The Mont des Arts features a formal garden terraced into a steep slope between the city's upper and lower neighborhoods. King Leopold the Second envisioned this site as a grand connection between the royal palace and the working district…
Royal Quarter and Palace Gardens
This walk takes you up Brussels’ scenic heights to experience the stately neoclassical architecture and grand imperial history of Belgium's rulers. You'll trace the transition from a medieval powerhouse to the elegant palace district, finishing in the city's premier historic public park.
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1. Mont des Arts
2. Musical Instruments Museum
The Musical Instruments Museum anchors the corner of the Montagne de la Cour with an unmistakable canopy of swirling, forest green ironwork. This Art Nouveau masterpiece was originally the Old England department store, designed by Paul…
3. Place Royale
Place Royale features a uniform facade of neoclassical stone buildings arranged in a perfect square. Designed in the seventeen seventies by architects Barnabé Guimard and Joachim Zinner, the square replaced a medieval palace complex that…
4. Het Coudenbergpaleis
The Coudenberg Palace lies beneath the Place Royale, a sprawling subterranean ruin where the counts of Flanders and the dukes of Burgundy once held court. For centuries, this site housed the most powerful rulers in Europe, including…
5. Brussels Royal Palace
The Royal Palace of Brussels stretches across the hillside with a long, uniform neoclassical facade punctuated by a rhythm of tall, narrow windows. While it serves as the official palace of the Belgian monarchs, King Philippe and Queen…
6. Parc de Bruxelles
The Parc de Bruxelles features a strict geometric layout of gravel paths and tall, carefully pruned trees arranged in a pattern resembling a Masonic compass. Beneath this symmetry lies the site of the former Warande, a private hunting…