Brussels
Tour - Since Belgium is the home of Tintin,
comic strips are absolutely “huge” in
Brussels. If you are a cartoon or comic buff, you
simply must check out the Belgian Comic Strip Center
(20 Rue des Sables). In addition, there are 20 or
more large-scale cartoons decorating building walls
scattered throughout the city. All of these are linked
together by a four mile walk. Brussels is described
as the “Capital of the Comics and beginning
in 1991, 24 walls have been painted and there are
numerous statues around the city. Every year new frescoes
are added to the Comic Strip Frescoes Road on a regular
basis.
Brussels City Tours
Heuveldtraat, 8 Rue de la Colline, Telephone: 00
32 2 513 77 44/Fax 00 32 2 502 58 69 1000 Brussels
– Belgium. Multilingual tours offered in English,
French, German, Spanish, and Dutch – in Brussels
and other cities.
Brussels City Sightseeing Brussels Bus Tour
Here’s a tour where you get to ride one of
those double-decker buses – sit on the ‘second
floor” of the bus to get a better view and to
feel the fresh breeze. This City Sightseeing tour
takes you around the “heart” of Europe
(Brussels) and you will see the ornate architecture
of the buildings on La Grande Place, the famous Atomium
molecule statue, the Chinese Pavilion, etc. After
the tour, I suggest you go to La Grande Place on foot
and try one of the famous Belgian beers at a medieval
guild house and sample the produce one of the numerous
sumptuous chocolate shops. I suggest Nauhaus –
there chocolate is rated the best and I believe it
is. I’ve purchased some boxes of their chocolates
for me and as gifts in the past and the recipients
have been delighted. The chocolate is smooth, creamy,
and absolutely gourmet all the way. During the holidays
all the chocolate shops tend to have holiday molded
chocolates on display – one time I went I tried
the homemade large Easter Egg made with 3 layers,
Toffee, Chocolate, and Caramel from Nauhaus stuffed
with their famous hand picked chocolates – absolutely
incredible. The Belgians are proud of their chocolate
and rightly so.
This tour starts off at Central (Train) Station
which is right near La Grand Place. There is a Citibank
located right next to the station. The tour lasts
1 hour and 30 minutes. The tour is multi-lingual (English,
French, Dutch, Spanish, etc),runs daily every half
an hour until 4 pm with extra departures at 4:30 pm
and 5:00 pm every Saturday and daily from July 06
and August 25.
In addition there are 12 stops on the tour and you
can get off and back on at any one of them. The stops
include central station, Heysel, Bourse Grand Place,
Sablon, Place Louise, etc etc. It is a great way to
get a feel for the geography of the city and also
to decide which sights you want to go back to. You
can also cover quite a lot on one tour as you might
start early and hop on and off several time, take
a break for lunch and do a couple more places in the
afternoon. Prices are around 20 dollars and you can
purchase a ticket from the attendant on the bus before
boarding. When you are on the bus tour, the tour guide
will point out many sites including Park Royal, Palace
of Academy, Dynasty Museum, Royal Museum of Fine Arts
and many many more. You can make reservations but
you can also just show up and one of the 12 stops
like I did at Central Station).
Brussels is a great city for a Walking Tour.
There are walking tours for all types of
interests from the architecture to cartoons, history
etc etc. They tend to start from different points
and last from one and a half to three 3 hours –
so wear those comfortable walking shoes. The guides
are excellent and you will end up with a mine of information
on your chosen subject. The Brussels tourist office
will give you information on walking tours.
