I visited Brussels just before Easter this year. It was my first time in Belgium and whilst the trip was organised through an organisation with the main aim of visiting the European Parliment and speaking to MEPs we still found things to keep ourselves occupied.
On arrival in the city at 6am it was a shock to step off the bus and see someone with a gun. Police all carry guns and look very hostile, not the sort of people you would want to approach and ask for directions. Our accomodation was at a bed and breakfast hostel which was a 20 minute walk through the red light district into the quieter outsideskirts of the city but handy for a tube station.
If you like coffee then there is coffee shops on nearly every corner At about 80 pence a cup it didn't seem bad but they drink it VERY strong.
If you don't like traveling in cities such as London due to the busy traffic and crowded underground stations then brussels is the place for you. The underground is not confined to small tubes which us English may be used to, but are massive, like having a normal station but underground, no chance of overcrowding. Trams are also available for traveling the city above ground.
The main part of the city contains tourist orientated shops and museums. There's a statue of a small boy having a piss... not that interesting really. The best pubs can be found down little side streets and Jupiler (a belgium beer) is perfect for quenching the thirst of tired tourists.
The city provides all sorts of places for eating. They have anything from MacDonalds, chinese, vietnameese, and Italian to themed resteraunts such as "Haloween". It is well worth visiting some of the smaller towns in the area such as Brugge as they provide a totally different view of Belgium life.
Things are generally cheap, good for presents. Whatever people tell you, Belgium chocolates are not over rated. Well worth a visit but after a few days you might get bored if you don't leave the city.
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Advantages: Cheap, plenty of bars, good selection of resteraunts, historic city Disadvantages: Students, busy main street, not ideal for tourism (yet).
sibod 26.10.2006 ·
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