Hello!
I am going to be staying with friends in Brussels for two weeks and don't know much about the locale.
What should I absolutely NOT miss in Brussels and what are some other things around Belgium that I could see?
And I'm already taking sidetrips to Paris and Amsterdam :)
THANK YOU!!!
http://wikitravel.org/en/Brussels
Be sure to also take a side trip to Burges, or perhaps even London.
While in Belgium, a trip to Brugge is of course one of the most popular places to go. Antwerp is a great city to visit, as is Ghent. You can go up on the North Sea which can be interesting as there are lots of little towns up there. You are close to the Netherlands, so some side trips over there will be easy.
I like Brussels a lot, once you get away from the main train station which I find to be dark and cold. Wonderful architecture in this city, so it is fun to just wander around side streets, lots of museums, art galleries and churches to visit, and the Botanical Garden is lovely.
You have a lot to see in the Benelux area in your 2 weeks, so I doubt if you will run out of places to visit.
You should absolutely not miss the Horta museum - the famous art nouveau architect's personal home and studio. If you like art the National Ancient and Modern art museums are a must and the local Ixelles art gallery is much under-rated: a municipal gallery with a very good collection thanks to the number of major 19th and 20th century artists who were local residents. I would also highly recommend the National Museum of Musical Instruments and the Comics Centre, both of which are in spectacular art nouveau buildings originally constructed as department stores. (The Comics Centre may not be worth paying to get into if you don't read either French or Dutch.)
Beer fans are, I'm told by ones I read, highly recommended to visit the Cantillon Museum Brewery. If you're interested in old books or religious history the Erasmus house is an under-rated attraction. If you like transport, see the Tramway Museum at Woluwe and ride a vintage tram over part of the working modern network, or try the huge Autoworld car museum. Also if you are a bit gothic or into so-bad-it's-good stuff, visit the Musee Wiertz, the collection of the artwork of a somewhat megalomaniacal local artist who if he'd lived fifty years later would have been making "Evil Dead" type films. If you're into dinosaurs go to see the famous herd of iguanadons at the Natural History Museum.
Other more general sites that should not be missed are the overpowering Grand Place and the flea market at Jeu de Balle.
To be avoided: the Atomium is spectacular from the outside but not worth paying to get into, and do NOT eat anywhere in the rue des Bouchers except Aux Armes de Bruxelles or maybe Leon.
Wow, Philip beat me to many of the good sites. I would add:
-if you are within a few years of university age, check out the cafe scene on the Oude Markt in the town of Leuven (20 minute train ride from Brussels). The stadhuis here is one of the most beautiful in the Low Countries.
Near the Atomium, spend a few hours relaxing and wandering through the beautfiul royal parks.
Not sure of the name, but Brussels has probably the world's only Art Deco cathedral (you'll see it sitting off an a distant hill). Some hate it, some find it amazing. Either way, it's worth a look.
-If you have any interest in the world wars, the Royal Military Museum (next to Autoworld) has a huge collection of material, not just limited to Belgium.
-Near the city of Genk (not Ghent), you can visit a wonderful outdoor folk museum at Domein Bokrijk.
- Outside of Brussels, the national botanical gardens is quite impressive (the downtown metro stop called "Jardin Botanique" or "Kruidtuin" in Dutch is the former site of the gardens, but is now just a park.)
The art deco church is the Koekelburg Basilica which is a real love or hate building.
I'll second the recommendation for the Musical Instrument museum. Although there is minimal English provided, the sounds of the instruments themselves need no language. You can spend hours in here.