Brussels public transport for visitors: STIB fares, tapping a bank card for €2.40 a journey and why there is no 24-hour ticket

💡 The Short Version: Tap a contactless bank card, phone or watch: €2.40 a journey, free changes within 60 minutes, and never more than €8.50 in a day, which is reached on the fourth journey. Tap the same card at every connection; one card pays for one person. There are no 24, 48 or 72-hour tickets, and the paper 1 day ticket is €9.00, dearer than the cap. A STIB single is not valid from the airport: use Airport2City, €7.90. Without a validated ticket the fine is €107. SNCB trains inside the city need a Brupass (€2.70 a journey). Fares in force from 1 February 2026, from stib-mivb.be.

Tickets and fares, compared

STIB runs Brussels’ metro, trams and buses. Prices are adult prices.

A STIB tram on line 92 passing Notre-Dame du Sablon. Photo: Jacek Rużyczka, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Children under 6 travel free without a ticket. The paper single is €0.50 more than the digital one, and three paper singles come to €8.70, more than the cap.

• The sum: three contactless journeys cost €7.20, and the fourth takes the day to €8.50; every journey after that is free. The cap is per card, so two people need two cards.
• Same card, every time: tap the same card or device at each connection. Your card needs at least €2.40 in the account or it is blocked.
• Buy ahead: the Brussels Card sells a STIB option, which beats the cap by €0.05 over 48 hours and €4 over 72, and only with four journeys every day.

Paying with a bank card

Tap the card, phone or watch on the validator: on its screen in a station, below the screen on a bus or tram. A green screen and a beep mean it worked. Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Wallet work, and Garmin Pay and Fitbit Pay on a watch (STIB).

• At a connection, tap again when you board the next vehicle. Changes within 60 minutes of the first tap are free.
• One person per card. You cannot tap one card for several people; use a different card or device for each traveller.
• An inspector will ask to see the card or device you tapped.
• Your journeys appear in a STIB account if you used a bank card, and not if you used a phone or watch.

The rules that cost money

• Validate before every journey, at the turnstiles in the metro and on board trams and buses, and again at every connection, including when you board a De Lijn, SNCB or TEC vehicle. A ticket you did not validate counts as no ticket.
• The fine is €107, and €214 for a repeat within 24 months (STIB’s rules of transport).
• Above-ground stops: raise your hand to stop a bus or tram, and press the stop button to get off. Metros and underground trams stop at every station.
• Hours: most lines run 7 days a week from 05:00 to midnight. After that, Noctis night buses and Collecto shared taxis run.
• Bikes and scooters: folded bikes and folded kick-scooters travel anywhere as luggage. Other bikes and kick-scooters are allowed on metro trains and low-floor trams outside Monday to Friday 07:00 to 09:00 and 16:00 to 18:30, through the doors with the bike sign. Shared bikes and scooters are forbidden in STIB metro stations and vehicles at all times.
• Trains are separate. A STIB ticket does not cover SNCB trains: use a Brupass inside the Brussels Region.
• Strikes: Belgium has general strikes that can disrupt STIB and SNCB across the city, so check both the day before you travel.
• Pickpockets: the Foreign Office warns of thieves in major stations and on public transport, particularly at night, and names Brussels-Midi and Brussels-North. Travel.gc.ca adds the metro and the Nord, Central and Midi stations, and the US State Department has its own advice for Belgium.

A metro platform at De Brouckère. Photo: Trougnouf, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

Getting to the main sights

Bikes, scooters and taxis

Villo! is the public bike share, with 360 stations and 5,000 bicycles open every day of the year, and tickets for one or seven days for visitors (visit.brussels). The Brussels Card has a coupon for three days of Villo! for €1. The Floya app books taxis, shared bikes, scooters and cars. Taxis must be official ones with the Region’s sign: Brussels Airport to the city has the tariff.

A Villo! station in Brussels. Photo: Sdkb, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The apps

The STIB-MIVB app sells tickets and plans journeys, and STIB’s ticket machines are in the metro stations. At Brussels-Midi, follow the M signs to level -1 for the ticket machines and the STIB kiosk.

Which to use

• A short stay or a few journeys: tap a contactless bank card, with no ticket to buy.
• No contactless card: a single in the app or on a MOBIB card, €2.40.
• Trains inside the city, such as Midi to Central: a Brupass.
• Arriving by bus 12: Airport2City, €7.90, by contactless card.
• Hop on and off for commentary: the hop-on hop-off bus, €24.75.
• A walking day: Brussels walking tours need no ticket at all.

Where to stay in Brussels compares the areas by how you reach them, and what to book before you go to Brussels lists the closed days for the sights above. 3 days in Brussels plans the days round them.