Brussels is a unique city with so much to explore. There’s the foodie scene, the museums and theaters, the architecture, the history, the EU institutions – not to mention cultural influences from around the world thanks to the huge immigrant population. If you ever plan a visit to this great city, it can be difficult to know where to start! Fortunately, some intrepid Brussels bloggers have gone exploring and logged their adventures for you to read. If you want to know the best places to eat, the best activities to do, and the best sites to see, these established Brussels bloggers can help you out. Here’s my list of the 10 best Brussels travel blogs.
- S Marks the Spots
- See You There
- Everything Brussels
- On food & wine
- We Love Brussels
- The city geek
- Beer n’ Bites
- The Bulletin’s culture section
- Cheese Web
- Brussels Express – Travel Pulse
S Marks the Spots
S Marks the Spots is run by lawyer, blogger, photographer, and avid traveler, Sandy. Not a Brussels native, she set out to see all the city has to offer and shared her experiences on her blog. She reviews restaurants, bars, parks, historical sites, and events in Brussels. Her articles are chock-full of all the details you need before heading to an eatery or bar. My favorite thing about S Marks the Spots is the very helpful map feature at the top of each category page. On the restaurants page, for example, you can filter restaurants on the map by type of cuisine.
Sandy also blogs about London, Paris, and the many other places she’s visited, and has tips for other bloggers who want to write about travel.
Must-read: 7 Things to Eat in Brussels (And Where to Find Them!)
See You There
To get the latest on Brussels’ thriving cultural sector (which is a bit lessened during the pandemic, but with a ton of great stuff online!), read posts on See You There. See You There is an art, music, and lifestyle magazine that covers Belgium’s biggest cities, including Brussels. They report on new happenings around Belgium, whether it’s museum exhibitions, a live performance opening night, or a new restaurant that’s opened up. If you’re looking for recommendations for things to do and see in Brussels beyond Grand Place and the Atomium, definitely check out See You There.
In addition to reports and features on great cultural events, the magazine also features interviews with authors, musicians, museum curators, journalists, and other Belgian cultural figures. There’s also a directory of cultural spaces and places all over Belgium.
Must-read: Check out 7 Days in Belgium for their weekly run down of cultural events happening around the country.
Everything Brussels
When you’re planning a trip to Brussels or just looking for something to do in the city, Everything Brussels is the place to start. The blog is full of advice, tips, and insights from locals who love exploring their own city. Everything Brussels has a comprehensive Brussels travel guide, including the best restaurants, bars, and sights to see in the city. There’s also info about the best day trips from Brussels for those who want to discover more of Belgium.
The blog hasn’t been updated as frequently since the pandemic started in Belgium in 2020, but there are plenty of archives to keep you busy and help you discover Brussels! The duo behind Everything Brussels is much more active on social media, though, so if you need a daily Brussels fix like I do, follow them on Facebook or Instagram.
Must-read: How to spend a Sunday in Brussels
On food & wine
Brussels is a surprising foodie capital, with cuisine from all over Europe and the world. When there’s not a public health crisis forcing all the restaurants to close, visitors to the Belgian capital are spoiled for choice. On food & wine, a blog run by an expat couple who live and eat their way through Brussels, is your guide to the city’s culinary scene.
On the blog, you can search for lunch and brunch spots, brasseries, and even Michelin star restaurants in Brussels.
Must-read: Our Top 10 Brasseries in Brussels
We Love Brussels
We Love Brussels is, appropriately, a love letter to the Belgian capital. The content on We Love Brussels is wide-ranging, with a community-focused approach to discovering the city. They encourage their contributors and followers on social media to share what they love about Brussels through their own eyes.
We Love Brussels speaks to tourists and long-time residents alike. Their reporting covers topics related to urban living as well as touristy listicles about the best spots to check out in the city. They also cover culture, highlighting local startups, cultural figures, films set in Brussels, and more. We Love Brussels also has an active Instagram profile, and their daily stories of offbeat places across the Belgian capital have been keeping me going during lockdown!
Must-read: The best English-language libraries and bookstores in Brussels
The city geek
For a totally different take on Brussels, head to the city geek, where blogger Laurent Vermeersch writes about urban planning, city history, architecture, and more. He doesn’t update the blog often, but his archives of long-reads are well worth diving into if you want get to know the historical side of this diverse city.
From discussions on population density and bad Brussels traffic to the histories of famous buildings, the city geek’s articles always feel fresh and interesting.
Must-read: Parisian Density in Brussels
Beer n’ Bites in Brussels
Beers n’ Bites in Brussels bills itself as “A blog about places to drink beer and eat in Brussels.” Good food and good beer are indeed exactly what you’ll find when you visit this blog. No trip to Brussels or Belgium would be complete without sampling one of the country’s finest gastronomical products –beer. With so many different brews to choose from, however, it can feel overwhelming knowing which one to sip when you’re in Belgium.
Beers n’ Bites solves that problem for you, by giving you a run-down of the best bars and breweries in Brussels. You can search for a place to have a drink, or a drink to have. And you’ll find the best suggestions for food to go with those beers. There are lots of choices when it comes to beer in Belgium, but you can’t go wrong with any of them in my opinion. I live in Belgium, though, so I might be a bit biased toward the beer here!
Must-read: Feature on new Brussels brewery La Source
The Bulletin’s culture section
The Bulletin is an online and print magazine in English, for Belgium’s international community. It’s geared primarily toward expats living in Brussels, although they cover other major cities in Belgium from time to time. When I was first planning my move to Brussels, The Bulletin’s advice on working, housing, banking, and public transportation was extremely helpful.
While The Bulletin isn’t necessarily a travel blog, it does cover culture in Brussels frequently. They post weekly lists of events happening in the Belgian capital (both in-person and online events during the pandemic). For visitors to the city looking for events in Brussels, the Bulletin’s culture section might come in handy. For new arrivals or expats who want to learn more about living in Brussels, The Bulletin is a great resource.
Must-read: A beginner’s guide to culture in Brussels and beyond
Cheese Web
Cheese Web is a slow travel blog featuring stories, tips, and travel advice from almost every continent. The Canadian couple behind Cheese Web lived in Belgium for 13 years, however, and a good portion of the site is dedicated to living and traveling in Belgium. They’ve covered most regions of the country, including Brussels. With resources about UNESCO sites, the best places to find Indian food, Christmas markets, and a trove of expat resources, Cheese Web covers it all.
They’ve covered Brussels in great detail and you should definitely pay the blog a visit if you plan a trip to the city or consider moving to Brussels. Additionally, I don’t think there’s many other English-language travel blogs that have covered non-Brussels Belgium as extensively as Cheese Web. There’s articles on every corner of Belgium, letting you know the best day spas, the best castles, and the best breweries all over the country. Cheese Web is a marvelous resource for any international travelers wanting to check out Brussels as well as expats and residents who want to explore beyond Brussels.
Brussels Express – Travel Pulse
Brussels Express is a website dedicated to Brussels news, life, art, politics, and culture for expats who call the city home. It’s a great place to find updates on life in the capital, as well as cultural happenings. They took a bit of a hiatus during the pandemic (but honestly, who didn’t?) but they’re back at the beginning of 2021 with more coverage of Brussels.
Brussels Express is geared toward the people who live here, but they do have a Travel Pulse section that includes travel and touristy news related to Brussels, as well as travel guides. It’s a good resource for visitors to Brussels who want to experience the city like a local.
A quick note on travel and the pandemic
As of this writing, the coronavirus pandemic is still very much at large in Brussels and most of the rest of Europe. While you may not be able to make a trip to Brussels in person for the time being, you can still discover the city and plan a future trip through the blogs mentioned here. Brussels is such a unique European city, and the authors of the blogs featured here each capture it in distinctive ways.
If you’re a Brussels resident looking for things to do or places to go, be safe. Do what you can to keep the virus from spreading, and check if that cool restaurant read about delivers. It’s hard not being able to go out and explore the city. But there are plenty of ways to keep your finger on the pulse of Brussels online.
Help Brussels businesses recover post-COVID
Also, if you’re a Brussels resident and want to help support the post-pandemic revival of your favorite local bars, cafes, and other organizations, head to the Brussels page on the Belgian crowdfunding site Growfunding! There’s a long list of Brussels businesses you can donate to.
Have you read any of these blogs? Would you recommend them? Are there others that should be on the list? Let me know in the comments!
This is a great reference article. Thanks for pulling together these sources. Ill be sure to check them out.
Hi Bob! Glad you liked it. Let me know what you think of these Brussels blogs when you check them out!