A guide by Sixpointfour
Tintin addicts have no excuse not to make the pilgrimage to Brussels. First stop is the Musée de la Bande Dessinée where you’ll feel 10 years old again and have to be dragged away by the non-believers in your party.
There are souvenirs aplenty at the Museum shop, with even more at the dedicated Tintin emporium just off the Grande Place.
There’s even something for fans at the Africa Museum, a short tram ride from the town centre, where Hergé got his inspiration for the controversial but formative Tintin in Congo.
The best chips can be found in a fast food place very near the Bourse on the corner of the road of the Falstaff bar.
This tip is good for not only most of the Eurostar destinations but also almost all cities and large towns in Europe.
Go to the local information desk at the railway station or elsewhere, and buy a day ticket giving you unlimited travel on the city's transport system - bus, tram, metro, trolleybus etc.
You can usually get a free system map at the same time. Then spend your day riding around the city - not just the centre, but to the extremities of some of the lines. You have a mobile grandstand from which to view the city without parking problems or the need to 'find your way'.
You will see all sorts of buildings and all sorts of people, and really get the feel of he place. Very highly recommended for Amsterdam, Bruxelles, Paris, and Strasbourg.
You might expect something special on ‘The Sacred Isle’ (Ilot Sacré), the area around Brussels’ Central station.
Among the many bars and restaurants surrounding the Grand Place is The Toone Theatre, 66 rue du Marche-aux-Herbes, providing three unique Belgian delights under one roof.
You can sample a rare local speciality ‘Plattekeis’ (cream cheese with radishes) accompanied by a choice of over 20 beers, including ‘trappiste’ monastery brews.
But the real treat is enjoying these while sitting on raised wooden benches being entertained with a puppet show, in traditional dialect, from the famous Toone Marionettes, whose performances date back to 1830.
Visiting Magritte's house gives you a little insight into a surrealist mind.
A tram-ride from central Brussels, the suburban house is packed with glimpses of the banal, everyday things that inspired Magritte’s extraordinary, warped images: the fireplace (empty without its emerging steam train); the pipe (that is in fact not a pipe); the lamp post (that actually works like any other). The domestic details of this historic house are probably no different from a thousand others in Brussels.
But in the context of wonderful Magritte originals and the fascinating story of his life (displayed upstairs), they take on a new significance.
When travelling around the city by a hopper ticket for four euros which entitles you to unlimited tram and metro travel for 24 hours enabling you to see the most of this beautiful city.
After relaxing on your short, swift ride to Brussels, stay close to the sweeping Avenue Louisa, just a tram or metro ride from the Eurostar Terminus and a short walk from the busy heart of Brussels.
The area has many attractive shops and boutiques - they really know how to dress and window dress! Tucked off the side streets of the Elsene quarter are lively markets, galleries and tree lined squares for coffee and finding unique gifts.
At the far end of Avenue Louisa are grand villas and gardens, lush parks and gardens of Terkamerenbos.
Avoid the mass produced Belgian "tourist" chocolates and head for the Pierre Marcolini chocolate shop that opened last November on the Place du Grand Sablon.
Pierre Marcolini manufactures his grand cru chocolate himself, using cocoa beans that he selects personally.
He is among the last five craftsmen working this way in Europe. Truly amazing chocolates, pastries, ice creams and sorbets - look out for the chcoclate squares with Earl Grey or Assam tea ganache!
Brussels is a colourful, charismatic and stunning city, full of rewarding surprises, it is least of all “boring”.
Don’t bother with the slightly eccentric and haphazard metro system – just walk. Central Brussels is small enough to potter round in a day.
Aim for the splendid Place du Grand Sablon (where you can get the best chocolates in the world) then head downhill to La Bourse and Grand Place and west into the trendy St. Catherine and St. Géry areas.
Make sure you take in plenty of good food and drink along with the stunning Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings that populate so many streets.
The best thing about Bruxelles/Brussel and the bilingual-Belgians is that they know all this; they just don’t go shouting it from every corner of the Grand Place.
I can heartily recommend buying the finest cheeses, meats and bread, beer and chocolates from the above areas, getting back on the Eurostar and turning all the other passengers green with envy as you tuck-in. Brussels is nearer than Paris too!
What is the Ninth Art? Discover its secrets at the shrine to the best examples of the Belgian masters, notably Herge and his Adventures of Tintin.
Within walking distance of the Gare Du Midi, and ideally placed to fill that wait before boarding the Eurostar, explore a nation's fascination with comic strip heroes.
Beautifully presented displays carry explanations of the storylines and characters, whilst giving interesting background of the creators and designers.
A reasonable knowledge of French would be useful, though. The Belgian Comic Strip Centre (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee) is in Rue Des Sables.
The Mokafe cafe in Galerie du Roi 9 serves a delicious and complete breakfast for around six euros including mouthwatering croissants and real fresh squeezed juice.
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