks to carry back home.
Early Evening: Explore the Brussels food scene for vegans by grabbing dinner at The Sister Brussels Cafe
We were weary of our sweet tooth as we had been indulging in more sweets than ever since morning and needed a short savory break while people-watching. It was around 5 PM and we grabbed an early dinner at the Sister Brussels Cafe of a Buddha Bowl and a cold soup. It was wholesome as we sat on their metal chairs in a small alley right by the Grand Place.
A few other vegan and vegetarian-friendly places in Brussels that we had on our list were KOMO Bowl and Buddy Buddy, however, we did not have the time to try them out.
Late Evening: Other places to visit in Brussels for the best Belgian beer and vegetarian Belgian Frites
You cannot come to Belgium and not have their famous Belgian Frites! And I must warn you that they are not French Fries! The Belgians claim to have been the OG creators of the Belgian Frites that the French conveniently stole from them. Also, traditionally Belgian Frites are not vegetarians as they are fried in animal fat. So you need to explicitly ask for vegan frites or fries made in vegetable oil. We tried the vegetarian Belgian frites at Patatak along with their aioli dip post our dinner and we did not regret it. It indeed made for a great post-dinner snack around 6:45 PM. A few other highly recommended places that serve vegan frites are Vegan Waf and Frites Atelier, however, we could not try them.
Apart from the waffles, chocolates, and frites, Belgium is also known for its Belgian beer which is supposed to be stronger than the famous German beer. Belgian beer has a minimum alcohol content of 6% compared to just 4% in other beers. Brussels has an interesting bar scene in the evenings, with beer-hopping tours. It is also legal to sip on your beer in public places and historically Belgian kids would sip on beer to quench their thirst when the water was unsafe for consumption in the region. It was around 8 PM and we visited Scott’s Bar in Brussels to try Lambik beers. My favourite was a fruit beer made with sour cherries that grow in the region with a sweet aftertaste. If you’re a beer fanatic, you can also plan a visit to one of the Trappist breweries where beer is brewed by Trappist monks using ancient methods in traditional abbeys. There are only a few Trappist breweries left in the world, of which 6 of them are in Belgium, located in remote towns.
Last word: Should you visit the Atomium in Brussels?
We were back in our hotel room by 9:30 PM after a full day of exploring Brussels. We’d also suggest being back to your room by 10 PM as Brussels may not be the safest city in the evenings. You should get back even earlier if you’re here in the colder months when the sunsets by early evening.
While we did visit the Atomium in Brussels on another day, it is totally skippable. Firstly, it is not easily accessible from the city centre and you have to take the train to get to it. Secondly, it is just a modern structure with not real historical or cultural significance. Unless you’re a modern architecture buff, this place wouldn’t be as interesting to you.
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