Atomium
The Atomium is a 102-meter structure of nine interconnected steel spheres representing an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, built for the 1958 World Expo. The exterior is free to photograph from the surrounding Heysel park.
Street in Brussels
Sablon District
The Sablon is Brussels’ antique and chocolate district, a pair of squares (Grand Sablon and Petit Sablon) connected by streets lined with antique dealers, chocolate shops (Pierre Marcolini, Wittamer, Neuhaus are all here), and the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Sablon (free to enter). Free to walk. Budget travelers walk through, visit the church for free, taste a praline from a chocolatier, and see Brussels at its most refined.
Practical
Before you go
- Address
- Place du Petit Sablon - Kleine Zavel, 1000 Brussels
- Good to know
Nearby
More in Brussels
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
Brussels' primary cathedral combines Romanesque and Gothic architecture with impressive twin towers visible across the city center. Free to enter, it sits on a hill between the Grand Place and the European Quarter and is one of the most architecturally significant churches in Belgium.
Comic Strip Route
Brussels is the capital of European comics (Tintin, the Smurfs, Lucky Luke), and over 50 large-scale comic murals are painted on building walls across the city center. Free.
Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
One of the oldest covered shopping galleries in Europe, opened in 1847 and still lined with chocolate shops, bookstores, and cafes. Walking through the glass-vaulted arcade is free and offers shelter from Brussels' unpredictable weather.
Grand Place
The Grand Place is Brussels' central square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site surrounded by ornate guild houses, the Gothic Town Hall, and the Maison du Roi. Free.
Manneken Pis
Manneken Pis is a small bronze fountain sculpture of a urinating boy, the unofficial symbol of Brussels. Free.
Working out what Brussels costs?
The whole of Brussels