Exploring the best of Brussels – Info for first-time travelers!

Have you ever visited Brussels, Europe’s political capital? It’s a fabulous city to visit. If you haven’t done so then please do it now or else you will miss out seeing one of the beautiful cities in the world. Everyone who has visited this amazing city loves visiting it again and again. They highly recommend visiting this city at least once. If you are visiting Brussels for the first time, then you just might face some difficulty in navigating the city on your own. It would be just good enough for all the first-time visitors to know all about the city, its attractions, best places to eat and what all to do.

Here’s Brussels for the first-time visitors. If you are still unaware of the city and its history, this piece of unique information will add to your knowledge and help you in exploring the city much better. Do you know that the historic center of Brussels was in fact built on swamps? This is amazing, isn’t it! The name of Brussels has itself originated from two words – “Bruscella wit broek” and “sali”. The word “Brucsella, wit broek” means swampy and “sali” means dwelling. Iris flowers grew abundantly in the swamps and have become city’s symbol. Another fascinating aspect of the city is that La Senne River still continues to flow under the city streets. The river has now been fully overlaid and important boulevards in the city existing today were constructed over it during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Many visitors to Brussels will surely ask or like to know the most stimulating thing that they can do here. If you have read comic books or remain its fan, this information about the city might surprise you. Brussels proudly boasts itself to be the hometown of comic book heroes like Mortimer, Blake and Tintin. The best thing therefore to explore the city is to undertake the comic book trail. You will find it pleasing to gaze at the characters of comic books commemorated in big murals on 50 city gables.

You will also be amazed to know that the city has an extensive underground network of sewers spread over an area of 350 km beneath the city. This information is just to add to your knowledge of city’s history and how its infrastructure looks like.

Brussels offers great sightseeing opportunities to its visitors. If you are unaware about the best attractions in the city, this piece of information might just work wonders for you. Consider visiting the Magritte Museum. It is simply unique and currently home to biggest collection of art works created by renowned Belgian artist Renee Magritte. The elegant Grand Place is yet another important place worth visiting. Millions of tourists can be seen descending on this world’s most beautiful city square.

Other important places of attractions for tourists visiting the Belgian capital Brussels are the buildings of the European Parliament as well as the European Commission. These two significant buildings offer great insight to the visitors, particularly Eurosceptics, and help them in knowing about the contribution of members and the way in which everyday life of the people is greatly influenced by Europe’s decisions. The nearby Parliamentarium is also great to visit and acquaints people about the goings on in Belgium.

Apart from these, Brussels keeps visitors attracted to the city in many different ways. The city offers opportunity to its visitors to attend various events. If you arean art collector, Brussels is simply the best place for you to visit. The city is a Mecca for all those passionate about design and antiques. Plan your visit in January to attend the Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair or BRAFA. The fair is held in January every year. The venue of the fair is at Tour & Taxis, which is essentially a restored mail-sorting and customs hanger. Here you will see rare finds and eclectic treasures being sold by famous collectors.

Don’t’ forget to visit the Belgium Comic Strip Center. A series of permanent exhibitions are held in the land of Tintin and Smurfs. The visitors here will be pleased to discover unique objects and original artworks. The Belgium Comic Strip Center is housed in the former Waucquez Warehouse, which is Art Nouveau’s gem by grand master Victor Horta.

If you are exploring Brussels, you just might want to take beautiful pictures along with you to treasure the sweet memories of your wonderful holidays here. Every visitor will like to know after all what will be the perfect place to take best shots of Brussels with your camera. In order to get a fabulous panoramic view of Brussels, visit the Place Poelaert, situated in front of the Palais of Justice. It resembles Paris’ Montmartre and is its Brussels’ version.

These are few tips that will prove to be of great benefit to you, especially when you are visiting the magnificent city of Brussels for the first time.