Buongiorno!
If you’ve been following me on social media, you might have seen that I just took a vacation to Europe! My best friend is from Lille, France, which is very close to the border of Belgium so we bopped around between France and Belgium, ending in Paris for several days. It was my first time seeing Belgium, and I thought Brussels was super cute and definitely worth seeing. Today I’m sharing some of the things I saw and did there. 🙂
I hadn’t realized how much of a French influence there is in Belgium, primarily in the cities closest to the French border. Brussels is actually very close to the border and only about a 45 minute train ride away from Lille. When we hopped off the train, it almost appeared that we were still in France! A lot of the architecture was similar and French was spoken everywhere (in Belgium they speak French and Fleminsh primarily).
I didn’t do everything as far as museums and other places that Brussels travel guides might suggest, but I wanted to take you along what I did see and do and the beautiful things I stumbled upon as well!
The Grand Place
This square is at the heart of the city and it is just sparkling with ornate and beautiful gold accents and phenomenal architecture in Gothic and Baroque styles. One of the buildings was the town hall, with incredible detail throughout the walls and breathtaking doors.
Those Waffles
I will not lie to you — a large part of the reason I wanted to see Brussels was to have a real Belgian waffle. And man, did it deliver. After asking several locals to direct us to the best waffle place, we settled on Maison Dandoy and ate our little hearts out in waffles. My friend got chocolate on hers and I got chocolate with vanilla ice cream juuust to be extra gluttonous. 😀 Here’s the evidence:
^^ This last amazing shot (and several others in this post) is by my bestie Agathe – follow her for more sharp, food-lover shots like this!
Sablon
Sablon is a historic neighborhood on a hill in the upper town of Brussels, and was my absolute favorite part of the city! There were adorable little side streets, restaurants, shops and buildings throughout and being on a hill, there were beautiful views to be seen around every corner.
The Chocolate
Naturally in addition to the waffles, we had to hit up some authentic Belgian chocolate. My friend’s favorite chocolate spot was in Sablon too, Pierre Marcolini. As you can see from the photos, Pierre Marcolini is a beautiful and particular little shop. It’s all about the dreams of the chocolatier himself, so there are pink clouds, flowers, and ladders spiraling upward, taking us into these dreams of chocolate. We topped off the experience there with a couple macarons too!
The Comic Book Route
Another interesting aspect of Brussels was that it pays tribute to several Belgian comics like “The Adventures of Tintin” with giant murals on the walls of the city. There are about 50 murals that make up the comic book route, and we managed to find a bunch! It was really fun to stumble across the murals throughout the day and admire how beautifully done they were. Here are a few that I found:
Other fun moments throughout the trip!
Admiring some stunning architecture of course…
a pit stop for lunch down a secluded little side street!
I completely fell in love with the look of this little flower shop! I loved how clean the black and white was and the font of name and awning are just gorgeous!!
Apparently, this little statue “Manneken Pis” is a Brussels staple… There were numerous parodies of it throughout the city, but I personally wouldn’t call it the highlight of the city… 🤔
My can’t-handle-the-excitement face of shopping for soaps in this colorful little shop of dreams! 😍
Trying my best to capture the cuteness of Brussels!
To conclude, Brussels was definitely worth seeing and I hope you can see that from my photo diary here! Have any of you been to Brussels? Or is it on your list of places to see? Let me know in the comments below! 🤗
Take a peek at my other travel blogs too: Sorrento, Amalfi Coast + Capri, Naples, and Milan.
A presto!
Amanda
Great post, except that I’m now craving chocolate.
Author
haha! I know I feel the same way looking back at my waffle photos!
Those buildings are amazing!
https://anna-alina.blogspot.com/
Author
I know! Just about every single one was breathtaking!!
I absolutely adored this post. That chocolate looked incredible!!!
Author
Thank you so much! I’m still dreaming about the waffles too! ha!
I’m glad to hear you had such an amazing time! I love the street art. I have to say I’ve never been to Europe, so I was super in love with the photos of the older buildings. There’s so much history in Europe that the United States cannot even come close to. Going to France is deff on my travel bucketlist xxx
Melina | http://www.ivefoundwaldo.com
Author
Thank you so much! I am just in love with Europe, you’ll have to make it to France and Italy one day!! There’s nothing quite like it! 🙂
I deff wanna make it to Italy one day! I took Italian for a few years, and really fell in love with the language and the culture! I honestly can’t wait to go xxx
Author
You have to! It’s my favorite place in the world! <3
Oh! What a wonderful place. So much culture that seems to mix well with tradition and modern ideals. I love the architecture.Going to add this to my travel bucket list.
Natalie | Natalie’s Alchemy
Author
Yeah, it is a cool mix of traditional and modern, that’s a great way to put it! Definitely worth seeing some day! 🙂
Stunning photos, looks amazing 🙂
Author
Thank you lovely!
I’ve sooo many friends in Brussels and I really wanna visit some day… the pictures look gorgeous, makes me wanna go there right now…lol.. 😉
Author
You definitely have an excuse to go then! Hopefully you can make it there soon! 🙂
Wow this looks so so amazing!! The photos are incredible- I especially love the ones with the street art! xx
Author
Thank you so much! Yeah the street art was insane!! It was gigantic and so perfect!!
Lovely post! I was there once when I was 15 and your pictures brought back the nice memories. 🙂
Author
Aww I’m happy to hear that! Thank you! 🙂 Maybe it’s time for another visit?!
Loved your photo diary from Brussels <3
Author
Thank you very much!
Good afternoon, thank you for liking my latest post. It meant so much to me. Enjoy your afternoon- night. Much love 💝
Author
Thanks lovely! My pleasure 🙂
You are more than welcome angel 😊💝 I wish you good luck.
It makes me so happy to see people talking about my city Lille <3 & Bruxelles is always a good time 🙂
Author
Lille is so charming!! I loved it, my friend is from there 🙂
Beautiful pictures. definitely my next country to visit!
Author
Thank you! Yes, it’s definitely worth seeing!! 🙂