Why stay here
The Lower Town is Brussels as most visitors imagine it: cobbled lanes spreading out from the Grand Place, a square whose baroque guild houses and Gothic Town Hall earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1998. Staying here means stepping out each morning into the city's living history, with most major sights reachable on foot across largely flat streets.
It is also the district of the performing arts. La Monnaie, the national opera house, is famous as the stage where an 1830 performance helped ignite the Belgian Revolution. Around it, the nineteenth-century Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert shelter chocolatiers, bookshops, a theatre and cafés under their glass vaults.
Essential sights
- Grand Place & Town HallUNESCO World Heritage
- Galeries Royales Saint-HubertCovered 1840s arcade
- La Monnaie / De MuntNational opera
- Manneken PisThe city's bronze mascot
- Belgian Comic Strip CenterArt Nouveau Horta building
- Place des MartyrsNeoclassical square
Practical notes
Brussels-Central station is a short walk from the Grand Place and connects to Brussels Airport by direct train. The central boulevards are largely pedestrianised, so taxis may drop you a few steps from your hotel entrance. The district is busiest on weekends, during the December Winter Wonders season and when the biennial Flower Carpet covers the Grand Place in August.
For official visitor information, see visit.brussels.
