I spent four days in Brussels with some friends last weekend and what a weekend it was . I had no expectations before I went over and I am glad I didn't because it wasn't like I would of expected it . We wanted to go somewhere quite random so we chose Brussels because it was €30 return from Dublin with Ryanair . We book a flight and the
hostel 2go4 which was really handy because of how central it was . Belgium has three official languages : French , Dutch and German . Brussels is the capital of Belgium and a lot of English is spoken there also .
Hostel : The hostel was a very good choice we had a private bathroom and shower with two bunk beds . It was central , clean and safe which is everything you want a hostel to be . The staff where very friendly and got talking to people from all over the world .
Drinks : Famous for there very wide variety of beers there is plenty of pubs . Of course some of the most lively ones where Irish pubs .
O'Reilly's was probably the best pub in the city (in my opinion) some other popular pubs are
Delirium(which has a beer menu of over 2009 beers ),
Celtica ,
Mapa Mundo and
The Big Game Brussels. There was a really hipster cocktail bar called
Le Rio Des Belges that served a wide range of beers an really fancy cocktails by really fashionable looking interior and staff .All the pubs serve spirits too if your not a fan of beer , I'm not a fan of beer but thought the peach beer they did over there was nice and sweet .
Food : Belgium is famous for waffles ,chocolate and fries (french fries originated from Belgium) . There are loads of places that do expensive chocolates that would make a nice gifts for chocaholics . You can find cheaper Belgian chocolate in the supermarkets brands like 'Cote d'Or' and 'Jacques' . So if your a fan of chocolate you will definitely like Brussels . There are some places that do waffles for €1 then extra for toppings , we were told that for real authentic Belgian waffles to go to
Maison Dandy . For chips(french fries) in a cone you can get lovely ones at a place called
Fritland at the Grand Place but it can have quite a que so you might have to wait awhile , its worth it though . Eating out can be quite expensive (even in McDonalds) .
Shopping : There are so many chocolate shops , great for gifts . Clothes wise there is a lot of shops like Mango and Zara which have that classic European style . They also have Primark but it was so busy .
Touristy things to do : As we were on a tight budget we only seen things that didn't cost us much money .
Grand-Place,
Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert and the
Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) where very beautiful to look at . One thing we wanted to see also but didn't get around to was the Musical Instrument Museum which apparently has a lovely view from the top where you can eat lunch . You also will see loads of souvenirs of a little boy urinating (yes, urinating) you can find the statue of the little boy a short walking distant from the Grand-Place . Its called
Manneken Pis . There is a chocolate museum beside the Grand Place that is €5 entry and you get to try the chocolate .
Really the best thing to do is just stroll around the city and enjoy the lovely achitexture and coble streets . Oh and eat/drink your weight in food .
If you are in Belgium for longer you could get a train to Bruges , Ghent or Antwerp . They all look beautiful in pictures (especially Bruges ) .
Have any of you been to Belgium before ?
Thanks For Reading ,
Alannah x
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