Brussels City and Travel Guide

Don’t Be Confused about Brussels

Newcomers to the city of Brussels in Belgium might find the distinction between the capital city of Brussels and the municipality of Brussels to be kind of confusing. To clarify it for you, the biggest municipality within the Brussels-Capital Region is correctly called the City of Brussels. There are 19 other municipalities in all which make up the Brussels-Capital Region. The Brussels-Capital Region itself is not the capital – only the City of Brussels municipality can be correctly called the Capital of Belgium (based on the Belgian Constitution.) Clear? That’s good.

The seat of NATO

Brussels is an important city, politically speaking, because it acts as the political seat of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), EUROCONTROL (the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation), and the Western European Union. Because of this, certain countries have assigned 3 ambassadors to represent their country: a NATO ambassador, a EU ambassador, and the usual bilateral ambassador.

Dutch and French are both official languages

Visitors to Brussels may be surprised to find that natives speak both Dutch and French. However, French takes precedence over Dutch since it acts as the mother language of most Brussels residents, and is considered the lingua franca rather than Dutch. The Brussels Capital Region itself uses both Dutch and French as its official languages.

What to see in Brussels?

The major site to see in Brussels would be the central market square known as the Grand Place. There, you can see an example of great Gothic architecture as represented by the Town Hall. If the complexities of Baroque architecture are more your speed, you can examine the guildhouses built in the late 17th century. For admirers of royalty, you might try visiting the Royal Palace of Brussels, and the Royal Palace of Laeken instead. If height is your basis for a tourist attraction, then you might want to look for the South Tower which is the tallest structure in the city of Brussels. But the most famous building is actually the Atomium which was constructed to become part of the 1958 World Exposition.

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Art lovers will definitely enjoy wandering within the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium which is home to both modern art collections and old masterpieces by some well-known artists such as Rubens, Rene Magritte, and Pieter Bruegel. Art is also represented by some cartoon characters which are products of Belgium like the well-loved fictional investigator Tintin (a favorite of adults and children alike) and the Smurfs who eventually made their way to television. Comics and cartoon characters are so popular in Brussels that statues, frescoes, and even murals devoted to these characters can be found throughout the city.

The parks in Brussels are amazing

Nature lovers, on the other hand, will love even a short visit to the many parks that can be found in Brussels. Some popular parks to go to are the Malou Park, the Astrid Park, the Duden Park, and the Jardins du Maelbeek.
As you can see, Brussels has a lot to offer not only residents, but also tourists as well. Just do not get confused about which Belgian city you are visiting though.

This is just a little summary about the city Brussels. Soon you can find reviews, forums, blogs and galleries.

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