Grand-Place
- Address:Brussels
- Admission:Free
Good Place to Drink, Good Place to Eat, Good Place to Shop, Popular with Locals, UNESCO Heritage Site, Market, Monument - Historical, Palace, Plaza / Square
4:34 PM Friday, May 25
Passing clouds. Mild.
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Europe’s most picturesque square, Grand-Place is surrounded by baroque and gothic guildhalls and the stunning 315 foot (96 meter) Brussels Town Hall. The stunning buildings in this UNESCO World Heritage site date mainly from the late 17th century. Grand Place is also known in Dutch as Grote Markt as it was the large central market in Brussels. The surrounding streets still bear the names of the stalls that lined the street: Rue des Bouchers (butchers) and Peperstraat (pepper merchants). Every second year, in August, the square is filled with an enormous flower carpet. A million begonias are used to create a stunning pattern. Concerts and music recitals are held here throughout the year.
The size and beauty of the square amazes everyone when they first turn a corner to find it unexpectedly in front of them. After the initial shock sit down at a table outside one of the many cafés or chocolatiers and find out why Belgium is justly famous for its beer and chocolate.
Latest Reviews All Grand-Place Reviews »
To tell you the truth, the 4 of us aren't beer drinkers but we wanted to know about the famous Belgian beers and what better way than to taste different kinds that this tour offered. It was the highlight of our trip to Brussels which was the start of our river cruise to Netherlands. With this small group, Mark did an excellent job of showing us various local pubs in out-of-the-way places behind Grand Place and having us taste beer, light, dark, blueberry, chocolate, what-have-you. I particularly liked the beer, "Bad Luck Blonde" but many that we tasted cannot be purchased outside of Belgium and some are the specialty of the pub. The meeting place was easy to find, although I was at first worried since I've never been to Brussels. He led us through the back streets and as it turns out, it is like a city tour as well. We even had a German TV crew following us for this particular tour since Monday was Beer Day in Germany. Anyway, it was a memorable tour and I learned about Belgian beer through TASTE rather than the making process.
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Very interesting! Started at Godiva in the Grand Place. Walked through the city and saw a lot of the sights. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. Stopped at 5 other chocolatiers in the city. We made our own chocolates at Cote D'Or!! It was great and then they gave us the most decadent hot chocolate I have ever had in my life! We tried a bunch of different chocolates there. Even tried the peppercorn chocolate (not so great). You will be glad that you did it. The tour starts at 0900 in the Grand Place and ends there approximately 1300. Our tour guide even spent the time to show us (after the tour) where the Janneken Pis was - the female version of the Manneken Pis. On our tour the Manneken was wearing a French military uniform! He was so tiny!!
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I had a great time on this tour. The walking tour portion was very good. Our guide gave us some great tips about local restaurants and sights. but the highlight for me was definitely the chocolate making workshop! The chocolatier at Chocopolis was so great to work with - he was so patient with us as amateurs, and always had a big smile on his face. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking for an inside looks at the area surrounding Le Grand Place, and of course, for chocolate lovers!
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Not far from either Centrale or Bourse train station, Grand-Place is at the center of a cobweb of narrow cobblestone streets.
