Self-guided walking tours in Brussels

One day covers central Brussels well, and this plan walks it as a single line: the Grand-Place and the old harbour, the cathedral and palace plateau, the Sablon and the Marolles, then dinner in Matongé. It's a long day on your feet with museum time in the middle, so start around 9:00 and treat the evening block as optional if you run out of steam.

The route is not fully step-free: the climb between the lower and upper town includes stairs at the Mont des Arts and Place Royale, though the Galerie Ravenstein takes part of the height indoors and the free glass lift at Place Poelaert is the easy way down into the Marolles. The Musical Instruments Museum is accessible for reduced mobility, with a ramp at the entrance, a lift, adapted toilets and folding seats at reception; the European Disability Card is accepted, and a companion gets in free.

Tuesday to Sunday. Mondays wipe out the Musical Instruments Museum and several other city museums, and the markets peak at the weekend: Saturdays bring the antique dealers onto the Grand Sablon while the Jeu de Balle flea market is at its fullest. The market is over by early afternoon, so on a weekend run the day in reverse and start in the Sablon.

Late spring through early autumn gives you the terraces, the long evenings and the Royal Palace's summer opening weeks. Winter shortens the walking day, but the museums are quieter and the Marolles cafés are at their warmest.

Tap a contactless bank card or phone on the reader: €2.40 a ride, free transfers for 60 minutes, and a daily cap of €8.50, so no day costs more than that in fares however much you ride. Brupass tickets cost €2.70 a single, €18.90 for ten rides and €9.50 a day, and also cover SNCB trains and De Lijn and TEC buses inside the Brussels region. From the airport, the Airport2City fare is €7.90 one way.

Budget around €60 to €80 a person: €21.50 for Belgian Beer World with its tasting and rooftop drink, €18 for the MIM with under-18s free, at most €8.50 in transport, and street food for lunch, which keeps the food bill low. Drop the two museums and the day shrinks to meals and fares.

Nothing on this route has to be booked ahead. The reservations that matter in Brussels are for the Art Nouveau houses in Saint-Gilles: the Musée Horta takes visitors by booking only and Maison Hannon advises booking online, so schedule those first if you're adding them to your trip.

The rest of the city's walks: the comic strip murals scattered across the lower town, the Art Nouveau streets of Saint-Gilles and the Ixelles ponds with their markets, the Cinquantenaire's three museums and the rooftop terraces on its arcade, and Matongé in daylight, when the shops and galleries are open.

Central Brussels is busy and comfortable after dark, and Matongé keeps its café terraces full into the night. Take the ordinary precautions: guard your pockets in the Grand-Place crowds, keep bags zipped on the metro and at tram doors, and stick to lit main streets if you're unsure of a shortcut.