Things To Know
Life in the City
Medieval Townscape
Sightseeing and Shopping
Cuisine and Culture
Petit Julien
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Sightseeing and Shopping
Outside the center there are other atmospheric and stylish areas: Le Sablon, near the southern edge of the petit ring, is
convenient to the Royal Fine Arts Museums of Belgium (Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique). The leafy place de Grand
Sablon is the center of Brussels' antique trade, and it has some fine restaurants and antiques shops. Just south of Le Sablon
is the busy and fashionable shopping street of avenue Louise, at the heart of the upscale area of Ixelles/Elsene. This is
where many of the trendy shops and restaurants are.
There is so much to see in Brussels that you'll need to use your time efficiently to visit as many of the superb attractions
as possible. Branch out beyond the petit ring to places like Heysel, 4 miles north of Grand' Place. Here stands the Atomium
(due to reopen in January 2006), a vast model of a metal crystal, its steel spheres gleaming in the sun. At its foot the popular
Mini-Europe presents scaled-down versions of Europe's most famous buildings. Visit the Parc du Cinquantenaire, Leopold II's
1880 celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Belgian State. The park has a central avenue, named after John F. Kennedy, that
leads to a triumphal arch linking monumental halls. Several major museums are located here.
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