Friday 18 April 2025
The Brussels Times Magazine

Hidden Belgium

Hidden Belgium: Antwerp sewers

The two-hour visit offers a fascinating insight into these mediaeval canals that once ran through the city.

Wednesday 9 April 2025
Hidden Belgium: Ossenmarkt

It’s an old-school Belgian square with a newsagent, a kebab shop and a Japanese restaurant that has been around for decades.

Tuesday 25 February 2025
Hidden Belgium: Avenue Coghen Moderism

The years after World War One saw an explosion of modernist architecture in Belgian cities.

Tuesday 18 February 2025
Hidden Belgium: Café Monopole

The café attracts a mix of students, regulars and commuters on their way to the station. It’s a good spot to meet friends, read a novel or play a board game.

Friday 14 February 2025
Hidden Belgium: Multilingual street signs

Some streets in central Brussels are also named in the local Brussels dialect, while a cluster of 30 streets near Grand-Place are also named bilingually after comic book characters.

Thursday 13 February 2025
Hidden Belgium: Café De Welkom

The aim here is to create a simple local bar where everyone feels welcome.

Tuesday 4 February 2025
Hidden Belgium: Birth of the Nation

A forgotten statue in the corner of a romantic Brussels park shows a young couple gazing adoringly at their newborn son.

Tuesday 21 January 2025
Hidden Belgium: The oldest bar in Antwerp

Founded back in 1565, when Pieter Paul Rubens was 12 years old, it has hardly changed in all those years.

Monday 20 January 2025
Hidden Belgium: Tango Bar

An inconspicuous bar at Rue de Dublin 13 in the heart of Brussels’ African Quarter has been hosting tango evenings for more than 20 years.

Monday 6 January 2025
Hidden Belgium: Antwerp story tapestries

Woven by skilled workers at Flanders Tapestries, they illustrate the city’s history, architecture, fashion and food.

Sunday 5 January 2025
Hidden Belgium: Rosenboom House

He began his career working at a drawing table in Horta’s practise, where he picked up the essence of the Art Nouveau style.

Friday 3 January 2025
Hidden Belgium: Master Frites

The place was eventually voted the best fries shop in Brussels.

Thursday 26 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Kim mural

The work on the corner of Engelse Beurs and Grote Goddaard is crammed with portraits of famous Antwerp figures including Rubens, Panamarenko and Van Beirendonck.

Wednesday 25 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Hôtel Van Eetvelde

The client was Edmond Van Eetvelde, the wealthy secretary-general of the Congo Free State.

Tuesday 24 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Instroom

The five-course menu is inspired by recipes from the trainees’ homelands, with a focus on fresh local ingredients.

Monday 23 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Café Tati

They offer a simple vegetarian menu, local beers and a programme of jazz concerts.

Tuesday 17 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Place Louis Morichar

Several striking Art Nouveau houses overlook Place Louis Morichar in the Brussels commune of Saint-Gilles.

Thursday 12 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Hoxton Hotel

A Peruvian restaurant adds to the cosmopolitan mood while the rooftop bar is the perfect spot to wind up the day.

Tuesday 10 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Bookz&Booze

Former TV writer and producer Ief Stuyvaert has come up with an original idea that combines good books with great alcohol. He stocks novels and non-fiction in Dutch and English along with matching bottles of booze.

Friday 6 December 2024
Hidden Belgium: Plant a Pizza

Located near the Gravensteen castle, Plant a Pizza was Belgium’s first vegan pizzeria.

Sunday 1 December 2024

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