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🇧🇪Things to Do in Belgium
From Bruges' medieval canals to Brussels' Grand Place - the essential sights, and how to keep your own record of them.
Travel guide - last updated September 2026
Belgium punches well above its size - a country you can cross by train in under three hours holds a UNESCO-listed square, two of Europe's best-preserved medieval towns, and a beer culture recognized by UNESCO in its own right. Brussels anchors it as the EU's de facto capital, but the real charm is often an hour outside it: Bruges' canals, Ghent's cathedral, or a Trappist brewery in the Ardennes. Here are 10 places worth building a trip around.
Top attractions
The sights most first-time visitors build an itinerary around.
Grand Place, Brussels
Belgium's UNESCO-listed central square, ringed by gilded guild houses and the Gothic Town Hall. See it lit up after dark, and check for the Flower Carpet - a giant begonia display laid every even year in mid-August.
📍 Brussels
🚉 Nearest station: Brussels Central, a five-minute walk downhill, or De Brouckere and Bourse on metro lines 1 and 5 - the square itself is pedestrian.
Bruges Historic Centre
A medieval old town threaded with canals, often called the 'Venice of the North.' Climb the 83-metre Belfry for the view, and go early or late in the day - the center gets crowded with day-trippers from Brussels.
📍 Bruges
🚉 Nearest station: Brugge, an hour from Brussels and 15 minutes' walk south of the Markt; the whole centre is walkable and largely car-free.
Ghent
Bruges' quieter, less-touristed rival - Saint Bavo's Cathedral holds the Ghent Altarpiece, one of the most fought-over paintings in history (stolen and recovered more than once, including by Allied forces after WWII).
📍 Ghent
🚉 Nearest station: Gent-Sint-Pieters, with tram 1 running into the centre in about 10 minutes to Korenmarkt and the Gravensteen castle.
Belgian Beer & Trappist Breweries
Belgium has more beer styles than any other country, and Trappist brewing - beer made by monks, inside the monastery walls - is recognized by UNESCO. Westvleteren, Chimay and Orval are the best-known Trappist names to look for.
📍 Westvleteren, Chimay & Orval
🚉 Westvleteren, Orval and Chimay are rural and need a car; the accessible ones are in the cities - Cantillon is a 10-minute walk from Brussels-Midi, and Brugge's De Halve Maan is in the centre.
Waterloo Battlefield
Where Napoleon lost his final battle in 1815. Climb the 226 steps of the Lion's Mound for a view over the whole field, and the visitor center below runs an immersive re-enactment of the battle on the hour.
📍 Waterloo
🚉 Take the train to Braine-l'Alleud, then bus W to the Lion's Mound, about 20 minutes; the battlefield visitor centre sits at the foot of the mound.
Antwerp
Belgium's second city and one of the world's diamond-cutting capitals. The Cathedral of Our Lady holds four Rubens paintings, and the Antwerp Fashion District is worth a stop even without buying anything.
📍 Antwerp
🚉 Nearest station: Antwerpen-Centraal, a cathedral of a station in its own right, with trams from below it into the old town and the MAS museum by the docks.
The Atomium, Brussels
A 102-metre steel structure shaped like an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times, built for the 1958 World Expo. The top sphere has an observation deck and a restaurant with a view over the whole city.
📍 Brussels
🚉 Nearest station: Heysel/Heizel on metro line 6, which surfaces beside the spheres; tram 7 stops at the same place.
Belgian Waffles & Chocolate
Brussels-style (light, crisp, rectangular) and Liège-style (dense, caramelized, from a sweet dough) are different enough to try both. Belgium also produces roughly 220,000 tonnes of chocolate a year - a chocolatier tour or tasting is easy to find in any city on this list.
📍 Brussels & Liège
🚉 The chocolate houses cluster around the Grand Place and the Sablon in Brussels - Louise or Porte de Namur on the metro for the Sablon, Brussels Central for the rest.
The Ardennes
Forested hills and river valleys across southern Belgium - hiking trails, limestone caves, and riverside towns like Dinant and Bouillon, each with a castle overlooking the water.
📍 Dinant & Bouillon, the Ardennes
🚉 Trains run to Namur, Dinant and Libramont, and buses continue into the valleys, but the hiking trailheads and caves really need a car once you are there.
Brussels Comic Strip Route
Belgium gave the world Tintin and the Smurfs, and Brussels marks it with over 60 comic-strip murals painted on building walls across the city, plus the Belgian Comic Strip Center in an Art Nouveau former department store.
📍 Brussels
🚉 The murals are spread across the city centre: Brussels Central and Bourse are the best starting points, and the Comics Art Museum is a five-minute walk from the station.
Mark Belgium, get the stamp
In MyPassportStory, every country you mark - visited, lived in, or still on the list - becomes a stamp like these in your own travel passport. Add the cities you stopped in, draw the route between them, and turn the whole trip into a shareable passport-style image.
Open MyPassportStoryPlanning questions
How many days do you need in Belgium?
Belgium is compact enough to see a lot in 4-5 days: two in Brussels, a day each in Bruges and Ghent, and a day trip to Waterloo or Antwerp. The train network puts every city on this list under 90 minutes apart.
What's the best time to visit Belgium?
Late spring through early autumn (May-September) has the mildest weather, and Grand Place's Flower Carpet happens every even year in mid-August. Christmas markets (late November through December) are Belgium's other big travel season.
Is Belgium good for a first-time visit?
Yes - it's one of the easiest countries in Europe to get around without a car, and its small size means a short trip doesn't feel rushed the way a first trip to France or Germany often does.
Do I need a visa to visit Belgium?
Belgium is part of the Schengen Area, so citizens of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa arranged in advance. Check the official visa information for your nationality: diplomatie.belgium.be.
What are some things to do in Belgium on a tight budget?
Grand Place, the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, and the Brussels comic-strip mural walk are all free. Several Brussels museums are free on the first Wednesday afternoon of the month.
Can I rent a car in Belgium, and what licence do I need?
You can, but Belgium's rail network links every city here in under two hours, and Bruges and Ghent are effectively car-free. EU and EEA licences are valid as issued; other visitors may drive on a home licence for up to six months, with an International Driving Permit alongside it if it is not in a European language. Minimum age is 21 with a surcharge under 25. Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent all operate low-emission zones that require registration before you drive in, and the Ghent and Bruges centres are closed to through traffic. Federal transport rules are published at mobilit.belgium.be; cars come from Europcar, Sixt and Hertz.