After the Antwerp Marathon: Brussels
The Route: Antwerpen-Centraal → Brussels-Central → Brussels Airport Logistics: SNCB train, about 35 to 45 minutes, several an hour. The Grand-Place is a few minutes' walk from Brussels-Central, though the streets slope. Marathon Month: October Duration: 2 nights
Antwerpen-Centraal ──(35-45 mins, SNCB)──> Brussels-Central
│
Brussels Airport (BRU) <──(about 20 mins, SNCB)──┘
The Antwerp Marathon finishes at the MAS on a Sunday in late October. Brussels is the nearest big city and the easiest base for a flight home, because the airport train leaves from the same station you arrive at.
October in Brussels: the average high is about 13°C, with rain likely and short days. Indoor museums carry the programme. Many close on Mondays, including several of the large ones, so plan the first day around the Grand-Place and a walk, and keep the museums for Tuesday. Check each venue's opening hours.
Trains from Antwerpen-Centraal reach Brussels-Central in 35 to 45 minutes. Belgian rail has no advance fares and prices by distance, so there is nothing to book early. Choose a train that stops at Brussels-Central, not just Brussels-Nord or Brussels-Midi, because Central is the one nearest the old town.
Nights One and Two: Brussels
The Grand-Place is a cobbled square, about 110 by 68 metres, ringed by guild houses and the town hall. The cobbles are uneven, so walk slowly. Cafés around the edge offer seats. From there, the streets run downhill toward the Bourse, which is gentler on tired knees than the climb to the Mont des Arts.
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium hold the Magritte Museum in the same group, with lifts and a cloakroom; a combined ticket is around €15. The Musical Instruments Museum, in an Art Nouveau department store, is level with a lift and has headphones that play the instruments; entry is around €12. The Horta Museum, in the architect's own house, has steep stairs, so skip it.
The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a glass-roofed arcade, is level and dry in rain. Maison Antoine, a frites stand on Place Jourdan, is the cheapest refuelling stop. Fin de Siècle, a restaurant on Rue des Chartreux, serves carbonnade and stoemp at long tables.
For a room, Hotel Amigo sits just off the Grand-Place and is a short walk from Brussels-Central. Hotel Métropole on Place de Brouckère is a grand old building with a lift and a ground-floor café. Both are near the old town, but check the route from the station for slopes.
On the second day, the Sablon, a hill of antique shops and chocolatiers about a 15-minute walk uphill from the Grand-Place, is worth a tram ride instead. Tram 92 or 94 from the centre reaches the Place du Grand Sablon. The Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula is a short walk from Brussels-Central on level ground and is free to enter, though the treasury and tower may charge; check at the door. The Parc du Cinquantenaire, a flat 30-hectare park with the Autoworld museum and the Royal Museum of Art and History, is reachable by metro line 1 from Brussels-Central to Schuman, and its wide paths are level for a short loop.
The Belgian Comic Strip Center, in a Horta-designed former warehouse, costs around €14 and has lifts. Tintin and the Smurfs are the best-known characters on the walls, and the building itself is the main attraction. The Atomium is level once you reach it, but the exhibition is spread over spheres joined by escalators and long tubes, so check access before buying a ticket.
Allow a long lunch. Brussels cafés keep the kitchen open through the afternoon, and a plate of stoemp with sausage or a bowl of waterzooi is a better recovery meal than a sandwich. Check opening hours for Tuesday if you leave the museums until then, because several close for one weekday and a few do so on Mondays.
Getting to Brussels Airport (BRU)
Brussels-Central to Brussels Airport takes about 20 minutes, with trains several times an hour. The airport station is under the terminal. Check the SNCB planner, because tickets to the airport station can carry a small supplement.