Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Welcome to the Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Destination Guides

bthere! Destination guides

Previous issues for Brussels

Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy,
please confirm event/venue details in advance.

Belgium : Brussels - July 2010

Country Code: Dial for Belgium

July is when Belgium celebrates its national holiday, making for ample opportunity to enjoy the best of Brussels at one of its various street parties. Steven Tate joins the happy throng and soaks up the sun on a cobblestoned terrace while sipping on something lovely

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.

SABLON

Dating back to the 14th century, the Place du Grand Sablon is old-school posh. Despite the high cravat count of the Sablon’s habitués, the ambience is laid-back and easy.

Culture vultures – France’s legendary patron of the arts Pierre Bergé has an auction house here (40 Place du Grand Sablon), with regular public viewings.

Must eat – The tea room at Wittamer (6-12-13 Place du Grand Sablon, tel. ) serves exquisite desserts that look as good as they taste. For something completely different, the Sushi Shop (10 Place du Grand Sablon) does great Japanese fusion fare.

Must drink – Terraces are packed in the summer, and Le Grain de Sable (15-16 Place du Grand Sablon), La Kartchma (17) and Le Malcour (18) are all good places to relax and imbibe.

Shop til you drop – This cobblestoned quarter has beaucoup antique shops, but Emporio Armani, the Vitra furniture store and the Mercedes House have managed to squeeze in as well. At weekends the Sablon welcomes its antiques market, when collectors of coins, stamps, ceramics congregate.

THE MAROLLES

The Marolles is the last outpost of ‘real’ Brussels, where old-time residents converse in the French-Dutch patois that’s unique to the city. The area has a rough-hewn charm, refreshingly free of chain stores and gentrification.

Sleep soundly – The Hotel Galia (15-16 Place du Jeu de Balle, tel. , hotelgalia.com, rooms from €65) offers affordable accommodation overlooking the flea market.

Must eat – You can almost feel your arteries clog on entering Au Stekerlapatte (4 Rue des Prêtres, tel. , stekerlapatte.be): this landmark eatery serves up butter-laden, calorie-charged Belgian fare that sticks to your ribs. If you prefer more down-home versions of Belgian standards, De Skieven Architek (50 Place du Jeu de Balle, tel. ) is for you. With its charming kitsch murals of city scenes, this resto-café welcomes an international mix (hence the newspapers in French, Dutch, Italian, German and English for sale) with a heavy dose of Brusselers thrown in.

Must drink – There are 125 breweries in Belgium, a country of only 10 million people – so you know they take their beer seriously. The Marolles reflects this, and is teeming with cafés catering to both locals and day-trippers. The unpretentious La Brocante (170 Rue Blaes) features a cobblestoned terrace with a view on the flea market.

Dance the night away – Fuse (208 Rue Blaes) has been a techno-house mecca on the international club scene for close to 20 years. The club kicks off the month on 3 July by taking its show on the road with Fuse on the Beach, a day of partying at the coast in Zeebrugge (fuseonthebeach.be). Fourteen DJs will be on hand – and future club kids under 12 get in free. On 16 July, the club welcomes its monthly La Démence night (lademence. com), a gay party series that has become legendary. Bazaar (63 Rue des Capucins, bazaarresto.be), meanwihle, offers the chance to groove to guest DJs and live acts downstairs after noshing on world cuisine upstairs.

Shop til you drop – Parallel streets Rue Blaes and Rue Haute are popular destinations for antique lovers from around the world. Three of the best addresses are Haute Antiques (207 Rue Haute), Passage 125 Blaes (121-125 Rue Blaes) and D Plus Design (83-87 Rue Blaes). Lovers of vintage film posters, Fanta-orange yo-yos, vinyl 45s and 1970s-style bric-a-brac should pop into Chez Popeye & Momeye (209 Rue Haute). Men’s tailor Michiels (195 Rue Haute), a Belgian institution since 1856, has its flagship shop here, and there’s also the daily flea market on the Place du Jeu de Balle – be prepared to sift through a lot of junk to find any treasure..

PLACE FLAGEY

This square is arguably the capital of Brussels’ bohemian chic: students, hipsters and professionals fraternise, alongside those visiting the nearby Sainte-Croix church.

Sleep soundly – A short tram ride away, the White Hotel (212 Avenue Louise, tel. , thewhite hotel.be, rooms from €75) showcases contemporary Belgian design in its modern rooms.

Culture vultures – Built in 1938, the Flagey Building is a stunning art deco gem housing both the Café Belga and Le Variétés, as well as an exhibition space, a concert hall and a cinema screening classic films.

Must eat – Frites are the food that holds Belgium together, and the best place to get the country’s famous chips is the frites stand across the street from Café Belga. As it’s a stand, it has no address – but you won’t be able to miss the long queue forming in front of it. For a sit-down meal, Le Variétés (4 Place Sainte-Croix, tel. ) serves well-prepared, French bistro cuisine in a polished art deco interior. Reservations are recommended.

Must drink – The square’s major social attraction is Café Belga (18 Place Eugène Flagey). With Wi-Fi access, a small kitchen serving light fare and a good drinks menu, it’s the meeting point of choice for people before and after a night on the town.

Shop til you drop – Along the nearby ponds of Ixelles and on the Place Flagey itself, the weekend markets are great places for viewing the natives mingling with foreign fauna foraging for fruit, veggies and flowers. For hipster-chic streetwear, Reservoir Shop (43a Rue Lesbroussart) sells Japanese jeans, jellybean-coloured spike heels, Chairman Mao T-shirts and other iconic and ironic goodies.

UNIVERSITY AREA

Tucked away in a firmly middle-class neighbourhood, the university area is pretty wholesome by European standards – but far from dull.

Culture vultures – One of the city’s most celebrated cemeteries, Cimitière d’Ixelles, is in the heart of one of its most lively neighbourhoods – an irony noted by the locals. Nobel prizewinners, artists and war heroes are buried here.

Must eat – The beloved Belgian ice cream-maker Capoue has a shop here (395 Chaussée de Boondael), serving over 30 different flavours of the artisan-made sweet stuff. Chaussée de Boondael also boats lots of affordable Vietnamese/Thai restaurants; Poussières d’Etoiles (437 Chaussée de Boondael, tel. ) is good value.

Must drink – Student beer fans flock to L’Atelier (77 Rue Elise), where the wine-cellar ambience and huge array of beer are an irresistible combination.

Compiled by Steven Tate