Brussels Shopping - Shopping Brussels in a Day - Travel - Destinations


Brussels Shopping - Shopping Brussels in a Day!В В  by Lek Boonlert

in Travel / Destinations В В  (submitted 2011-04-13)

Brussels is an amazing city. Although it doesn't have the international accolades of a Paris or Rome, it does contain a very strong reputation within Europe. Nevertheless, this reputation is very slowly spreading across the globe, especially since the establishment of the European Union, of which Brussels stands as the capital.

Every downtown street and lane contains some sort of interesting facility and landmark that attracts visitors. The city is filled with cheap Brussels hotels, medium range accommodation, and high-end hotels also.

Some of the main attractions in the city include the Atomium, Bourse-Beurs, Royal Palace and the Royal Art and History Museum. There are also plenty of parks located in the city, and art galleries are quite numerous. However, visitors can spend much of the time exploring the many shops in the city.

When it comes to shopping in Brussels, it may sound very difficult to see the shopping delights of the city in just one day. However, with a few nips and tucks of the entire shopping menu, visitors can certainly spend a day exploring the amazing shopping delights of Brussels ¦albeit it a tiring one!

The first thing tourists should try to remember is that most shopping areas that are really worth the trip to in Brussels are found inside or in close proximity to the downtown area of the city. This means that the cheap Brussels hotels, and the luxurious ones too, are only a few minutes from most of the city's major shopping areas.

Most visitors to Brussels head straight to the most amazing shopping centre - Galerie Royale St Hubert. With its magnificent façade, stunning atmosphere and wall-to-wall shopping stores, the Galerie St Hubert will entice even the men to go shopping. It was built midway through the 19th century, along with several other arcade galleries, and has become widely regarded as the first shopping mall/centre in the European region. However, there are more than just this galerie if visitors want to explore historical structures while shopping, as other places include Passage du Norde, which sits off Rue Neuve.

Rue Neuve is a shopping area that is found along the street. However, this street has been pedestrianised to become the cities most famous and most popular walking shopping mall. It is found just to the north of the centre of Brussels, only a few minutes from Galerie St Hubert. In addition to this, it connects to the increasingly popular Place de Brouckere, another of the specialty shopping areas.

Visitors should spend no more than a few hours discovering the Galerie St Hubert and the shopping sites of Rue Neuve. After this is done, why not move off to another of the popular shopping landmarks in Brussels - its markets. Gare du Midi Markets is not only the largest market place in Europe, but it is also located just a kilometre to the south of the above shopping centres. This means travellers can finish exploring the Galerie St Hubert and Rue Neuve, and get to the market place without losing much time. Gare du Midi offers food, beverages, spices, clothing, handicrafts, and accessories at bargain costs.

Following the market place in Gare du Midi, visitors can opt for another popular marketplace - Place du Jeu-de-Balle Flea Market. It is only a short distance to the southeast of Gare du Midi, and is certainly one of the busiest and most exciting shopping areas in Brussels, especially on the weekends.

Why not finish the day heading towards the city centre one last time, and focus upon the many chocolate stores available within Brussels. Some of the most famous shopping stores selling Belgian chocolate are AM Sweets, Corne Port Royal, Mary's and Neuhaus.