We will have a short 24 hours in Brussels in mid September. I discovered Sandemans offers a "free" (tipping at end customary) walking tour of Brussels. I was wondering if anyone has been on this tour and your thoughts. TripAdvisor has great reviews. I want to make the most of our short time in Brussels and thought this could be a great way to both see the big sites (Mannekin Pis, Grand Place etc) while learning a little something about the city too. Or would we better off seeing some of the sites on our own, grab a few pints of Belgium beer and just taking in the city for the brief time we have?
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
13934 posts
A couple of years ago my brother and I were in Brussels for a short time and we just did the walking tour out of the RS book. Then we had beer, lol. No frites though. You could only get them if you ordered a whole meal. Frites were not served separately where we stopped.
Posted by
Montgomery
35 posts
I have taken the Sandman's free tour in Munich and Prague and they were great. I found it help orient me to a city that I had never been to before and was very informative; of course the key is the tour guide. I myself is signed up for the Sandman free tour in Brussels a the end of April.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
My sister, brother, and sister-in-law were just in Brussels a few months ago. They very much enjoyed taking the Grand Place Walk in Rick Steves' book, which was easy to do on their own (his book has lots of information about what you're seeing).
Posted by
Chicago
565 posts
A great place for beer not far from the Grand Place is Moeder Lambic, atop the Annessens Metro Stop. There are also some smaller places around the St. Gery Place. And try, if you can, to make it to Matonge for some delicious Congolese treats. Bring an umbrella!
Posted by
4 posts
If you are stopping in Brussels for the day or the night I recommand to stop at the Delirium bar. This bar is an institution now and offers thousands of different beers. It simply won the world guiness record.
Posted by
4 posts
If you are staying for such little time you can also do a tour in segway. In Brussels alln the monuments are localised in the inner wall, so there are all "reachable" but in the same time it's tiring to do everything the same day.
Posted by
OP
North Carolina, US
90 posts
Wow what wonderful information!
Pam & Harold: I completely forgot about the RS Walking Tour and detailed info in his book, thanks for the reminder. I will need to request the book again from the local library!
Ken: Glad to hear your previous experiences with Sandemans has been enjoyable. Post your experiences after your April visit please.
Woinparis: Thanks for the great information!
Emily & Bebe: Thanks for the food and drink suggestions. Delirium was already on our must stop by for a drink list! Husband is a huge fan of Belgain beers. We'll definitely look into the other suggestions too.