Most people will arrive by Eurostar at the Gare du Midi, which is on the Metro. Scheduled flights arrive at Brussels National Airport at Zaventem, which has a fast train connection to all the city's main stations. Taking a taxi will give you your first taste of Belgium's hideous bureaucracy. A taxi into town will cost between €30-40 because the service is run under the auspices of the Flanders government. A return taxi can be €10 cheaper because the service is run under the auspices of Brussels. Budget flights arrive at Charleroi airport, which is 46km south of Brussels. It has a shuttle into town that costs €10.50 each way.

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Pick up a copy of the Bulletin, the English language guide, to find out what's going on in Brussels.

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One of the finest French restaurants in the world, with three Michelin stars, it costs a minor fortune to dine here.

23 Place Rouppe; Tel: 02 512 29 21; Nearest metro: Pre-metro Anneessens; Open: 12-2.15pm & 7-11pm Tue-Sat; Closed July; www.commechezsoi.be/

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Probably best to steer clear of Villette, Charlotte Bronte's novel set in Brussels. She loathed the place. Go for the Tintin adventure, The Secret of the Unicorn, which opens in La Place du Jeu de Balle in the Marolles quarter.

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L'Esprit de Sel Brasserie in Place Jourdan is a classic Belgian brasserie with a set menu for €25.

Place Jourdan 52-54,1040; Tel: + 32 02 230 60 40; www.espritdesel.be/

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The most famous place for chips in Brussels in Place Jourdan. A basic portion costs €1.70/1.90. You can add an assortment of sources and meats.

1 Place Jourdan, Quartier Europeen; Tel: +32 02 230 540 56; Nearest metro: Schuman

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It may be set in New York but prepare for Brussels by seeing the greatest film featuring the city's most famous daughter. Audrey Hepburn was born in Brussels in 1929.

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Take the kids on a tour of Europe where they can see a 4m Big Ben and a 13m Eiffel Tower.

Mini Europe, Bruparck; Tel: +32 02 478 0550; www.minieurope.com/

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Take the 44 tram from Montgomery (the Field Marshal's a hero in Belgium for liberating the country) to the small village of Tervueren. A romantic tram ride which passes through the Foret de Soignes.

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Sometimes cliches do have a point and there's no point in visiting Brussels unless you fulfil this one - head to Chez Leon.

18 rue des Bouchers; Tel: 02 511 14 15; Nearest metro: Gare Centrale/pre-metro Bourse; Open: noon-11pm Mon-Thurs & Sun, noon-11.30pm Fri & Sat; www.chezleon.be/

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That there is life beyond the soulless EU district where Europe is run from some of the dreariest buildings on the continent.

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Wander into the gardens in the middle of this square and take a seat on one of the benches next to the fountain. The 19th-century gardens may have been formally designed, but you'll find the atmosphere magical.

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The Mannekin Pis is the city's most famous landmark - a statuette of a nude boy urinating. Spend the €11 on chocolate instead.

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Chocolate, of course. Head to Pierre Marcolini, the finest chocolate maker, at Avenue Louise, 75M or at Place du Grand Sablon, 39. Prices range from €8.50 for a sachet of chocolates to €64 for a Sac Intense - a tiered box of chocolates.

www.marcolini.com/

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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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During summer, head to any of the cafes in the Place du Grand Sablon. And in winter sit under the arches of the Galleries de La Reine, near the Grand Place, at the Cafe de Vaudeville.

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With its brick walls and dark wooden bar, this place is deservedly heaving at night. Next to the impeccably cool Place St Gry.

18 Borgval

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Wander around the ponds in one of the smartest parts of town for a peep at superb Art Nouveau houses.

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Walk down the steps in front of the 100m-high Palais de Justice and turn left onto Place Poelaert for a magnificent view over the roofs of the city. Take the glass lift down to the slightly down-at-heel Marolles area and find Pieter Bruegel the Elder's house at 132 Rue Haute.

Place Poelaert; Tel: 02 508 64 10; Nearest metro: Louise; Tram: 91, 92, 93, 94; Bus: 20, 48; Open: 8am-5pm Mon-Fri; Admission: free

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For truly genuine Belgian food head to this informal, but classy, restaurant.

Galerie des Princes 1, Brussels 1000; www.ogenblik.be/

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