Thinking of going on holiday to Brussels

willhub · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:26

The GF has this idea that it'd be a great place to go on holiday for 5 or 6 days.

I've never really thought of visiting there.

Any advice on this place?

Cheers.

ci_newman · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:31

Brussels is a great place to visit, but there is no where near enough to do to fill 6 days worth of activities. Why not take a tour of the region instead, visit Ghent, Brugge etc too?

willhub · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:38

How many days is recommended do you think? Yes I think perhaps some train journeys elsewhere will be good, I was thinking of maybe Brussels / Amsterdam.

Worried about using trains especially with language barrier these things always seem to get confusing.

**Edit just realised flights are mega expensive there for 12th October. The airport it was showing was CRL which evidently is far away.

Fubsy · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:50

ci_newman said:
Brussels is a great place to visit, but there is no where near enough to do to fill 6 days worth of activities. Why not take a tour of the region instead, visit Ghent, Brugge etc too?

Would definitely echo this. I went to Belgium last year and started at Brugge for 3 nights, then Ghent for 2 and Brussels for 2. We were both bored in Brussels and if we chose to go back we would be back to Ghent first without doubt, with maybe a day trip to Brugge. I think maybe we were just harsher on Brussels because the other two destinations were so good though, and Brussels is just more sprawling and has way more tourists passing through or just there to get their Menneken Pis replica statue.

The Eurostar is really easy, and you'll have no trouble at all with the trains and the language while there, everyone we met spoke English to a good standard.

Raymond Lin · 20 Sep 2019 at 10:55

I was going to say something like "someone will say - go to Bruges instead".

I am actually thinking doing the same but also know of Bruge being better, except there are no direct flight there.

Mr Badger · 20 Sep 2019 at 11:09

Raymond Lin said:
I was going to say something like "someone will say - go to Bruges instead".

I am actually thinking doing the same but also know of Bruge being better, except there are no direct flight there.

It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s ******* thing? How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful ******* fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody’s ******* thing, eh?

bazzabear · 20 Sep 2019 at 11:18

Don't forget the many alcoves.

Maundie · 20 Sep 2019 at 11:30

willhub said:
How many days is recommended do you think? Yes I think perhaps some train journeys elsewhere will be good, I was thinking of maybe Brussels / Amsterdam.

Worried about using trains especially with language barrier these things always seem to get confusing.

**Edit just realised flights are mega expensive there for 12th October. The airport it was showing was CRL which evidently is far away.

CRL is the airport to Brussels, it's Charleroi and there is a train from just outside into Brussels centre (much like Heathrow to London), we went for a mates stag do a couple of years ago and it's no problem but some of the guys (due to work holidays etc.) came on the Eurostar and the time taken was much the same (flights were a lot cheaper than the Eurostar at that time though) although when we came back the guys on the Eurostar had decided on a night in Amsterdam on the way home.

6 days is way too long for Brussels so I would definitely look to travel to a few of the surrounding areas and also language isn't too much of a problem as unlike ourselves most Europeans speak reasonable english.

Mr Badger · 20 Sep 2019 at 11:40

Maundie said:
CRL is the airport to Brussels, it's Charleroi and there is a train from just outside into Brussels centre (much like Heathrow to London), we went for a mates stag do a couple of years ago and it's no problem but some of the guys (due to work holidays etc.) came on the Eurostar and the time taken was much the same (flights were a lot cheaper than the Eurostar at that time though) although when we came back the guys on the Eurostar had decided on a night in Amsterdam on the way home.

6 days is way too long for Brussels so I would definitely look to travel to a few of the surrounding areas and also language isn't too much of a problem as unlike ourselves most Europeans speak reasonable english.

That gave me a chuckle. Because it's often true.

Efour · 20 Sep 2019 at 12:58

3 days Will do.

Once you've walked around the square and side streets. Seen the ****, ate chocolate, had a few kwaks, that's it.
Atom thing was 2h tops, bit cool. Adam design museum, a lot of plastic chairs.
We went to some chocolate museum that did a kitchen tour and history was nice.
Sick of Tintin and f'ing smurfs, the comic museums were mostly in French and boring as **** after the first one.
3 days...

Eurostar ftw

Town hall museum was good, in square much history very rich.

Oh snap, Waterloo museum bus ride from town, if you like Napoleonic stuff and Sharpe then go there too.

willhub · 20 Sep 2019 at 13:00

Are the Smurfs from Brussels?

Efour · 20 Sep 2019 at 15:20

Asterix, Tintin, Smurfs, Marsupilami all Belgien.

Tintin is cool. Rest can drown violently.

adidan · 20 Sep 2019 at 16:19

Bruges is nice to visit, really nice, fit it in if you can. It's only worth a day/night though.

It does seem to lack any sense of atmosphere though and i can't say i'd ever go back.

Hellsmk2 · 20 Sep 2019 at 16:32

Echoing Bruge - it's a thousand times more interesting than Brussels.

Trains won't be an issue - everyone speaks English anyway.

mjt · 20 Sep 2019 at 16:36

6 days is too long for Brussels (I live here). Jump on the train and check out Gent, Antwerp & Brugge for sure.
There are some pretty villages in Wallonia as well. St Vith in the German part of the Ardennes is very nice as well.
You could also hop on a train to Cologne and/or Aachen for a day or two.

DXP55 · 20 Sep 2019 at 19:41

Brussels is a great place to go but only if you can get there on the gravy train.

Jean-F · 21 Sep 2019 at 14:34

Hellsmk2 said:
Echoing Bruge - it's a thousand times more interesting than Brussels.

Trains won't be an issue - everyone speaks English anyway.

You have to be careful with the language, I was in Place St. Jean, Brussels some years ago, with my wife, and one of my French cousins and his wife.
My wife said to me, “Jean, can you help these two guys, they speak English, but they’re not English.”
I turned toward them, and one said, “Mannekin Pis statue please?”
I said, “Go past the statue of the Belgian nurse, shot by the Germans in WW1, straight up Rue du Lombard, and you’ll see a sign for it on the left, okay?”
One of them said, “Vielen Dank, mein Herr!”
Gulp, gulp!

tom_nieto · 21 Sep 2019 at 14:45

The trains are excellent in Belgium. I would recommend taking a trip to Leuven which is a beautiful University town (and home of Stella).

fretted · 22 Sep 2019 at 14:37

Take the eurostar, much easier than flying. I didn't like Brussels but Ghent and Brugge are lovely. Two days in either would be enough but i could retire to brugge and watch the world go round.

bobboberts · 22 Sep 2019 at 23:16

Yeah, the Eurostar is much nicer and gets you into the city, rather than getting transport from the airport.

The main square in Brussels is lovely, but as others have said, 3 days is probably long enough.