Brussels hop-on hop-off bus: Tootbus's two routes from €24.75, the Atomium shuttle and whether the STIB cap beats it

💡 The Short Version: Tootbus’s hop-on hop-off ticket is €24.75 for 24 hours (€33.00 list price), €17.25 for a child aged 4 to 12 and €66.75 for two adults and two children. One ticket works on two routes: a red loop through the centre every 30 to 40 minutes from 10:00 to 17:00, and a blue shuttle to the Atomium every 2 hours from 10:00 to 16:00. The 24 hours start at your first scan on board, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before the tour date. A contactless bank card on STIB stops charging at €8.50 a day and reaches the same sights. Or book now: the hop-on hop-off bus ticketad is Tootbus’s, from €24.75, rated 4.0 from 4,961 reviews (GetYourGuide).

The tickets compared

Prices are for 24 hours. Tootbus’s are the operator’s; the reduced price is the one shown on its page now and the list price is struck through beside it.

Buy from Tootbus or through GetYourGuide: the GetYourGuide ticket is the same bus at the same price, and its rating is the one shown above.

The red route: historic Brussels and the centre

First departure 10:00 · last 17:00 · every 30 to 40 minutes · from stop 1

The red route starts near the Grand-Place and passes the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, the Manneken Pis and the Town Hall with its Art Nouveau townhouses. It goes on past the Palace of Justice, the European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Park. The Place Royale stop is the one for the view from the Mont des Arts, the Royal Palace and the museums around it, and the route passes the Marolles, the district of the flea market on the Place du Jeu de Balle.

The Palace of Justice, with its gilded dome under scaffolding. Photo: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Stop 1, where every first and last departure leaves, is at 33 rue du Cardinal Mercier. The buses are 100% electric and 4 metres high, with an audio guide in 11 languages (English, French, Dutch, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Russian) and a children’s commentary in English, French and Dutch. Earphones are free.

The blue route: the Atomium shuttle

First departure 10:00 · last 16:00 · every 2 hours

The blue shuttle goes to the Atomium, which stands beside Brussels Expo and Laeken Park, and to Mini-Europe, which is a few steps away. With a 2-hour gap between buses, check the time of the next one when you get off. Atomium tickets says what the ticket covers and when it shuts, and Mini-Europe tickets has its season.

Departures run daily except 21 July, and Tootbus says the timetable can change with the season and that city events can affect the route.

Is it worth it?

The bus is a sightseeing loop with commentary. Tickets are adult prices for 24 hours.

• For the Atomium alone, the alternative is the metro. Metro line 6 from Brussels-Midi runs to Heysel, the Atomium’s station, in about 15 minutes, and from De Brouckère it is line 1 to Beekkant and line 6 on to Heysel (the Atomium’s own directions).
• The red route links the centre with the Cinquantenaire. It runs from the Grand-Place to the European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Park in one ride.
• The card option pays only on a card day. The Brussels Card page has the sums. The card also carries a coupon for 25% off a 24 or 48-hour Tootbus ticket, which on the €33.00 list price is €24.75, the price Tootbus shows online now, so the coupon alone is not a reason to buy the card.
• The bus fits one day. The 24 hours run from your first scan, so a morning start at 10:00 uses the day.

The Berlaymont building in the European Quarter. Photo: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Which to take

• A first loop of the centre with commentary: the red route, €24.75.
• The Atomium and Mini-Europe: the blue shuttle, or metro line 6 to Heysel.
• Getting around cheaply: a contactless bank card on STIB, capped at €8.50. Brussels public transport has the rules.
• On foot with a guide: Brussels walking tours, from a tip to €70.
• A family of four: the €66.75 family ticket.
• A bus, a Ferris wheel and a museum card: compare the three options in the table, then the Brussels Card sums.

What to book before you go to Brussels lists the closed days for the sights the bus passes. The Grand-Place, the Manneken Pis, the Royal Palace and the museums are all on the red route, and free things to do in Brussels covers the European Quarter stops.