Pop over to the Royal Museum for Central Africa and the Geographic Arboretum in Tervuren - it's the best green space in Brussels.

Then head to "Het Park"in the town square for fantastic cuisine.

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DVD devotees should ascend to the top floor of the Inno department store on the pedestrianised Rue Neuve, for the Media Markt store.

This major European chain sells general electronic devices plus a fair selection of CDs but excels with its choice of DVDs at competitive prices.

Art-house and world cinema titles which would be hard or impossible to find in the UK are well represented though remember to check that foreign language films have English sub-titles!

(There is also a branch of Media Markt in Antwerp on De Keyserlei close to the Central Station.)

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Brussels makes a great weekend trip with children.

Not so big and overwhelming, with so many "must sees," as Paris, but more than enough to keep you busy.

And there is loads of great chocolate - need I say more?

Don't miss MIM, with more than 1,000 ancient and rare instruments from around the world.

There is a lovely cafe overlooking the city on the top floor.

The best place we've found to stay with kids: Novotel Centre/Tour Noire. It has a cool hammam/indoor swimming pool surrounded by rocks which creates a very cool atmosphere. It is walking distance to Grand Place, also to many waterside restaurants and off-the-beaten path neighborhood places and playgrounds, good ethnic restaurants nearby, easy access to train station.

If you have more than a weekend, take a day trip to Bruges, Antwerp, or any other place in Belgium: distances are short!

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The KVS Bol theatre is dazzling. It’s an impressive example of how well Brussels can occasionally weave together traditional and modern design and produce something uniquely memorable.

Following extensive refurbishment, it reopened in 2006 to reveal a stage that sits inside a vast ball encased within the walls of its 19th Century building.

Most performances support the Flemish language, and shows in French or English are not uncommon. But if you can’t attend one of these, try having a drink in the gorgeous second floor bar.

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Everyone knows about the "Manneken Pis" - Brussel's famous statue of a little boy urinating. But, does anyone know about the "Janneken Pis", the little girl?

This statue is much more difficult to find and much less famous. Janneken stands in a very narrow, dead-end street in the Rue des Bouchers. I only remember seeing one very small signpost!!

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The busts in the Parc De Bruxelles between the Parliament and the Palais Royal are cute, they've got toes peeking out the bottom.

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Recommend all visitors to check out the Théâtre de Toone - an atmospheric and authentic puppet theatre that transcends language and uplifts any visit to the city

www.toone.be/

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In the Rue du boucher there is a very small side road named the Schuddeveldgang.

If you walk that through you will see a very small alley at your left.

Walk it right till the end and you will come to one of the two entrances of Theatre Toone. This place consists out of several rooms and one is the theatre room where you can enjoy a traditional local puppet show.

If there are no plays performed then the whole establishment is open as pub.

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The Union is a bohemian piratical bar in a bohemian, piratical area (St Gilles). It was originally the home of the Union of St Gilles football club (holders of the longest unbeaten record of any football club in Belgium) and now plays host to punks, hippies, and stoners of every description (although I wouldn't recommend lighting one up there, new Belgian legislation regarding cannabis notwithstanding).

The décor is composed of insane clowns, grinning pirates, a nice poster of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and various other head toys that will both amuse and fascinate the casual observer. Some nice runework in the loos is representative of the anarchistic spirit of this counter-cultural icon.

St Gilles, the 'Parvis'; nearest tram stop: Parvis de St Gilles

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For 30 euros this is an essential piece of kit if you want to get a good feel for the city's culture. You can buy it from the tourism office on the Grand Place and it offers free entry to a number of museums, as well as discounts from restaurants (including Chez Leon) and shops.

The best bit, though, is the free 72-hour travelcard and route map that comes with it, which is invaluable, letting you travel on metro, tram and bus. The metro is fantastic - clean, airy, easy to follow and very quick, but the trams are best if you want to watch the way the landscape and architecture change as you travel through the different areas of the city.

Tourist Office, Grand Place; www.visitbelgium.com

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This spectacular covered shopping arcade was one of the first in Europe and is filled with enticing little shops, boutiques, cafés and restaurants. It buzzes with activity until late and is worth visiting for the architecture alone.

Near the Grand Place

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This combines the Musée d'Art Ancien and the Musée d'Art Moderne. Roll over the Louvre in Paris, this will keep you going for days with paintings by Bruegel the Elder through to Magritte. Follow in the footsteps of W H Auden, who wrote about Bruegel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus after visiting the museum in 1938. His poem opens: "About suffering they were never wrong,/The Old Masters; how well, they understood/Its human position."

3 rue de la Regence; Tel: 02 508 3211; Metro: Gare Centrale; Tram: 92, 93, 94; Open: 10am-5pm, Tue-Sun; www.fine-arts-museum.be/

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Known as the Comic Strip Museum. Cynics, who joke that it is impossible to name ten famous Belgians, have to admit that Belgium leads the field in comic strip art. This museum is packed with the works of Hergé, creator of Tintin, and Peyo, creator of the Smurfs.

20 rue des Sables; www.comicscentre.net/

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