Grand-Place
Gilded guild houses and a Gothic town hall, on a square closed on every side.
Duration
30 min – 1 hr
Best time
Early morning, or after dark
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The square was shelled by Louis XIV's troops in 1695: in three days everything burned except the town hall tower, too massive to fall. The guilds rebuilt their houses in five years, each its own, in stone and in a matching style — hence this baroque unity built all at once.
It is entirely enclosed: no street runs through it, you enter through alleys and it appears all at once. The begonia flower carpets that cover it every second year, in August, last four days.
Getting there
Metro to Gare Centrale or Bourse, five minutes on foot. No cars enter it.
What to bring
- Headlamp
Rules on site
The terraces on the square charge several times the price of a coffee one street back. The waffles sold around it are nothing Brussels: the real Brussels waffle is eaten on a plate, not walking.
