CENTRALE for contemporary art
Nestled in a former power station in the heart of Brussels, CENTRALE for contemporary art is the contemporary art centre of the City of Brussels.
It develops a committed vision of art, beyond boundaries, and connected to the city and to society.
Each year it collaborates with confirmed and emerging artists from Brussels and the international scene to produce exhibitions and multidisciplinary projects housed in its various premises.
CENTRALE for contemporary art
CINEMATEK
The Royal Belgian Film Archive now called CINEMATEK has one of the largest collection of films in the world, which illustrate the history of film from the beginnings to our times.
The collection increases every year with some 2,000 copies.
Cinematek proposes an excellent programmation with daily silent cinema screenings, anthologies, retrospectives etc.
CINEMATEK
Museum of Natural Sciences
THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCES: A GREAT DAY OUT, NATURALLY!
In the largest Dinosaur Gallery in Europe, you can meet the famous Bernissart Iguanodons, T.rex, Triceratops, Diplodocus, and 34 other species.
But that’s not all!
The Earth is swarming with life - rediscover it in the new Gallery, Living Planet, through an aesthetic, family-friendly and scientific approach to biodiversity. Learn about the human body and how we evolved in the Gallery of Humankind and go back in time in the Gallery of Evolution. You can also find out about urban species in BiodiverCITY, discover 250 years of the history of Natural Sciences through 14 iconic specimens, beware of the kings of the Cretaceous seas in the Mosasaur Hall or admire the magnificent crystals in the Mineral Hall.
And last but not least, don't miss the temporary exhibitions and all the activities of the Educational Service: more information at www.naturalsciences.be.
Museum of Natural Sciences
Mini-Europe
The whole of Europe animated in miniature!
Be amazed! Mini-Europe is a park featuring all the wonders of Europe, in miniature. Bonsai trees, flowery groves and dwarf trees embellish the 350 monuments which have been reproduced at scale 1/25. Thousands of lifelike figurines and animations! Set off the eruption of the Vesuvius and admire the takeoff of the Ariane rocket. The two hour walk, which is both entertaining and educational, will let you (re)discover the 27 member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom, their historical, architectural and cultural wealth
This establishment has been awarded the Brussels Health Safety Label
Mini-Europe
Choco-Story Brussels
An interactive and greedy travel at the Choco Story Brussels Museum. Take a dive in the universe of cocoa and chocolate, pass a Maya temple where cocoa beans have been consumed 5000 years ago, step aboard the boat of Cortez who imported the cocoa beans in Europe; discover how chocolate was being used at the French Court in the 17th Century and afterwards how the “praline” was crafted beginning of the 20th Century in Belgium. The cocoa culture and its transformation won’t have any secrets left for you. Demonstration, tasting and audio guide are included in the visit.
Museums & tourist attractions
Choco-Story Brussels
Atomium
Halfway between sculpture and architecture, the Atomium was designed and built for the Brussels World's Fair (1958), for which it was the flagship building and emblem. Representing an iron unit cell (9 iron atoms) magnified 165 billion times, the monument with its unique silhouette has, over time, grown to become the symbol of Brussels and Belgium.
On the inside the Atomium offers, not just the most beautiful view of Brussels, but also an entirely astounding and surreal ride through its interior spaces and volumes which alone makes a visit worth it.
The Atomium ticket automatically includes the entrance to the Design Museum Brussels (150m away).
Atomium
Coudenberg Palace
Once upon a time, the Coudenberg Palace towered over the city of Brussels. Charles V and many other of the most powerful rulers ever to reign in Europe made this princely residence their home between the 12th and 18th centuries, until it was consumed by a terrible fire. Every trace of this prestigious palace simply disappeared underground for many years. Today, however, these ruins constitute a fascinating archeological site incorporating a network of underground passages and chambers.
When you visit it you can explore the principal buildings of the palace and enjoy a stroll along the Rue Isabelle, which is now underground. In the Coudenberg Museum, located in Hoogstraeten House, the finest of the archeological discoveries made during the various excavations of the Coudenberg site are displayed.
Coudenberg Palace
Autoworld
An impressive historic building in Brussels, linked with automotive history, is home to Autoworld, the Belgian National Automobile Museum. Situated in the ‘Parc du Cinquantenaire’, the neo-classical building commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1880. From 1902 to 1936 it hosted motor¬car and motorbike exhibitions. Since 1986 it has treasured the major part of Ghislain Mahy’s renowned classic car collection.
Over 300 vehicles, ranging from cars and trucks to motorcycles, are on permanent display. From the earliest models of the dis¬tant past to contemporary cars that prefigure the automobile of tomorrow, visitors are guided through the motorcar’s history dating as far back as 1896.
Various cars representing the most exciting years of the auto¬mobile history since 1960 can be approached and admired from close by, thanks to a brilliantly designed scenography.
Special sections focus on sports and competition, cars owned by the Belgian Royal Family, micro and bubble cars, and car design. The Belgium at Autoworld section is dedicated to the roots and history of the Belgian car industry.
Autoworld is a museum on the move, with temporary exhibi¬tions taking on various automotive themes organised through¬out the year.
More detailed information on autoworld.be
Autoworld
Centre for Fine Arts - Bozar
It’s impossible to talk about culture in Belgium without mentioning the Centre for Fine Arts located in Brussels. Whether it comes to exhibitions, concerts, theater performances, movies or projects concerning literature and architecture, BOZAR will always put originality and innovation first. They prove to keep a finger on the pulse with their varied and sophisticated programme. Besides emphasizing the importance of creation, quality and a rich artistic offering, BOZAR is especially concerned about the total experience of the visitors.
Centre for Fine Arts - Bozar
House of European History
Get ready for a journey like no other!
The permanent exhibition begins with the myth of the goddess Europa, exploring Europe’s ancient roots and the continent’s heritage of shared traditions, before Europe’s dramatic journey towards modernity in the 19th century and rebuilding process following World War II.
A multimedia guide in 24 languages gives you new ways to interact with the exhibition, while special activities and Family Discovery Spaces allow children to grasp the story of Europe.
Located next to the European Parliament in a striking Art Deco building in Parc Léopold, the House of European History is an essential part of any tour of the city.
* Free
* Available in 24 languages
* Book online: See practical information
House of European History
Sewers Museum
Why not visit the Brussels sewers and the Sewers museum during your next excursion in Brussels. A visit of Brussels' sewerage network - led by experienced guides or ex-workers - is extraordinary, full of surprises, but above all fascinating. The sewers have become vital to our way of life, so much so that it's hard to imagine what it was like before they existed. A visit of the Sewers Museum (and a real sewer!) is therefore an amazing, unusual and thrilling experience.
Brussels' first sewerage network came into use in the 17th century, but they were very limited and a large part of the city's waste still found its way into the river Senne. The river carried waste and carrion and regularly overflowed, or dried out in the summer, leaving behind less-than-pleasant smells.
It was partially due to this, that the government in the second half of the 19th century decided to completely transform the Senne and its neighbouring streets by building great boulevards to cover the insalubrious area. Between the two world wars a second transformation: a portion of the Senne was diverted and then covered over. The sewerage network improved and grew over the years, going from 45 km in 1847 to the 350 km that we have today.
The entrance to the museum is housed in one of the toll pavilions that used to collect taxes on goods that entered the city.
Sewers Museum
Comic Strip Museum (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée)
A world full of comics
An accomplished attraction located in the heart of Brussels, the Comics Art Museum has been honouring the creators and heroes of the 9th Art for 30 years.
The regularly renewed permanent exhibitions and a diversified programme of temporary exhibitions
enable visitors to discover the countless aspects of comics art.
Famous characters lead the way towards new adventures, an encounter with a world where creativity has no limits.
Enhanced by an exceptional Art Nouveau home designed by Victor Horta, the Comics Art Museum is just as much a tribute
to the pioneers as a glimpse of contemporary comics art.
Comic Strip Museum (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée)
Art & marges museum
Museum of outsider art. Since its founding in 1984 and the first exhibition of 1986, Art & Marge – now the ‘art )&( marges [margins] museum’ – promotes artists outside the mainstream. These self-taught artists, often called “outsider artists”, work either individually or in creative workshops in institutions for people who are mentally unwell or who are mentally challenged. In addition to the permanent collection, temporary exhibitions will establish a dynamic dialogue with paintings by professional artists from the mainstream who are active in their cultural surroundings – the boundary between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ art? The ‘Art & Marges’ museum is not a ghetto museum but a venue for exchange, where individuality is of prime importance and where all efforts are made to make all target groups feel at home.
Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 11.00 am and 5.30 pm by appointment only.
Art & marges museum
Museum of Fashion & Lace
The Fashion & Lace Museum displays its collections by means of major annual exhibitions. These address both the design and the production and social use of the garments.
The exhibitions transport you to diverse and captivating worlds. From items never before exhibited, such as in Masculinities or Back Side, through historical themes, such as the glamour of the 1930s or the bold ‘70s, to exhibitions devoted to Belgian designers such as Carine Gilson and Jean-Paul Lespagnard.
Parallel to these major exhibitions, the museum also offers:
- The Fashion Room, an unparalleled space in Belgium, provides you with the opportunity to understand how a museum builds its collections. Discover exceptional items, not hidden behind glass, in order to see them up close.
- The Lace Room displays remarkable pieces that illustrate the finesse, high quality and beauty of Brussels lace. Explore the history of this type of fabric, so valued by the elites in the 17th century yet no longer in vogue today.
Housed in a series of historic houses at the heart of Brussels, the Fashion & Lace Museum holds some 15,000 pieces from the 16th century to the present. The Museum has the most important collections in the world when it comes to Brussels design and production, which it seeks to position in a Belgian and international context.
Its collections attest to the changes in fashion as well as to a specific era of our culture and our society.
Museum of Fashion & Lace
Wiels - Contemporary art centre
It was the brewer Léon Wielemans who asked his friend, the architect Adrien Blomme, to design and build the new buildings of his brewery in Forest. It became the leading monument of industrial archaeology in the art deco style, and houses now Wiels, an international laboratory for the creation and the diffusion of contemporary art. Focusing on visual arts, but granting a particular attention to the crossings and interactions with other disciplines, the centre wishes to present contemporary art in all its diversity and to offer a permanent dialogue with the developments and the most recent debates of the art world. The Art centre has a shop, a café and offer an impressive panorama on the city.
Cultural centres
Wiels - Contemporary art centre
Children’s Museum
Pioneer in Europe, The Children’s Museum is located in a beautiful mansion which offers a 600m2 exhibition spaces. In this educational environment, where playing has a key role, you won’t find computers nor video games. Stage settings and scenery, wooden toys, workshops are but some examples of the different means the Museum has put in place to help children in the discovery of the world that surrounds them, as well as themselves. Every exhibition is an exclusive creation that benefits from the guidance of various external specialists in different areas of the educational work fields.
Children’s Museum
Station Europe
CLOSED TO VISITORS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Station Europe, on the very lively place du Luxembourg, is the ideal starting point for seeing Europe in Brussels.
Housed in the original Brussels-Luxembourg train station building, Station Europe is the perfect bridge between the area’s past and its modern role as the home of European democracy.
* Free
* Available in 24 languages
Station Europe
The European Parliament Hemicycle
Visit the Hemicycle, the heart of the European Parliament in Brussels, where Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) hold their debates and take crucial votes for Europe.
A visit to the Hemicycle is a great way to soak up the exciting atmosphere of the world’s largest transnational parliament. Come and find out about its powers and role and discover how your MEPS represent you. If you time your visit right, you might also be lucky enough to follow a plenary session from the visitors’ gallery.
* Free
* Free multimedia-guided visits, available in 24 languages
* Interactive talks by experienced speakers: Mondays at 11:00 and 15:00 (in English and in French)
* Book online: see practical information
* A valid proof of identity is required (passport, identity card, etc.).
The European Parliament Hemicycle
Belgian Chocolate Village
Near the Basilica of Koekelberg, the Belgian Chocolate Village (BCV) is located in the former chocolate and biscuit factory Victoria. The museum is entirely dedicated to chocolate and it is also a real showcase of the Belgian chocolate makers' know-how. The scenographic tour displays and explains the stages of the manufacture of chocolate, its uses, its history, its benefits, its economy and its diversity. a A beautiful tropical greenhouse reproduces the conditions of cocoa cultivation. Thanks to the chocolate workshop integrated in the museum tour you will experience the daily work of the artisan chocolate makers and taste their receipes. Our craftsmen also welcome you to different chocolate workshops (reservation required) on site. You have the opportunity to chill out in our Salon Belle-Epoque and shop which offers a large range of products from different chocolate makers, including organic and bean-to-bar chocolates.
Belgian Chocolate Village
MigratieMuseumMigration
Today, more than 180 nationalities live together in Brussels. The MigratieMuseumMigration gives a permanent home to the stories of the first generation of guest workers, of the earliest inhabitants of the Petit-Château, of the expats, the war refugees, the Europeans who move freely within the EU and many others. It is a warm environment where visitors can discover Brussels and the lives of others through memories and souvenirs. Above all, it is a museum with plenty of room to share your own story.
MigratieMuseumMigration
