Brussels

From the regal palatial façades of Brussels’ Flemish centre, to the sprawling parks and futuristic business complexes of its outer suburbs, the capital of Belgium is a metropolis highly diverse, undeniably lively and simply likeable. Since it first ascended as one of the premier metropolises of the Low Countries Brussels has attracted beer lovers, antique collectors, football fans, photographers, film makers, sightseers, culinary tourists and shopaholics to boot, not to mention some of the continent’s great political luminaries, as the powerhouse of modern European politics that it is.

Visitors will want to get their bearings on arrival, because Belgium’s capital can be hard to navigate, geographically, culturally and in terms of language. So, be sure to ask your Brussels tourist guide about whether it’s ‘merci’ or whether it’s ‘dank uwel’, where it’s okay to order French fries and where it’s better to say Belgian frites, because this is a town criss-crossed by divisions and multi-cultural in the extreme.

Of the absolute must see spots, it’s the Grand Place plaza that takes centre stage, while groups still flock curiously to the proudly underwhelming Manneken Pis statuette on the corner of Rue du Chene. Others will head further afield, to the trendy shopping spots in Louise, the cool jazz bars around the city centre outskirts, or the great conference complexes and colossal King Baudouin Stadium of Heysel in the north.