Brussels old town walk: from Brussels-Central through the Royal Galleries, the Grand-Place and the Manneken Pis to the Mont des Arts, Place Royale and the Sablon, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Brussels. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Brussels-Central and finish at the Petit Sablon tram stop: 3.3 km, about 45 minutes of walking and a full day with the visits. Go on a Saturday for the Grand Sablon antiques market, 9:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays and 9:00 to 15:00 on Sundays, with none on weekdays. The Town Hall is shut on Tuesdays and Thursdays and opens at 15:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The Magritte Museum, the Musical Instruments Museum and the City Museum are shut on Mondays. The Royal Palace admits visitors in summer only, and the 2027 dates are not out. The streets, the Galeries, the Manneken Pis and the gardens are free. Or book a tour: the guided walking tourad is from €25 (GetYourGuide).

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

The walk goes downhill from the station to the Grand-Place and the Manneken Pis, climbs the Mont des Arts to Place Royale, and then drops to the Sablon. It is the Lower Town first and the Upper Town second. The Grand-Place and the Manneken Pis have their own guides; this page puts the sights in walking order with the days they are open. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of these goes inside the Town Hall or a museum. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Brussels: Guided Walking Tourad: from €25, 4.6 stars from 4,320 reviews, 2.5 hours, in English, French and Spanish.
• Brussels Must-See Attractions Walking Tourad: from €28, 4.8 stars from 211 reviews, 2 hours.
• Brussels: City Highlights Walking and Tasting Tourad: from €70, 4.9 stars from 577 reviews, 2.5 hours, run by SODA Entertainment in English. It crosses the Mont des Arts, goes through the Royal Galleries and the Grand-Place to the Manneken Pis, with local snacks, and ends with an hour in a bar and four beers.
• Free tours meet on the Grand-Place and are tip-based. SANDEMANs ends at the Mont des Arts; Walkative takes 2 hours 45 through the Marolles and the Sablon, then the Royal Palace and the Mont des Arts. Brussels walking tours compares them all.

1. Brussels-Central station

Free · metro lines 1 and 5 · lockers in the station

Brussels-Central is the nearest of the main stations to the Grand-Place, 430 m away. Eurostar arrives at Brussels-Midi, one local train stop away, and the airport train reaches Central in about 18 minutes. A local train between Midi and Central needs a Brupass, €2.70 a journey. The City Museum admits no suitcases or travel bags and points to the lockers at Brussels-Central, and the Coudenberg’s lockers are too small for a suitcase.

Brussels public transport has the fares and Brussels Airport to the city the airport train.

Walk to the Royal Galleries: 425 m.

2. The Royal Galleries of Saint-Hubert

Free to walk · the shops keep their own hours · Galerie du Roi and Galerie de la Reine

Two glazed arcades, the King’s and the Queen’s, with the Princes’ Gallery crossing between them. Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer’s project took shape in the 1830s, building began in 1846 and the Galeries opened on 20 June 1847. A plaque in the Galerie du Roi, above Pâtisserie Meert, records the first showing of the Lumière brothers’ film camera on 1 March 1896, in the former dispatch room of the daily La Chronique. Walk the length of both galleries: they are covered, so the stop works in rain.

• Chocolate: Neuhaus, at Galerie de la Reine 25, is the shop visit.brussels credits with the praline, which Jean Neuhaus named in 1912. Brussels chocolate shops has the others.
• Eat here: Maison Dandoy’s Galeries boutique, at Galerie du Roi 2, and À la Mort Subite, opposite the Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères entrance. See Where to eat.

Walk to the Grand-Place: 280 m from the middle of the arcade, down Rue des Bouchers.

3. The Grand-Place

Square free · Town Hall €15 · City Museum €10 · Town Hall shut Tuesday and Thursday · City Museum shut Monday

French artillery bombarded Brussels in August 1695 and destroyed most of the houses on the square; the Town Hall’s façade and tower stood. The houses were rebuilt quickly, in stone this time, and UNESCO has listed the square since 1998. The counts of Egmont and Hoorn were beheaded here in 1568: their statue stands at the last stop of the walk.

• The Town Hall: the video-guide visit is €15 and takes at least an hour. It is open Monday, Wednesday and Sunday 11:00 to 17:00 and Friday and Saturday 15:00 to 19:00, with the last entry an hour before closing, and shut Tuesday and Thursday. On Saturday and Sunday a panoramic tour climbs the tower by a spiral staircase for €25, at 15:00 in English, 16:00 in French and 17:00 in English. Tickets are sold on the City’s ticket shop and at the reception hall in the courtyard, which takes no cash.
• The City Museum: the King’s House, facing the Town Hall, holds the 1619 Manneken Pis. It is open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, for €10 on a ticket shared with the GardeRobe MannekenPis at stop 4, and shut Mondays, 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November and 25 December.
• Winter Wonders: from 27 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 the market fills the square daily from 12:00 to 22:00, closing at 18:00 on 24 and 31 December and 3 January. The Brussels Christmas markets have the sites.

The Grand-Place says what each building is, and the Town Hall tour has the tickets.

Walk to the Manneken Pis: 345 m, by Rue de l’Amigo and Rue de l’Étuve.

4. The Manneken Pis

Free · always visible · corner of Rue de l’Étuve and Rue du Chêne · GardeRobe €10, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00

The statue on the street is a reproduction. The bronze that Jérôme Duquesnoy made in 1619 is in the City Museum you have just passed. He is dressed on fixed dates for almost half the year, and the dressing calendar says which days. The GardeRobe MannekenPis, at Rue du Chêne 19, shows about 150 of his more than 900 costumes. It is shut on Mondays, 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November and 25 December, and free on the first Sunday of the month.

The comic strip route crosses this walk here: its Tintin mural is at Rue de l’Étuve 37, a few steps from the statue. Manneken Pis covers the costumes, Jeanneke Pis and the Zinneke Pis.

Walk to the Mont des Arts: 620 m, up Rue du Lombard and Rue de l’Hôpital to Place Saint-Jean, then along Rue Saint-Jean to Place de l’Albertine.

5. The Mont des Arts

Garden free · daily 7:00 to 19:00 from 1 November to 28 February · Musical Instruments Museum €18

The garden was laid out for the 1910 Universal Exhibition, replaced by the Mont des Arts complex in the 1950s and restored from 2001. It looks over the Grand-Place and the historic centre, and a carillon plays from the covered passage below. The garden is open daily: 7:00 to 20:00 from 1 September to 31 October, 7:00 to 19:00 from 1 November to 28 February, 6:00 to 21:00 from 1 March to 30 April and 6:00 to 22:00 from 1 May to 31 August.

The Mont des Arts carillon, on the roof of the Palais de la Dynastie. Photo: Fred Romero, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

• The Musical Instruments Museum: it fills the Old England building at Rue Montagne de la Cour 2. It costs €18, is shut on Mondays, 1 May, 1 November and 11 November, and is free on the first Wednesday of the month from 13:00. See best museums in Brussels.

Walk to Place Royale: 330 m, up the hill.

6. Place Royale

Square free · Magritte Museum €13, €20 with the Old Masters · shut Mondays · Place Royale 2

Place Royale has the equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon in front of the Church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg. The Magritte Museum is at Place Royale 2, in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts. It is open Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00 and weekends 11:00 to 18:00, with the ticket offices closing at 16:30 on weekdays and 17:30 at weekends. It is shut on Mondays, 1 January, 1 May, 1 November, 11 November and 25 December, and free for everyone on the first Wednesday of the month from 13:00. The main entrance and the Old Masters Museum are at Rue de la Régence 3.

• Entrances: the door on Place Royale is for visitors with an online ticket; without one, use the main desk on Rue de la Régence.
• The ground below: the Aula Magna of the Coudenberg Palace, built between 1452 and 1460, lies under the square. The next stop is its entrance.

The Magritte Museum has the floors in order.

Walk to the Royal Palace: 235 m along Place Royale to Place des Palais.

7. The Royal Palace and the Coudenberg

Palace closed to visitors · Coudenberg €10 · Tuesday to Friday 9:30 to 17:00, weekends 10:00 to 18:00, daily in July and August · Place des Palais 7

The Royal Palace admits visitors for about six weeks each summer. The 2026 opening has ended, and the operator will announce the 2027 dates in 2027. In the meantime the front of the palace and the Brussels Park opposite are free to see: the park is open at all hours except in high winds, and its keepers are on duty daily from 8:00 to 21:00. The Royal Palace has the summer opening.

The Brussels Park in autumn. Photo: Giorgio Galeotti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The Coudenberg is open all year. Its entrance is at Place des Palais 7, to the right of the palace, shared with the BELvue museum. It shows the cellars of the main building, the chapel and the Aula Magna of the palace that stood here from the 12th to the 18th century, and the underground Rue Isabelle, under Place Royale and Rue Royale. The Aula Magna saw Charles V abdicate in 1555.

The brick cellars of the Coudenberg Palace beneath Place Royale. Photo: Chatsam, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

• Tickets: €10, or €18 with the BELvue museum, sold on the BELvue online shop or at the desk. Free with the Brussels Card.
• Hours: closed on 1 January, 21 July and 25 December, and at 16:00 on 24 and 31 December. The visit takes about 1 hour to 1 hour 30.
• On site: the audio guide is a free web app on your own phone, with free Wi-Fi in the building. Food and drink are not allowed, and there is no lift.

Walk to the Grand Sablon: 690 m, back across Place Royale and down to the square.

8. Place du Grand Sablon

Free · antiques market Saturday 9:00 to 17:00 and Sunday 9:00 to 15:00 · no market Monday to Friday

The antiques market began in 1958, when the dealer Georges Van de Weghe asked the priest of Notre-Dame du Sablon to let him show his engravings after Mass; the first market took place on 3 April 1960. It sells silverware, jewellery, ceramics and glass, paintings and drawings, small furniture and African art. On weekdays the square is the chocolatiers’ and the cafes’.

Houses on the Place du Grand Sablon. Photo: Fred Romero, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

• Chocolate: Pierre Marcolini has a shop on the square, and Wittamer is at number 12. Brussels chocolate shops compares them.
• Eat here: Wittamer sells quiches, salads and filled sandwiches as well as pastry. See Where to eat.

Walk to the church: 235 m down the square.

9. Notre-Dame du Sablon

Free · Rue de la Régence · the Church of Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon

The regional heritage inventory classes the church as Gothic with Neo-Gothic additions, and it has been a protected monument since 5 March 1936. The Ommegang procession leaves from it. The market on the square began with its priest’s permission.

Walk to the Petit Sablon: 130 m along Rue de la Régence, to the garden that faces the church.

10. The Petit Sablon

Free · daily 9:30 to 16:45 from 1 October to 31 March · trams 92 and 93 · Rue de la Régence

The Petit Sablon is a square garden opened in 1890 to a design by Henri Beyaert, on the site of a cemetery of the Saint-John hospital that was used from 1289 to 1706. At the far end stands the fountain monument of the counts of Egmont and Hoorn, by Charles-Auguste Fraikin, made in 1864. It stood on the Grand-Place, where they were beheaded, until 1879. Round it are ten marble statues of their contemporaries, among them the geographer Mercator. The railings carry 48 bronze figures of the Brussels guilds and trades on 48 Gothic columns, so they can be seen from the pavement when the garden is shut.

The monument to the counts of Egmont and Hoorn in the Petit Sablon, with the Egmont Palace behind. Photo: iMahesh, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Hours: 9:30 to 16:45 from 1 October to 31 March, 8:15 to 18:30 in April, 8:15 to 20:30 from 1 May to 31 August and 8:15 to 19:30 in September. The last entry is 15 minutes before closing.
• The tram: the Petit Sablon stop is on Rue de la Régence beside the square, for trams 92 and 93.

Where to eat

Maison Dandoy, Galeries

Galerie du Roi 2 · Monday to Friday 10:00 to 20:30, Saturday and Sunday 9:00 to 20:30 · maisondandoy.com

The boutique in the Royal Galleries serves Brussels and Liège waffles, and is open every day. Brussels waffles compares the other counters.

À la Mort Subite

Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères 7 · Monday to Saturday 11:00 to midnight · shut Sundays · alamortsubite.com

A café opposite the entrance to the Galeries, with gueuzes, cheeses, charcuterie and sandwiches. Brussels beer bars says what to order.

Wittamer

Place du Grand Sablon 12 · Monday 8:30 to 17:30, Tuesday to Friday 7:30 to 18:30, Saturday and Sunday 7:00 to 18:30 · wittamer.com

A patisserie and chocolate shop on the Sablon whose counter has quiches, salads and filled sandwiches. It suits a late lunch at the end of the walk. Where to eat in Brussels lists the rest.

The best day to go

The timing that works, on a Saturday: walk the route in reverse, so that the Sablon market is open when you arrive at 9:30 and the Town Hall’s 15:00 tower tour comes last. Start at the Petit Sablon tram stop, go to the Coudenberg when it opens at 10:00, then the Magritte Museum, which opens at 11:00, the GardeRobe in the early afternoon, and be on the Grand-Place for the Town Hall at 15:00. In winter the Petit Sablon closes at 16:45, so see it first. A weekday: on a Wednesday or a Sunday the Town Hall opens at 11:00, and the walk runs as numbered.

Dated closures: the Magritte Museum, the Musical Instruments Museum, the City Museum and the GardeRobe are shut on 1 and 11 November. On 25 December and 1 January the Coudenberg, the Magritte Museum and the City Museum are shut, and on 24 and 31 December the Coudenberg closes at 16:00. The first free Wednesdays are 4 November and 2 December 2026. What does not close: the streets, the Galeries’ arcades, the Manneken Pis, the Brussels Park and the railings of the Petit Sablon.

Is a card worth it? The Town Hall (€15), the Coudenberg (€10), the City Museum with the GardeRobe (€10) and the Magritte Museum (€13) cost €48 at the desks, against €41 for a 24-hour Brussels Card, which is free at all four. With only two of them the card loses. Brussels Card: is it worth it? has the sums.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Brussels-Central is on metro lines 1 and 5. Eurostar arrives at Brussels-Midi, one local train stop away, and the airport train takes about 18 minutes. See London to Brussels by Eurostar.
• From the end: trams 92 and 93 stop at the Petit Sablon on Rue de la Régence. A contactless tap is €2.40 and a day’s taps are capped at €8.50. Brussels-Central is 1.1 km on foot.
• On the way: Brussels public transport has the fares and the €107 fine for travelling unvalidated.

What to do with the rest of the day

• Comics: the comic strip route shares Rue de l’Étuve with this walk and ends at the Comic Art Museum.
• Art Nouveau: the Musical Instruments Museum is one of the sites on the Art Nouveau Pass: Brussels Art Nouveau.
• More museums: best museums in Brussels lists the others that close on Mondays, and free things to do in Brussels the sights that cost nothing.
• The days: 3 days in Brussels builds the plan round the Monday closures, and what to book before you go to Brussels has the closed days for every sight.
• Tours: Brussels walking tours sets the guided walks side by side.
• Where to sleep: hotels near the Grand-Place lists the hotels on the route, and where to stay in Brussels compares the areas, the Sablon included.

Common questions

How long is the Brussels old town walk?

3.3 km from Brussels-Central to the Petit Sablon tram stop, measured along the streets: about 45 minutes of walking. The visits fill a day, because the Town Hall takes at least an hour and the Coudenberg an hour to an hour and a half.

Which day is best for the Brussels old town walk?

Saturday, walked in reverse. The Grand Sablon antiques market runs from 9:00 to 17:00, every museum on the route is open, and the Town Hall opens at 15:00 with a tower tour, so it comes last. On Sunday the market closes at 15:00 and À la Mort Subite is shut. Avoid Monday, when the Magritte Museum, the Musical Instruments Museum and the City Museum are shut, and Tuesday and Thursday, when the Town Hall is shut.

Is the Brussels old town walk free?

The streets, the squares, the Royal Galleries, the Manneken Pis, the Mont des Arts, the Brussels Park and the Petit Sablon cost nothing. The Town Hall is €15, the City Museum and the GardeRobe MannekenPis €10 together, the Magritte Museum €13, the Musical Instruments Museum €18 and the Coudenberg €10.

Can I go inside the Royal Palace on the walk?

Not outside the summer opening. The palace admits visitors for about six weeks each summer; the 2026 opening has ended and the operator will announce the 2027 dates in 2027. The walk passes its front and the Brussels Park opposite, and the Coudenberg, whose entrance is beside the palace, is open all year.

What do I need to book for the walk?

Nothing has to be booked ahead. The Town Hall sells tickets online and at its reception hall, the Coudenberg online and at its desk, and the Magritte Museum online for the Place Royale entrance or at the main desk on Rue de la Régence.

Where does the old town walk start and finish?

It starts at Brussels-Central, on metro lines 1 and 5, and finishes at the Petit Sablon, where trams 92 and 93 stop on Rue de la Régence. Brussels-Central is 1.1 km back on foot. A contactless tap on the tram is €2.40, capped at €8.50 a day.