|
| Agenda | Registration | Attractions | General Info | Sponsors/Exhibitors | Planning Committee | Cooperating Entities | Social Events | CLE | Council |
ATTRACTIONSBRUSSELS ATTRACTIONSAutoworld: This vintage car museum in the center of Brussels hosts a large and varied collection of 350 oldtimers, European and American automobiles from the late 19th century until the seventies. Cost: 6€; children: 3€; groups 4.7€. Open 10am - 6pm. Call: +32 2 736 41 65. Address: 11 Parc du Cinquantenaire. Bruparck: Bruparck is a theme park located near the Atomium that the kids will really enjoy. It incorporates the Océade, the giant Kinepolis cinema and Mini Europe. Playgrounds, fairground rides and fast-food outlets are also dotted throughout. Open daily. Call: +32 2 474 83 77. Address: 20 blvd du Centtenaire. Brussels City Tours: This three-hour city tour begins at Grand Place in the city center, heading across town to finish at the EU Parliament buildings. Daily at 10am and 2 pm. Cost: 27€; children: 14€; student or senior: 24€. Call: +32 2 513 77 44. Address: Heuvelstraat, 8 Rue de la Colline. Brussels City Museum: The Brussels City Museum provides a historical overview of the city through old maps, architectural relics, paintings and Pieter Breugel the Elder's Cortège de Noces (Wedding Procession) of 1567. One room on the 3rd floor is devoted to the worldly wardrobe of Manneken Pis, though only a fraction of his 700-odd garments are displayed. Open Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm. Cost: 3€. Call: +32 2 279 43 50. David and Alice van Buuren Museum: This exquisite museum is located in the former house of Dutch banker David van Buuren. Five rooms are open to the public and are crammed with ancient paintings. Sublime furnishings, stained glass and carpets are dotted throughout and the meticulous staff ensures plastic shoe-coverings are donned before entering. Open Sun 1pm-6pm; Mon: 2pm-6pm. Cost: 10€; senior: 8€; student: 5€; children under 12: free. Call: +32 2 343 48 51. Address: 41 Léo Errera Avenue. European Parliament Visitor's Centre: Free tours on Mon-Thu at 10am & 3pm, Fri at 10am, using multilingual headphones, start at the European Parliament Visitor's Centre, attached to the Paul-Henri Spaak section of the parliament. Call: +32 2 284 34 57. Address: Rue Wiertz 43, EU Area. Hôtel de Ville: The splendid Gothic-style Hôtel de Ville was the only building on Grand Place to escape the 1695 French bombardment - ironic considering it was the target. It's a superb structure, with a creamy façade covered with stone reliefs of nobility and gargoyles, and an intricate 96m-high tower topped by a gilded statue of St Michel, the city's patron saint. Guided tours are available for 3€. Address: Grand Place. Law Courts (Palace of Justice): Larger than St Peter's in Rome, the colossal law court, the Palais de Justice, was one of Léopold II's most stupendous projects. It was purposely sited on a hill above the working-class Marolles as a symbol of law and order. The building was created by the architect Joseph Poelaert. The nearby viewing platform offers a vista of northern Brussels, and here too is the glass elevator that connects Place Poelaert with the Marolles' Place Breugel. Open 8 am-5 pm except Wed. Call: +32 2 508 64 10. Address: Place Poelaert. Museum of Ancient Art: To view the collections of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts chronologically, start with this museum, which houses works by Rogier Van der Weyden, Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling Gerard David, Quinten Matsijs, the Breugel family, and Rubens. Open daily 10am-5pm. Cost: 5€. Call: +32 2 508 32 11. Address: 3 Rue de la Régence. Museum of Modern Art: This museum houses 19th- and 20th-century art and occupies a subterranean gallery that meanders for six levels below ground. Highlights to look out for include sculptures by Constantin Meunier, Ensor's macabre fighting skeletons, and many paintings by Paul Delvaux. Other national artists include Léon Spilliaert and Rik Wouters, both of whom belonged to the Fauve group of painters. Open daily 10am-5pm. Cost: 5€. Call: +32 2 508 32 11. Address: 3 Rue de la Régence. Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate: The Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate is for chocolate die-hards. The admission cost entitles you to one chocolate-dipped biscuit, a wander through some mediocre exhibits and taste-testing at a praline-making demonstration. Open Tues-Sun 10am-4:30pm. Cost: 5€; student/seniors: 4€; children under 12: free. Call: +32 2 514 20 48. Address: 9/11 Rue de la Tête d'Or. Museum of Natural Sciences: The excellent Museum of Natural Sciences was undergoing renovation and expansion until late 2007. The museum's stars are the fossilised skeletons of nine iguanodons - two-legged, 10m-high dinosaurs that lived 135 million years ago - found in a coal mine in Bernissart, a village near Mons in Hainaut province, in 1878. Open Tues-Fri 9:30am-4:45pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm. Cost: 7€; students and seniors: 6€; children 6-17: 4.5€. Call: +32 2 627 42 38. Address: 29 Rue Vautier. Musical Instrument Museum: This must-see museum boasts one of the world's biggest collections of instruments, all displayed in the Old England building. Don't miss a drink at the roof-top café - the terrace gives a superb city panorama. The museum has some 7,000 instruments, but only a quarter is on display. Open Tues-Fri 9:30am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5pm. Cost: 5€; students and seniors: 4€; children under 12: free. Call: +32 2 545 01 30. Address: 2 Rue Montagne de la Cour. Petite rue de Bouchers: Along Rue des Bouchers and the three tiny streets that branch off it - Petite Rue des Bouchers, Rue de la Fourche Petite and Rue Gretry - there are more than 70 restaurants, one next to the other, on the street levels of the old step-roofed stone, brick and timber buildings in what is one of the oldest sections of historical central Brussels. In an alley off the street is the Toon Puppet Theater, one of Europe's oldest. Place du Grand Sablon: The Sablon antiques market is the place to be for antique amateurs. Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm. Statue of Manneken Pis: The present-day bronze Manneken Pis was sculpted by Jerôme Duquesnoy in 1619, but a stone version - named Little Julian - stood here from the mid-14th century. The statue's origins are lost in legend: some say he's modelled on a boy who extinguished a fire; others say he was a nobleman's son. Nevertheless, the people of Brussels have adopted him as the symbol of their indomitable and irreverent spirit, and on occasion dress him up in one of his 700-odd costumes. Address: Corner of Rue de l'Étuve & Rue du Chêne. The Atomium: A space-age leftover from the 1958 World Fair, this structure was built by the powerful Belgian metal industry as a model of an iron molecule - enlarged 165 billion times. The 102m-high steel structure consists of nine balls linked by columns. When approached from central Brussels, it looms over houses in the nearby suburbs like an alien from a '60s Hollywood movie. To get there head for Heysel metro station or, more scenically, take tram 81. Open daily 10am-7pm (Thurs until 10pm). Cost: 9€; student and seniors: 6€; children under 12: free. Call: +32 2 475 47 77. Address: blvd du Centenaire, 1020. The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula: This vibrant cathedral is a remarkable archaeological site, whose history covers 12 centuries. Open Mon-Fri 7am-7pm, Sat-Sun 8:30-7pm. Call: +32 2 217 83 45. Address: 15 Rue du Bois Sauvage. The Church of Notre-Dame de Laeken: On the far side of the wide avenue skirting the western edge of the park stands the extremely large church of Notre-Dame de Laeken, the burial place of Belgium's kings and queens. Commissioned in 1851 by Leopold I following the death of his wife Louise-Marie, the building was designed by Josef Poelaert, architect of the Palais de Justice. Open daily 2pm-5pm. Call +32 2 479 23 62. Address: Parvis Notre-Dame. The Palace of the Nation (Belgian Parliament): Open with guided tours for groups on written request with at least two months in advance. Call: +32 2 549 81 36. Address: Place de la Nation. The Royal Palace (Federal Parliament): Open with guided tours for groups on written request with at least two months in advance. Call: +32 2 549 81 36. Address: Place de la Nation. |
| Agenda | Registration | Attractions | General Info | Sponsors/Exhibitors | Planning Committee | Cooperating Entities | Social Events | CLE |
 |
 |
Fall Meeting Home : Letter From the Chair : FAQ
