Belgium is the cradle of the 20th century comics, called BD (Bande dessinée) in Brussels. It’s an important part of the culture of this country; nowhere in the world can you find so many comics shops.

The Smurfs, Tintin, Lucky Luke are only few of the comics created by Belgian authors which are famous all around the world.

Brussels has a “Museum de la Bande Dessinée” but what has always fascinated me is the open air tribute to comics.

All through the city center you will see plenty (36 and growing) of murals showing your favourite characters. Some of them interact with Brussels landmarks (i.e. the Manneken Pis), others perfectly fit the wall they are painted on (Boulevard d’Anspach, close to La Bourse). You will be surprised by seeing them around many corners in the center!

There are walking and biking guided tours which explain the history of Belgian comics while showing you many of the walls.

But if you prefer discovering these beauties yourself, then check this website. It makes it easier to understand which comics are where in town.

It’s worth checking out the tours or walking on your own, there are some which are so well integrated with the city that you do not even realize they are there.

Have a good walk, and let me know!

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Brussels & the comics | Art & culture | Free
All around town | Center
24 hours daily

The best way to start your visit in Brussels is by going to Place Poelaert. This place gives a good overview of Brussels. It is especially nice to visit during sunrise or sunset.

You can see all of Brussels buildings in a wonderful panorama. There are binoculars to view the buildings in detail and there is a lift that takes you to the Marolles. You can also walk down following the parking space of the adjacent Palais de Justice.

You can sit on the stone fence to admire the view. On your right there is a beautiful art deco building functioning as a high school and on the left there is the Palais de Justice. Right in front of Place Poelaert is Avenue Louise, following this avenue completely to the end, or taking a tram, will bring you to Bois de la Cambre, a large ‘park’ with a lake (see the Bois de la Cambre article).

The whole area is worthwhile to walk around in and to discover at your own pace and interests.

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Place Poelaert | Art & culture, Relaxing
Place Poelaert | Ixelles
Daily

A variety of flowers, plants and trees decorate this spacious garden. There is a little lake and a labyrinth of bushes for you to get quiet and inhale a little piece of paradise.

This small patch of bliss lies between a major four lane traffic road which makes the opposition nature versus construction even more apparent. Still, wandering there makes you forget the stressed out people caught there in traffic. The whole park is built on a steep hill, there are entrances to it at various places.

When the Botanique was built it was a major scientific research temple with a very large variety of exotic plants, flowers and trees. To acquire money for maintenance they used to sell vegetables and other crops from the garden. At this place they created Belgian endive.

At present times the Botanique serves as a known cultural venue. It has different concert halls, exposition rooms and a museum. There is also a large bar and restaurant with a splendid terrace from where you have an amazing view of the botanical garden. They serve great lunches and dinner. The expositions held there are open from twelve until eight.

Their concert programming is worth checking out and during `Les nuits Botanique’ large crowds gather there to see indoor and outdoor concerts from a large variety of groups.

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Botanique | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Relaxing
Entrance Koningsstraat 236 | Center | +3222183732
10:00 – 18:00 daily

Metro stop Naamse Poort is the gateway to African shops, various ethnic restaurants, Italian, Greek, Indian, Pakistan, and Belgian cuisine. This is rue Nord, Brussels commercial clothes street converted into a nice area to wander in.

There are also a lot of African barber shops, clothes, food and jewelry shops next to HM, Zara and the usual pack of Belgian stores.

Further down the shop street right in front of the subway you’ll find a park to sit in front of the cities town hall, in Ixelles. Various bars and restaurants add to Matongés cultural offerings.

The Chaussée de Wavre offers mainly restaurants, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese bars and several African shops. There are also various second hand clothes shops and other specialised shops. The prices for food, clothes, or other items in this area are fairly cheap. Be sure to see this area at your own interests and pace.

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Matongé | Art & culture, Bars, Restaurants (Different)
Chaussee de Wavre, Porte de Namur | Ixelles
Daily

Emblematic of Brussel’s rich and vibrant cultural life is Passa Porta, the international house of literature.

A fine and desperately needed meeting place where various language lovers get together to learn and enjoy all things related to semantic creativity. This place is an important link that assembles philosophers, writers and an interested public of various linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Almost every day you can experience a presentation of the works of various artists at the literary platform. Passa Porta also organizes workshops that encompass discussions, analysis or theoretical and practical demonstrations on for instance writing fiction or on translation.

Next to it there is a book shop with new and second hand books at bargain prices. Photos and video’s enhance the understanding of a literary work at Passa Porta’s exposition room. They even give apartments to national and international writers. Their work made there gets sufficient attention after it is finished.

The whole kaleidoscope of linguistic creation is skillfully brought together by “entrez lire”. This organisation invites journalists, writers, translators, screen writers, book editors and others to discuss or show their field of occupation. Seminars, workshops, expositions and meetings are organised regularly.

Passa Porta is a wonderful place to discover the written word. You’ll find it on the fancy Dansaert straat not far from the Bourse. Be sure to check their website to consult the organised presentations.

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Passa Porta | Art & culture, Shopping
Antoine Dansaertstraat 46 | Center | +3222260454
Tue – Sat 11:00 – 19:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

You can’t miss this temple of Chinese goods. The astonishing view will beg you to come in for a visit. Visiting this magnificent building is a must for adventurous food loving world citizens. A couple of Chinese restaurants and a lot of Thai ones are located a bit further grouped together in the street right across the Bourse.

For good ingredients, healthy and nice food, special kitchen utensils and presents shop here!

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Kam Yuen | Art & culture, Shopping
Rue de la Vierge Noire 2-4 | Center | +3225125833
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 18:00

Set in the beautiful art nouveau building `The old England’, this museum guarantees a well spent afternoon. Various instruments, European and non European. are at display. Infrared headphones offer the possibility to hear extracts from the instruments you are viewing.

They collected a large sample of extracts for you to listen to, making a visit to this museum a feast for body and soul. In September until June concerts are organized there. These concerts make use of the enormous rare and ancient instruments in the collection.

Your visit is chronologically structured taking you to instruments and their sounds from ancient times until present day. Guided tours are also offered to give you a more thorough understanding of musical evolutions. Next to this rich collection of instruments the museum has a library where you can proceed your investigation of everything about music. It has a long history of collecting, renovating and preserving instruments that makes this museum extra spectacular.

There is also a shop where you can buy books, Cd’s and other music related products. Pictures and video extracts nicely put next to the instruments on display give you further insights. This is truly a museum where education, entertainment and conservation come together. Even if you don’t have time to visit this museum you can still visit the restaurant without paying for the entrance to the museum.

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Musical instruments museum | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Restaurants (Lunch)
Hofberg 2 | Center | +3225450130
Tue – Fri 9:30 – 17:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 17:00

Although you may think Brussels is flat, it actually has few hills! Try biking around and you’ll notice it! An easy way to reach “uptown” from “downtown” is taking the elevator.

In the Marolles area near Sablon there’s a small square (square Breughel L’ancien) from where you take this free elevator, open every day till midnight, for bikes too!! And when reach the top…THE VIEW!

All Brussels opens in front of your eyes. On a clear day you can easily distinguish the “Basilique“, the Atomium and the entire city center. You have reached as well the Palace of Justice (impressive building) and the one of the shopping areas in town, Avenue Louise. So, it’s just time to enjoy!

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Elevator to the sky | Art & culture | Free
Place Poelaert | Center
24 hours daily

Brussels most visited site together with Grand Place is the Manneken Pis. Many travellers are also familiar with Jeaneke Pis, but almost nobody knows that Bruxellers installed another sculpture with the same (pissing) idea.

It’s the Zinneke, a dog! Zinneke in Brussels dialect means someone of mixed origins, symbolizing the mixture of populations living in Brussels.

To me this sculpture is a funny spot to show to friends, a laugh, a way to explain Brussels. And if you are lucky, walking along the street you may find the original dog model for the sculpture: his owner Mark lives in the neighborhood!

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The Zinneke | Art & culture
Rue de Chartreux 31h | Center
24 hours daily

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”, Pablo Picasso once said. Well, this shop is your washing machine.

Fashion magazines, art-house movies, exhibition catalogs, gifts, children books, T-shirts with fancy slogans and the widest range of national and international art books you can imagine, you can find it all in one place… the fine Bozar arts shop near the fine arts museum.

It’s an ideal place to buy birthday presents you cannot find elsewhere and I bet you won’t be surprised if I tell you this is one of my favorite places to hang out around Christmas time.

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Bozar Shop | Art & culture, Shopping
Rue Ravensteinstraat 15 | Center | +3225141505
10:00 – 19:00 (or till after concert) daily