While doing my bachelor’s, I went on exchange to CHEC Brussels School of Management in Brussels. As I studied BSc Business, Language and Culture with French, I had to go somewhere Francophone, and since I had often visited France, I wanted to try something new and chose Brussels, Belgium.

An Iron crystal and Belgian food

The Belgian National Dish is Moules Frites – mussels and fries – and if in Brussels, you should definitely try this at Chez Leon in the city centre. Prices are mid-range, but the service and food is great and the restaurant is right in the middle of all the city happenings.

A bit outside of Brussels is the Atomium, which is kind of like Brussels’ Eifel Tower. The 102 meter tall construction in stainless steel is a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. It has an entrance fee of € 8 and during holiday, there is quite a queue, but the view is very much worth it.

If you are in Brussels for a longer periode it is very easy to get cheap train tickets to go and explore other Belgian cities, such as Liège, Bruges and Antwerp or to go to the beach in Oostende for the day.

Chill in the grass

Brussels is a city full of people and can seem quite grey. However, there are plenty of nice green areas, where you can take a walk or just hang out with a book – something I did frequently in my time there.

There is a specific area next to the Nord Station (Gare de Bruxelles-Nord), where there is also a botanical garden. I have never been in there, though.

When I was there in 2014, you could get a ten-trip travel card, which was quite a good deal. However, everything in the city centre is walkable and most of the must see tourist attractions are there as well.