Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

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Belgium : Brussels - February 2008

Country Code: Dial for Belgium

Getting around

Brussels Airport

Bus: The No 12 bus runs every 30 minutes between the airport and Rond-Point Schuman. The journey takes about 30 minutes. A oneway ticket costs €3.
Train: Trains from the airport run every 20 minutes at peak times. The journey takes 15 minutes and trains go to Brussels’ three mainline stations. Tickets cost approximately €2,80
Taxi: A taxi from the airport to the city centre will cost around €25-35. The journey should take about 25 minutes.
Tourist information: The main tourist office can be found on Grand’Place in the city centre (tel. , www.brussels.

RUE DANSAERT

For the past 20 years, this pleasant street near Bourse metro station has been arguably Brussels’ trendiest neighbourhood. There’s one design store after another here and new gems are popping up all the time.

Sleep soundly – The new Café Pacific Hotel (57 Rue Antoine Dansaert, tel. , hotelcafepacific.com, rooms from €149) is a cosy, modern boutique hotel with a restaurant and lounge.

Culture vultures – Get your culture fix at the Alice Gallery & Shop (182 Rue Antoine Dansaert), which hosts rotating exhibitions featuring emerging artistic movements. Alternatively check out the authors’ workshop at international bookshop Passa Porta (46 Rue Antoine Dansaert).

Must eat – Dining is always fun at Comocomo (19 Rue Antoine Dansaert, tel. ), a Basque tapas eatery where diners grab finger-food from a moving conveyer belt. The Chillout Wine Tastings on the first Tuesday of every month are popular. Swanky Bonsoir Clara (22-26 Rue Antoine Dansaert, tel. ) specialises in French cuisine.

Must drink – Nong Cha (4 Rue Antoine Dansaert) is a lovely new shop with a wide selection of Chinese teas and a small tasting room in back. When the sun goes down, sip a cocktail while enjoying live jazz at the art deco L’Archiduc (6 Rue Antoine Dansaert).

Shop til you drop – Rue Dansaert is a cornucopia of shopping possibilities. Stijl (74 Rue Antoine Dansaert) is a benchmark of Belgian fashion, featuring men’s and women’s clothing by Dries Van Noten, Cathy Pill and other notables. Kat en Muis (32 Rue Antoine Dansaert) caters for chic children, while La Belle et La Bête (73 Rue Antoine Dansaert) peddles smart-casual women’s fashions at decent prices.

PLACE ROYALE AND SABLON

Near the Parc de Bruxelles, elegant Place Royale marks the border between the upper and lower towns, while nearby Sablon is home to tons of antiques shops and restaurants.

Sleep soundly – The four-star Jolly Hotel (2/4 Rue Bodenbroek, tel. , jollyhotels.it, rooms from €99) is the area’s flagship hotel. It’s big and modern with lots of creature comforts.

Culture vultures – Art aficionados shouldn’t miss the Royal Museums of Fine Arts (3 Rue de la Régence). The city’s main art museum is actually two in one, with ancient and modern divisions. Feel like you’ve entered another world at the whimsical Musical Instruments Museum (2 Rue Montagne de la Cour), which is worth visiting for the setting alone. Take a breather at the heavenly Place du Petit-Sablon, a tiny but gorgeous park that was laid out in the late 19th century.

Must eat – Satisfy your sweet tooth at Wittamer Café (13 Place du Grand Sablon, tel. ). The chocolate plate is lovely for sharing, especially for Valentine’s Day, and they also serve breakfast and lunch. Treat yourself to a deliciously decadent Chocoloxir at Godiva (47/48 Place du Grand’Sablon) and forget about the calories. At dinnertime, seafood fans will be in heaven at l’Ecailler du Palais Royale (18 Rue Bodenbroek, tel. ).

Dance the night away – After dark, the Brussels party crowd lives it up at Le Cercle (20-22 Rue Sainte-Anne), which features regular live music – jazz, French chansons, salsa, you name it.

PLACE LOUISE AND CHAUSSÉE DE CHARLEROI

The area surrounding the Louise metro station is a great stopping-off point for some of Brussels’ most elegant shopping and dining.

Sleep soundly – Feel at home at the four-star Hotel Manos Stephanie (28 Chaussée de Charleroi, tel. , manoshotel.com, rooms from €295) and the five-star Hotel Manos I (100-106 Chaussée de Charlerloi, tel. , manoshotel.com, rooms from €250), a pair of cosy boutique hotels that are close to everything. Manos II is equipped with a Jacuzzi and hammam (and an adjoining tea nook) that make guests feel like royalty.

Culture vultures – Expand your culinary education with a cooking (or wine) class – and make some friends in the process – at the popular Mmmm! Cooking School (20 Chaussée de Charleroi). Further up Avenue Louise, the Hotel Solvay (224 Avenue Louise) is a well-known masterpiece by art nouveau architect Victor Horta.

Must drink – Start the evening with a glass of bubbly at trendy Cospaia (1 Rue Capitaine Crespel). It’s also a decent place for dinner, serving modern takes on Belgian classics.

Dance the night away – Shake your thing to R’n’B, house and Latino at Studio 44 (44 Avenue de la Toison d’Or), or just absorb the atmosphere while watching the beautiful people.

Shop til you drop – There’s no shortage of places to find something to spruce up your winter wardrobe on Avenue Louise, from the Inno department store (12 Avenue Louise) to designer offerings like Claudia Sträter (22 Avenue Louise) and Olivier Strelli (72 Avenue Louise). Situated on a pleasant pedestrian street, Dille et Kamille (16 Rue Jean Staes) boasts nifty home and garden gadgets.

SCHAERBEEK AND ST JOSSE

Two of Brussels’ most culturally diverse communes, Schaerbeek and St Josse-ten-Noode, in northern Brussels, have a few interesting venues off the beaten path.

Culture vultures – The first building designed by Horta in 1893, the Maison Autrique (266 Chaussée de Haecht) was recently renovated and converted into a museum. Near the Diamant underground station, the Clockarium (163 Boulevard Reyers) houses a fascinating collection of art deco mantle clocks. Also pay homage to Belgian crooner Jacques Brel, born on Avenue du Diamant in April 1929.

Must eat – There’s no shortage of restaurants in Schaerbeek, but one that definitely stands out is gourmet Italian Le Stelle (53-57 Avenue Louis Bertrand, tel. ). The cramped but cosy Les Dames Tartine (58 Chaussée de Haecht, tel. ) offers some of Brussels’ most innovative cuisine, complemented by an impressive wine list.

Must drink – Drink in style in the amazing art nouveau surroundings of De Ultieme Hallicinatie (316 Rue Royale), which also serves hearty Belgian dishes.

Dance the night away – Dress up and pretend you’re part of Paris Hilton’s party set at the exclusive Mirano Continental (38 Chaussée de Louvain), a club housed in a converted 40s-era cinema.

EUROPEAN QUARTER

Stretching roughly between the Trone and Schuman metro stations, Brussels’ European Quarter (also called Quartier Léopold) is home to the European Parliament, Council and Commission. But as locals can attest, there’s much more to the area than Eurocracy.

Sleep soundly – For location and comfort, it’s hard to beat Martin’s Central Park Hotel (80 Boulevard Charlemagne, tel. , martinscentralpark.com, rooms from €210). Among other amenities, it has a fitness room, lounge bar and restaurant.

Culture vultures – The little ones will relish the new dinosaur gallery (Europe’s largest) at the Museum of Natural Sciences (29 Rue Vautier). For something completely different, the Antoine Wiertz Museum (62 Rue Vautier) boasts strange but intriguing artwork by a little-known 19th-century painter with an inflated ego.

Must eat – A relative newcomer to the Schuman area, La Sublime Porte (18 Rue Franklin, tel. ) is a classy Turkish restaurant that lives up to its name (meaning ‘the sublime door’).

Must drink – Lively Place de Luxembourg, near the European Parliament, boasts several serious drinking establishments, including sports bar Fat Boys’ (5 Place de Luxembourg), which attracts an international clientele.

Dance the night away – On the edge of the African Matongé district, the mellow L’Horloge du Sud (141 Rue du Trone) attracts a European and African crowd, and frequently stages live music.

Compiled by Renée Cordes