For couples · Brussels · Belgium
Romantic things to do in Brussels
Ideas for a couples' trip, from small moments to a special day out.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Guy Delsaut, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Brussels is more intimate than its EU image suggests: a floodlit square, candlelit brasseries, chocolate shops and Art Nouveau interiors make for easy romantic evenings. Couples tend to stay in Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré.
Key facts
- Romantic ideas
- 5
- Couple-friendly sights
- 2
- Area for couples
- Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré
- Best months
- May and September
Romantic ideas
1.The Grand-Place at night
Walk into the square after dark, when the gilded façades are lit and the crowds have thinned.
2.Sunset at the Mont des Arts
Watch the Town Hall spire catch the last light from the top of the garden steps.
3.Chocolate tasting on the Sablon
Share a box of pralines from the square's chocolatiers, then stroll through the Petit Sablon garden.
4.Dinner on the Bois de la Cambre lake
A small ferry crosses to Chalet Robinson, a restaurant on the island in the middle of the lake.
5.Art Nouveau evening
Visit the Horta Museum, then have a drink in one of the city's Art Nouveau cafés.
Sights couples love
Gallery · Sablon and Mont des Arts
Magritte Museum
Buy a combined ticket if you also plan to see the Old Masters in the same building.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Couples
Garden · Sablon and Mont des Arts
Mont des Arts
Stop at the top of the steps around sunset, when the Town Hall spire is silhouetted against the sky.
- Time needed
- 20–30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- Photo spot
- Couples
Where couples should stay
$$$ · Best for first-timers, couples and shopping
Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré
The streets around the Grand-Place put you within a few minutes' walk of Manneken Pis, the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries and Brussels-Central station. The Îlot Sacré lanes, including Rue des Bouchers, are packed with restaurants aimed at visitors, so eat a few streets away. It is the easiest base for a short first visit.
- Good
- Walk to almost every central sight; Next to Brussels-Central station; The square lit up at night
- Watch out
- Tourist-trap restaurants with touts on Rue des Bouchers; Crowded at weekends and in summer
- Nearby
- Grand-Place, Manneken Pis, Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries, Brussels-Central station
Romantic day trips
- Bruges (About 1 hour by direct train) — A medieval city of canals, brick gables and cobbled squares, with the Belfry, the Basilica of the Holy Blood and Flemish Primitive paintings in the Groeningemuseum.
- Ghent (About 30–35 minutes by train) — A lively university city with the Van Eyck brothers' Ghent Altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, the Gravensteen castle and the medieval quays of the Graslei and Korenlei.
- Dinant (About 1 hour 45 minutes by train) — A small town on the River Meuse beneath limestone cliffs, with an onion-domed collegiate church, a cliff-top citadel reached by cable car and kayak trips on the Lesse.
For dinner
Share local specialities such as Moules-frites, Flemish beef stew and Waterzooi. Lunch runs roughly noon to 2pm and dinner from about 7pm; some kitchens close in between.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Brussels romantic?
Brussels is more intimate than its EU image suggests: a floodlit square, candlelit brasseries, chocolate shops and Art Nouveau interiors make for easy romantic evenings.
+What is the most romantic thing to do in Brussels?
The Grand-Place at night: Walk into the square after dark, when the gilded façades are lit and the crowds have thinned.
+Where should couples stay in Brussels?
Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré: Guild houses, glass-roofed galleries and narrow restaurant lanes in the historic Lower Town.