Brussels

If you have kids with you, take them to MiniEurope. If someone in your party is a world war buff, the Royal Musuem of Military History has a huge collection of material from both WWI and WWII. If you ever found yourself asking "What would it look like if St. Peters in Rome were built in the Art Deco style of the Empire State Building (a thought that surely EVERYONE must ponder), check out the Basillica of the Sacred Heart in nearby Koekelberg. Finally, the musical instrument museum is one of my favorites in Europe.

Thanks Tom. Love your sense of humor!!

Art nouveau houses in the St Gilles area, especially the Horta Museum. The Belgian Comic Centre - best if you have some French or Flemish, but if not you can look at the illustrations. Autoworld car museum - in the same complex as the Military Museum already stated. The newish Magritte galleries in the Royal Museum of Modern Art. The Museum of Musical Instruments, which is interesting and in a spectacular art nouveau building. The Galeries Saint Hubert north of Grand-Place, one of the oldest shopping malls in the world. I can strongly recommend the hot chocolate at the Cafe du Vaudeville in the Galeries. Absolute top chocolate shops are Pierre Marcolini and Wittamer in the Grand-Sablon, Frederic Blondeel in the old fish market area by Sainte Catherine metro station, and Marys near the Congress Column. The Neuhaus, Galler and Corne Port-Royal chains are also recommended. Otherwise avoid the tourist trap places around the Grand-Place unless they are explicitly branches of those three chains. I can strongly recommend the La Grande Porte restaurant in the Marolles area. Generally there are lots of great restaurants in Brussels as long as you rigorously avoid the tourist traps in the streets around rue des Bouchers (except Aux Armes de Bruxelles and Vincent, which are genuinely good but pretty expensive).