Grand Place Brussels, Belgium Travel Journals & Blogs

Luca Weber Erasmus Brüssel
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- Apr 17, 2024, 5:27pm
- ☁️ 9 °C
- Altitude: 19 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846936, 4.3519650°50’49” N 4°21’7” E
Day 3
Daily challenge 3
April 17 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
Atomium: Initially, the Atomium was not supposed to be restored but the people protested.

Stock Exchange: The new Stock Exchange the architect was inspired by the St. Michael church.

Town hall: The sides are not symmetrical.Read more
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Europe Trip 2023
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- Aug 28, 2023
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 28 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846322, 4.34890850°50’47” N 4°20’56” E
Day 32
Brussels 101
August 28, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
After a rainy first day in Brussels, we awoke to a much nicer day for a second and last full day before we headed off to Paris the next day. We had a sleep in and planned out some activities for the day.

The first stop was a trip to the European Parliament which is one of the main offices of the European Union. It was interesting to explore the buildings and the scale was immense compared to the Beehive. We made it to the main parliament chamber which was set up to cater hundreds of MPs from all across Europe, with live transalation into all the different European languages.

After finishing up at the European Parliament, we walked slowly through a nearby park to find some lunch. We settled on a Syrian restaurant, which turned out to be some of the best food we’d had on the trip to date. In the afternoon we had booked a food & beer walking tour so we had some time to kill before that began at 4pm. We continued exploring the city, going through a park with some interesting cartoon, animal-themed water fountains, and stopping for some coffee along the way.

At 4pm we made our way to the starting point of the tour. We were greeted by Thiago, our very friendly and enthusiastic tour guide. There were 20 or so other people on the tour too from all around the world. Our tour mixed sights, history, food and a Belgian beer tasting at the end. First was chocolate tasting at Pierre Marcolini’s shop. Thiago described Pierre Marcolini as the Gordon Ramsay of chocolates, and we were all given a small box of assorted chocolates and a macaron to taste. The fact they didn’t last long probably describes how good they were. We continued walking through the city, with Thiago providing insights into the history of Brussels. The next food stop was for fries and waffles, two classically Belgian treats. Both were incredible and a perfect way to fill us up a bit before our Belgian beer tasting. The beer tasting contained a range of beers, from older trappist beers brewed by monks, through to modern IPAs. We enjoyed our drinks while making some friends with the other people from our table who were from Austrlia, Germany, Brazil and Canada. All in all the tour was great and it was a good day in Brussels. -VRead more
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Traveler Mit dem Zug durch Europa
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- Apr 4, 2023, 9:27pm
- 🌙 6 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846801, 4.351350°50’48” N 4°21’5” E
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Day 23
Grote Markt by Night 🌃
April 4, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
Heute bin ich extra den ganzen Tag draußen geblieben, um das zu sehen: den Grand Place bei Nacht ... und es hat sich so sehr gelohnt ❤️ Die mit Gold verzierten Gebäude werden bei Nacht wunderbar beleuchtet und ziehen allerlei Bewunderer an. Definitiv einer meiner Lieblingsplätze in dieser Stadt 🌃🎨Read more
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Traveler sieht aus,wie im Märchen.
4/5/23ReplyTranslate
Traveler Ja, da hast du recht 😊
4/5/23ReplyTranslate
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Gate 1 River Cruise
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- May 21, 2023, 11:12am
- ⛅ 64 °F
- Altitude: 89 ft
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846539, 4.35188550°50’48” N 4°21’7” E
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Day 11
Brussels
May 21, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Have arrived in downtown Brussels. Home to NATO. Amazing city square. "The Grand-Place of Brussels is the location of the city's Town Hall, and thus its political centre. It also housed the largest marketplace in the city (hence its official names Grote Markt or Groote Markt, ; literally meaning "Big Market", in Dutch)." The Grand-Place is surrounded by the guild houses, the City Hall and the Maison du Roi. The Grand-Place is considered as one of the most beautiful places of the world. For more info on this amazing square - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand-Place

Got a short history lesson in the square. Sat down for a beer, some fries and a shrimp croquette, bought some fine Belgian Chocolates and back to the bus.Read more
Traveler Pictures are great as usual☺️ just love them! Love the UNESCO symbol! Shrimp croquettes YUM!
5/21/23Reply
MaryGrace Schumacher Make sure you have room for a box of these for me!
5/21/23Reply
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Traveler Europe - Fall 2023
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- Sep 30, 2023, 1:49pm
- ☁️ 64 °F
- Altitude: 20 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846244, 4.34955350°50’46” N 4°20’58” E
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Day 5
Brussels
September 30, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
They were unfortunately setting up for a marathon in the Grand Place, so it spoiled the ambiance a bit, but still almost absurdly gorgeous buildings. And yes, I also got a picture of the Manneken Pis :P Fyi, the glass covered shopping arcade is Europe's oldest continually operating one, and the building to the left of the spired town hall is where the Communist Manifesto was written.Read more
Traveler 😍
9/30/23Reply
Traveler You are seeing a lot of interesting things.
9/30/23Reply
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Traveler AVEC MON FILS
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- Aug 6, 2022, 9:39am
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 24 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.848649, 4.35108650°50’55” N 4°21’4” E
Day 6
Brüssel
August 6, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Wir sind in Brüssel und haben hier eine Nacht geschlafen. Heute steht ein Schokoladen- bzw. Pralinen-Workshop an. Zuerst gibt es aber erstmal ein Frühstück im Woodpecker.... Nach dem Besuch im Schokoladenmuseum haben wir uns noch Brüssel etwas angeschaut.
Mit dem Zug ging es dann weiter nach Amsterdam. Wir mussten jedoch eine andere Strecke fahren, da der Direktzug an diesem Samstag nicht fuhr. Es ging über Breda und Rotterdam nach Amsterdam. Auch wenn teilweise nicht viel Zeit zum Umsteigen war, hat alles gut geklappt. Kurz nach 20 Uhr waren wir in Amsterdam. Dann mussten wir noch ca. 30 Minuten durch Amsterdam laufen um zu unserem Hotel zu kommen. Hier war was los. So viele Menschen 😮. Tja, wir haben den Samstag für Amsterdam ausgesucht, an dem Amsterdam Pride stattfindet 🙈.
Danach waren wir so müde, dass wir auf's Abendessen verzichtet haben.Read more
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Olddustyboots.com Belgium, France and Holland
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- Apr 7, 2023, 10:30am
- ☁️ 8 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846542, 4.35201850°50’48” N 4°21’7” E
Day 5
Brussels statues
April 7, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
We re-joined our group and were led past the City Hall, which looks like a Cathedral, to the very famous, but very small statue of the peeing boy located on a street corner. The statue is called the Manneken Pis. He was designed in 1388 and was a fountain for getting drinking water. This statue is only about 50 cm tall, which surprised me because I thought with all the hype, he must be life sized. Shops surrounded the little guy with all manner of lace, tapestries and souvenirs.
On our way back to City Hall, I noticed a statue in repose on the side of a building. This is named the Everard t' Serclaes Monument and people line up to touch the statues arms and legs, and have rubbed his bronze patina off. I also rubbed the statue's arm and then caught up with our group again. Our local guide told me that the statue commemorated a man in the 14th century who led a rebellion against the Flemish, forcing them to flee. Rubbing its arms and legs brings the person good luck, grants wishes and ensures that you'll come to Brussels again.Read more
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Olddustyboots.com Belgium, France and Holland
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- Apr 7, 2023, 7:30am
- ☁️ 6 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846542, 4.35201850°50’48” N 4°21’7” E
Day 5
Brussels, Belgium
April 7, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
Today we said "a bientot" (see you soon) to Paris and traveled by bus to Brussels, Belgium and then on to Amsterdam, Netherlands to board the Monarch Queen Gate 1 River Cruise ship. It took about 4 hours to reach the capital of Belgium, Brussels, which is known for its historic cloth weaving industry, its lace and tapestry weaving industry, and its chocolate, waffles and french fries specialities.
Our bus brought us very close to the centre of town and then we followed our cruise director through the streets to the covered mall, and then on to the City Hall in the Grand Place. We heard a little bit about the square and then we were released for lunch.
At the City Hall square, many of the buildings were decorated in real gold and even the very old building that used to be where people bought their bread, was intricate in its design and decoration. In this square, artists had drawings and paintings of the ancient buildings for sale and tourists were posing everywhere to get "selfies" in front of such opulence.
Before leaving the area, I showed Doug the golden Camino shell I had found on the sidewalk. I looked it up and, sure enough, the shell is pointing the way through Brussels to Paris and then on to Santiago!
Buen Camino!Read more
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Olddustyboots.com Belgium, France and Holland
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- Apr 7, 2023, 11:45am
- ☁️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 27 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.846542, 4.35201850°50’48” N 4°21’7” E
Day 5
Belgium waffles
April 7, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Doug and I brought a sandwich with us on this tour, so after we walked through the covered mall with the glass roof, and the guide cut us free for lunch, we weren't hungry. We took our time exploring the shops and buildings around the Grand Place, all of which were decorated for Easter. Chocolate fountains, Easter eggs and bunnies were everywhere making me salivate like Pavlov's dog!
We still had some time to spare before rejoining the tour, so I convinced Doug that we needed to sample a Belgium waffle. I chose one covered with chocolate, banana, strawberries, whipped cream and a chocolate cookie. Funny how our appetite returned after our first taste! The waffle was light and fluffy and it vanished in what seemed like an instant!
YUM!!Read more
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Traveler Europe by Eurail
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- Jul 13, 2022, 8:02pm
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Altitude: 23 m
- Belgium Brussels Grand Place Brussels 50.847987, 4.35147350°50’53” N 4°21’5” E
Day 1
Arriving in Brussels
July 13, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
We arrived in Brussels after a logistically painless journey. The train to London was simple, a quick queue through St Pancras and a relatively short journey (just 2 hours) to Brussels. Our company for the trip was questionable, with two chaps behind us having no volume control!

At Brussels Midi, we opted for a half hour walk to our hotel to see some of the city. Turns out we've arrived on the eve of a festival (In The Streets) which looks exciting. After dropping out kit, we headed out to the fabulous Casco bar for some beer, jazz and a Philly cheesesteak. The food was delicious, but scratched up my already sore throat, leaving it very painful 😔 We were joined by fellow interrailing friends for a drink afterwards, which was a lovely addition to the evening.

We detoured on the way back to the hotel via Grand Place, a beautiful, traditionally Belgian square, and the heart of Brussels. We then swung by the Mannekin-Pis, a famous statue of a small boy peeing into a fountain, before calling it a night.

Tomorrow, we are booked on a European Parliament tour...so excited!Read more
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