Brussels

Brussels (French: Bruxelles, Dutch: Brussel) is the capital city of Belgium and of Brussels Capital Region. It is entirely surrounded by Dutch-speaking Flanders and its constituent Flemish Brabant province. As headquarters of many European institutions, Brussels might also be considered something of a capital for the European Union. Being at the crossroads of cultures (the Germanic in the North and the Romance in the South) and playing an important role in Europe, Brussels fits the definition of the archetypal “melting pot”, but still retains its own unique character. The population of the city of Brussels is 1 million and the population of Brussels metropolitan area is just over 2 million.

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Brussels’ main airport is Brussels Airport, (locally still commonly referred to as Brussels National or Zaventem) (IATA code: BRU). Several major carriers operate out of the airport, including the local Brussels Airlines, which is owned by Lufthansa.

Brussels Airport has a luggage locker service (Level 0) where you can leave luggage for a fixed duration. The lockers say that you will have to retrieve your bags within 72 hours or else they will be removed, but they are actually moved to the room next door and stored until you retrieve them. This is a useful facility for people wanting to stow away big suitcases somewhere safe. The rate is €7.50 per 24 hours. You need to pay in coins, a change machine is nearby.

To travel between the airport and the city:

• Belgian Rail
  Operates trains (2nd class: Single: €8,50; Weekend return: €14,60; 1st class: €10.30) every 15 min from the airport (Level -1) to Brussels’ three main stations, with most trains continuing to other parts of Belgium. The journey to Gare Central takes 33 minutes. Tickets can be bought from vending machines (coins or chip credits only) or the train ticket office (notes accepted) located in the airport train station at Level -1. The trains are clean and well-maintained. To enter or exit the train, push the green button on the door, as the doors are not automatically opened at the stations as they are in other systems.
• STIB Buses # 12 and # 21
  Bus #12 operates M-F before 8pm and is an express, serving only major bus stops (although it is not any faster. Bus #21 operates after 8pm and on weekends, serving all stops on the route) run every 20-30 minutes via metro station Schuman (where you can transfer to metro lines 1 and 5) to the European district around Place du Luxembourg/Luxemburgplein (on the other side of the park from Gare Central). When boarding the bus make sure that the destination is Luxembourg, as some buses terminate at either the Schuman metro station or Gare de Bordet. The journey takes 30 minutes. The same ticket is valid for a total of 60 minutes on the trains (by SNCB), metro (by STIB), buses (by STIB, De Lijn and TEC) or trams (by STIB) from the moment it is validated. The buses depart from airport level 0. The ticket price is €4.00 from the vending machine next to the bus stop, or €6.00 on board. You can buy a Discover Brussels Card which costs €7.00 for a trip from the airport and unlimited metro usage for 24 hours. The card can be bought at the same “GO” ticket vending machine on the bus stop of #12/#21. Frequent travelers can buy a 10-trip ticket (€25.00), a monthly ticket (€49.00) or a yearly ticket (€514.00) for this line. The latter is valid on the entire STIB network.
• De Lijn Buses # 272 and # 471
  Run every 30-60 minutes to Brussels’ North Station (called Noordstation/Gare du Nord within the city or Brussel-Noord/Bruxelles-Nord in other places), just north of the city’s historic core. The buses also depart from level 0. The ticket price is €3.00 on board. In contrast to the tickets sold by STIB, these tickets (sold by De Lijn) are not valid on other means of public transport within Brussels.
• Taxis
  To the center cost around €35. Taxis bleus/blauw (blue): +32 2 268 0000, Taxis Autolux: +32 2 411 4142, Taxis verts/groen (green): +32 2 349 4949. Beware of “waiting” charges if your flight is delayed and you pre-ordered a cab, some companies charge you parking fees + €25-30/hour for waiting. Always confirm the final charge with your driver before getting in the car. It is not uncommon for drivers to rip you off and charge €80 to go to the center, especially if they realize that it is your first time in Brussels and don’t know your way around.
• Tinker
  Offers bus transfers to the city center; prices are calculated by seat and they work with early booking discount. Transfers are available from €9,95.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport ( IATA code CRL ) is located 60km south of the central train station. Several budget airlines, including Ryanair and Wizzair operate service from this airport to cities such as Barcelona, Belgrade, Budapest, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Rome, Sofia, and Warsaw.

To travel between the airport and the city:

• Brussels City Shuttle operates buses (€14 one-way, €28 return if bought online; €17 one-way if purchased from the machines at the airport or from the driver) every 30 minutes to Brussels Midi/Zuid station, with a journey time of 1 hour (less on the weekends). Buying online is cheaper and faster. The bus stops at Midi/Zuid station (Midi/Zuid station PDF map), on the Rue de France/Frankrijkstraat in the west. The metro and international trains (Eurostar, Thalys) are on the west side of the station, so upon entering the station from the bus stop, head left rather than straight. When traveling to the airport, it would be better to arrive at the Brussels Midi/Zuid stop far in advance of the bus departure time as the queue to board the bus could be very long (there are no ticket machines and people buy tickets on board). Therefore you might miss the bus and wait another 30 minutes. Also note that the traffic on the way out of Brussels can be heavy in peak hours, so the journey may take longer than planned.
• TEC-bus A (€5.00 one way) operates service from the airport to the Charleroi South (Charleroi-Sud) train station, from where you can connect to an intercity train (€9.20 one way) to Brussels. A combined train+bus ticket to or from Brussels can be obtained for €14.20 from the TEC vending machine at the airport. The bus journey takes 20 minutes and the train takes an additional hour. Trains depart every 30-60 minutes.
• Taxis from the airport to the city center cost a fixed price of €90. For the return trip to Charleroi you can book in advance a Charleroi-based taxi (€90). Taxis operating from Brussels use a higher fare and will take you to the airport for a fixed price of €120 or based on the meter up to €170.

Antwerp Airport ( IATA code ANR ) has a good train connection to Brussels.