One day in Brussels from London's Eurostar

Some other information might be helpful. How long do you have in London to see the sites there? Do you have enough time to give up a day to going to Brussels? Are you doing other day trips from London? IMHO I wouldn't do Brussels as a day trip. It's a lot of travel time at 2 hours each way plus getting to the Eurostar etc. Is there some reason besides cheap train tix that you've chosen Brussels as a day trip site? If not, I'd go somewhere else. I realize there's sites to see in Brussels but it stands out for me as my least favorite city in Europe thus far in my travels

We are still crafting our itinerary, but so far it looks like we will be in Bath for two nights, London for six nights, and possibly York for two or three additional nights. This would have been our our one day trip from London, but you're right, it would be at least 4 hours of travel time during a season when there's not much daylight anyway.

I think the relatively inexpensive tickets, coupled with a chance to see such beautiful architecture and get great beer and chocolate and waffles and frites are what piqued my interest.

Thank you for your reply!

You can see most of the highlights of Brussels in 6 hours, even a Belgian might agree.

I've never taken the Eurostar, but I believe others have mentioned that you need to be at the train station quite early for security, so that 4 hours on the train probably significantly under-states the travel-related time.

Don't go Monday, and if you have a specific target (e.g. Magritte) check the closing day. Slight immigration delays at departure station both ways-arrive early.

I'd do it if I were you. You'll be in London and it's easy to bag another country for the day. Some years ago I did Paris for the day. That's a longer journey, even more so since the British end of the line wasn't yet high-speed.

Midweek should be quieter, avoiding Monday-Friday commuters. You can make the train part of the fun, especially if you upgrade your seat, at least for the return journey.

Brussels isn't Paris or Rome but it has plenty to keep you amused. Take the metro (strictly speaking, premetro) from the Midi station to De Brouckère, head for the Grand' Place and just wander around.

One thing. Remember you'll be leaving the UK for the Schengen zone and you'll need all your documentation to re-enter the UK.

gopher-it.

A day like that is plenty to see the highlights, the buildings, the incontinent boy (possibly the incontinent girl too if you are into equality, although the boy's costumes are better), the chocolate, the mussels and fries, the beer.

gopher it.

And you will be getting an hour back on the way back to England.

To add to DavidM's note, since you have a Eurostar ticket, you can take ANY of the very frequent railroad trains to the next station, Brussel Centraal, which is an escalator and a short walk from Grand Place, NO CHARGE or walk to the Metro. (Your return ticket has the same one-time privilege.) If you do enough planning, you might decide in advance that a one day Brussels card (which includes local transit) might be of value to you.

Note that these ticket prices will increase as January comes closer, just like plane tickets. I think they are also non changeable and non-refundable.

Brussels is very doable as a day trip from London. I usually don't like Rick's blitz itineraries, but for Brussels it works well, since the area of interest is small.

Whether it's worth taking time from your UK days to do a day in Brussels is something only you can answer. I found Brussels distinctly uninspiring, but my sister in law really enjoyed the main art museum and felt it justified the trip by itself.

"a chance to see such beautiful architecture"

Be prepared. While the Grand Place is indeed grand, and there are Art Nouveau gems scattered about, much of the rest of the city is quite un-beautiful. By far the best thing I did in Brussels was my Art Nouveau tour with ARAU. I don't think you could make this work for your short visit, but if you can, it's worth it: http://www.arau.org/en

we have done London to Brussels and then changed to a local train to Bruge, it is a beautiful city and doable in one day........

I've been to Brussels-on the way to Ypers for the Cat Parade-and it was forgettable. If this is your first time to England, there are so many great places to see that are not far from London that I would not waste a day going to Brussels. Examples: Salisbury(easy to see from Bath), Dover, Windsor, definitely York which I still haven't seen, maybe the Cotswolds/Blenheim Palace. Maybe Eurostar to Belgium is cheap for a reason?