✨ Why Use Brussels as a Base?

We’ll be honest - while Brussels wasn’t our favorite destination in Belgium, it is one of the easiest places to use as a home base for exploring the country.

Belgium is surprisingly compact, which makes it incredibly easy to take day trips to some of the country’s most beautiful destinations in just 1–2 hours.

While we personally explored Belgium as part of a road trip, we know that driving in Europe isn’t for everyone - and the good news is that it doesn’t have to be.

Belgium has an incredibly easy train system that makes visiting places like Bruges, Ghent, Dinant, and even Luxembourg City surprisingly simple without renting a car. Most of these destinations can easily be visited as day trips directly from Brussels.

So whether you’re planning an epic Belgium road trip or prefer stress-free train travel, these guides will help you experience some of the most beautiful places in Belgium either way. 🚆✨

In this guide, we’re covering:

• what to do in Brussels
• where to eat
• where to stay
• and the absolute best day trips from Brussels

🇧🇪 Best Things to Do in Brussels

Brussels may not have completely stolen our hearts the way Bruges or Ghent did, but between stunning architecture, incredible food, quirky landmarks, and some surprisingly fun beer culture, there’s still plenty to experience in Belgium’s capital city before heading off on unforgettable day trips across the country.

✨ Grand Place

If there’s one place in Brussels that completely lived up to the hype for us, it was Grand Place.

Surrounded by ornate guild houses, gold detailing, and towering historic buildings, the square somehow feels even more impressive in person than it does in photos. We’d especially recommend visiting both during the day and again at night when everything glows under the lights.

Even though Brussels itself wasn’t our favorite stop in Belgium, Grand Place absolutely made the city worth visiting.

🍟 Eat Belgian Fries & Waffles

You can’t visit Belgium without aggressively consuming fries and waffles at least once a day.

Belgian fries somehow taste completely different here - perfectly crispy, overloaded with sauce options, and usually served in giant paper cones that immediately become your entire personality for the next 20 minutes.

And the waffles? Whether you go for a classic Liège waffle with pearl sugar (our personal preference) or a Brussels style piled high with chocolate and strawberries, Belgium absolutely understands dessert.

🍺 Try Belgian Beer

Belgium takes beer very seriously… and after visiting, we completely understand why.

Whether you’re sipping a Trappist beer in a cozy underground bar or trying fruit beers, strong ales, or local brews at a café, Brussels is a fantastic place to experience Belgian beer culture.

One of the most famous beer spots in Brussels is Delirium Café, known for having an absolutely massive beer selection with thousands of different beers from around the world. Even if you’re not a huge beer person, the atmosphere alone makes it worth visiting.

The surrounding alleyways around Delirium are also packed with lively bars and restaurants, making this one of the best nightlife areas in Brussels.

Even casual beer drinkers will probably find something they enjoy here because the variety is honestly kind of overwhelming in the best possible way.

🧇 Visit the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert

The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert feels like stepping into an elegant European movie scene.

Covered by a beautiful glass roof and lined with cafés, chocolate shops, boutiques, and historic storefronts, this shopping arcade is one of the prettiest places to wander in Brussels.

Even if you don’t plan on shopping, it’s worth walking through simply for the atmosphere and architecture alone.

👦 See Manneken Pis

Yes… Brussels genuinely has multiple peeing statues.

The most famous is Manneken Pis, the tiny bronze statue that somehow became one of Belgium’s most iconic landmarks despite being significantly smaller than most people expect.

But Brussels also has:

• Jeanneke Pis (the girl version)
• and Zinneke Pis (the dog version)

Finding all three almost turns into a weird little scavenger hunt around the city.

Are they slightly ridiculous tourist attractions? Absolutely.
Did we still feel obligated to see all of them? Also absolutely.

🌳 Visit Mont des Arts

This beautifully landscaped garden and cultural complex offers one of the best panoramic views in the city, with perfectly framed views stretching toward Brussels’ historic skyline. Between the fountains, gardens, staircases, and surrounding architecture, it’s easily one of the prettiest photo spots in Brussels.

The entire area is much calmer and more elegant compared to some of the busier tourist areas nearby, making it a great place to slow down for a bit and simply enjoy the atmosphere.

⚛️ Visit the Atomium

One of Brussels’ most recognizable landmarks is the Atomium - a futuristic-looking structure built for the 1958 World Expo that honestly looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

The massive steel spheres are connected by escalators and exhibit spaces, and you can even go inside to explore exhibitions and panoramic viewpoints overlooking Brussels.

Even if you don’t go inside, the Atomium is still worth seeing from the outside simply because it feels so wildly different from the medieval architecture found throughout the rest of Belgium.

It’s one of those landmarks that makes you stop and think:
“How is this also in Belgium?”

🌳 Explore the Atomium Area, Mini-Europe & Surrounding Parks

Even beyond the Atomium itself, the entire surrounding area is honestly worth spending a few hours exploring.

Right nearby you’ll find Mini-Europe, a quirky miniature park featuring tiny replicas of some of Europe’s most famous landmarks. It’s definitely a more touristy attraction, but also surprisingly fun to walk through.

The area around the Atomium also has large green spaces, walking paths, fountains, and parks that make it feel much calmer compared to the busy city center. If you’re visiting Brussels during good weather, this can actually be a really nice place to slow down for a bit.

Even if Brussels itself didn’t completely win us over, we did think this entire area was one of the more enjoyable and unique parts of the city.

🚆 Best Day Trips From Brussels

If we’re being completely honest, one of the best things to do in Brussels (in our opinion 😅) is leave and use it as a jumping off point to explore some of Belgium’s far more charming destinations.

📍 Bruges

Distance from Brussels:

~60 minutes by train
~60–90 minutes by car

🚉 How to Get There:
Direct trains run frequently from Brussels-Midi to Bruges Station.

🚌 Or Take a Guided Tour:
Browse Bruges Day Trips from Brussels on GetYourGuide

Why visit:

• fairytale canals
• medieval streets
• Belgian chocolate
• beer bars
• canal cruises

Highlights:

• Belfry of Bruges
• Rosary Quay
• Basilica of the Holy Blood
• Bourgogne des Flandres
• canal cruise

👉 Read our full Bruges guide here

📍 Ghent

Distance from Brussels:

~35–40 minutes by train
~45–60 minutes by car

🚉 Get There By Train:
Direct trains run frequently from Brussels-Midi to Gent-Sint-Pieters Station.

🚌 Or Take a Guided Tour:
Browse Ghent Day Trips from Brussels on GetYourGuide

Why visit:

• medieval architecture
• castles
• canals
• vibrant atmosphere

Highlights:

• Gravensteen Castle
• Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
• Graslei & Korenlei
• Graffitistraat
• Belgian beer bars

👉 Read our full Ghent guide here

📍 Dinant

Distance from Brussels:

~90 minutes by train
~60–90 minutes by car

🚉 Get There By Train:
Take a direct train from Brussels to Dinant Station.

🚌 Or Take a Guided Tour:
Browse Dinant Day Trips from Brussels on GetYourGuide

Why visit:

• dramatic cliffs
• riverside scenery
• citadel views
• birthplace of the saxophone

Highlights:

• Citadel of Dinant
• cable car
• Maison Leffe
• river cruises
• Notre Dame Cathedral

👉 Read our full Dinant guide here

📍 Luxembourg City

Distance from Brussels:

~3 hours by train
~2.5–3 hours by car

🚉 Get There By Train:
Direct trains run from Brussels-Luxembourg Station to Luxembourg City.

🚌 Or Take a Guided Tour:
Browse Luxembourg Day Trips from Brussels on GetYourGuide

Why visit:

• dramatic cliffside city views
• fairytale old town
• unique blend of cultures
• one of Europe’s most underrated capitals

Highlights:

• Chemin de la Corniche
• Grund district
• Bock Casemates
• scenic viewpoints
• old town squares

👉 Read our full Luxembourg guide here

✨ Final Thoughts on Visiting Belgium

If we’re being completely honest, Brussels itself wasn’t our favorite place in Belgium. But what did make it worth visiting was how easy it was to explore the rest of the country from there.

If you’re deciding where to stay during your Belgium trip, Brussels can make an excellent transportation hub while still giving you access to beautiful architecture, Belgian food, and some truly incredible day trips.

And honestly? Grand Place alone is worth seeing at least once.

What started as a quick stop turned into one of the most charming and underrated countries we’ve explored in Europe. Between fairytale canals, medieval towns, cliffside citadels, Belgian beer, and cozy cobblestone streets, Belgium feels like a destination that deserves way more attention than it gets.

And the best part? You can experience so much of it in just a few days thanks to how compact the country is.

If you got this far, thanks for reading and remember to STAY CLASSLESS 😉

🔗 Read Next

Bruges Travel Guide: Belgium’s Real-Life Fairytale City

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