Brussels Travel Guide

Brussels OVERVIEW

Thanks to its favorable central location, Brussels has become a convenient "harbor" on the route from France to the Netherlands. But the capital's slightly schizophrenic quality earns it a status of something more than a stopover between far more refined A and far more relaxed B. For Brussels is a city of contrasts, a crossbred product of French and Flemish origins, a two-faced metropolis torn between serving its political mission and meeting its primeval need for social hedonism. As befits the administrative hub of the EU it is stern, hieratic, and impressively (or depressingly) sky-rise. On the other hand, the Old Town feels like a playground for immigrants, and it doesn't take much effort to zoom between posh boutiques and an African ghetto. Given this nutty hotchpotch, Brussels never runs out of attractions to occupy visitors.