Brussels

Why Brussels works

Grand Place has been Brussels' civic centre since the Middle Ages, its guildhalls rebuilt in ornate Baroque gilt after French bombardment flattened the square in 1695 — the Town Hall's Gothic spire, one of the few buildings to survive, still leans slightly off-centre from the original construction. Victor Hugo, exiled in Brussels, called it "the most beautiful square in the world," and it remains the benchmark for the city's architecture even as EU institutions have reshaped its economy and skyline. Brussels takes its chocolate seriously — pralines were invented here in 1912, and chocolatiers from Neuhaus to small artisan shops offer tastings across the old town — as it does its comic-strip heritage, with murals of Tintin and other Belgian comic characters painted across dozens of building façades on a dedicated Comic Strip Route. The Cinquantenaire Park's triumphal arch, built for Belgium's 50th independence anniversary, anchors a museum quarter housing military, art and automobile collections. Mont des Arts offers the city's best skyline view, looking from the old town toward the modern EU quarter. And no visit skips the Manneken Pis, the small bronze fountain statue of a urinating boy that Brussels has dressed in costumes for state occasions since the 17th century — proof the city doesn't take itself too seriously.

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