Brussels (Bruxelles in French) is the capital city of Belgium and also the capital of the EU. It is the largest city in Belgium with a population of 1,2 million. It was my very first time in Brussels, I mean for real. I was there before, but not to do sightseeing. My best friend studied there for 3 years, so we had a personal Brussels guide (thank you very much for showing us everything).

Here are the 10 things to see or do that I can absolutely recommend you.

Atomium

Of course you can’t go to Brussels without seeing the Atomium. It is a little bit out of Brussels, so you have to take the metro, but it’s absolutely worth it. If you are in front of it, it’s just amazing.

There is a restaurant in the upper sphere which is just so good. As we had no time left, we only visited the Atomium by night, but even by night you have an amazing view over Brussels.

Grand Place

For me, the Grand Place is THE must see in Brussels. Basically it is a place surrounded by guildhalls, the Town Hall of Brussels and the Breadhouse. The Brussels Town Hall is the biggest building on the place. If you stand in front of it or look at the pictures, you recognized immediately that the building is not symmetric, the right piece of the Town Hall is shorter than the left one. My best friend told me that there exists a story in which is told that the architect committed suicide when he discovered this error. He jumped of the tower from the Town Hall. In front of the Town Hall you have the King’s House. If the sun shines on the Place, everything looks like made out of gold. Even by night it looks amazing and definitely worth to visit.

Manneken Pis

I think everyone who saw already the Manneken Pis was at the beginning a little bit disappointed. At least, that was the case for me. If you hear about the Manneken Pis or see pictures in the internet, you’d probably imagine a huge statue, BUT no! The Manneken Pis is only 30 cm high, which is very small. But it’s a nice and beautiful, small statue. At some days, he is dressed, but I haven’t seen that yet.

Parc Cinquantenaire

My best friend told us that we have to visit the Parc Cinquantenaire (in English: Park of the fiftieth Anniversary). This is one of the parts of the European Quartier of Brussels. Basically, it is a beautiful place with buildings and with an arcade in the middle. So as we headed to the arcade, we passed the Royal Military Museum. Suddenly we saw a plate on which was written that you can ascend the arcade to have a beautiful view over Brussels. Of course we had to do this. The view was just amazing! I think this is rather a secret tip, so just do it.

Basilique du Sacré Coeur

To be honest, we didn’t enter the church (its name is Basilica of the Sacred Heart in English). We just spent our time in front of the church on a meadow. There were many people just relaxing there, so we also did this. As a Christian, I have to admit that the basilica looked great, and next time I’ll enter it for sure.

Mont des Arts

The Mont des Arts or in English mount of the arts is a place where you have an excellent view over Brussels with the tower of the Town’s Hall. For me, it was one of the best places to have a city view.

Rue des Bouchers

The Rue des Bouchers is a very touristic street with basically only restaurants. It is very impressive to see this little street full of restaurants. We went to only one restaurant there, but that one was delicious. It is called „Chez Leon“ and that restaurant is famous for their „moules-frites“ which are mussels in English. If you’re in Brussels and you don’t know where to eat – go to the Chez Leon in the Rue des Bouchers.

Sablon & Petit Sablon Square

First, the Sablon is a neighborhood in Brussels with a church named Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon. But I liked the Petit Sablon better. This is a garden with trees, a fountain and a lot of small statues where every statue represents a trade. I really loved this garden.

Mini Europe

Let’s be honest, Mini Europe is good for one time. Perhaps I was a little bit disappointed about the representation of Luxembourg. The idea to build a mini version of Europe is not bad, but for me, they chose weird things for some countries. For some countries they have a few beautiful buildings and other countries looks disregarded.
Beside that, I was shocked about 3 girls, I think they were from the US. They climbed on the buildings and even stole figures.

Jeanneken Pis

Before I went to Brussels, I didn’t know that this would even exist. When we decided to go to Brussels, my best friend told me that there would be the equivalent to the Manneken Pis, but just in female. This made me smile. So I was really excited to see this. It’s not at all like the Manneken Pis, the Jeanneken Pis is located hidden at the end of a street with iron bars in front. But I think that this is a really good and funny idea. So don’t miss the Jeanneken Pis.

Even though we spent only 2 days in Brussels, it is an amazing city which is absolutely worth it to visit.