Worldwide: 48 hours in ... Brussels

Why go now?

Unkind residents of Brussels have been heard to say that they like to show their weekend visitors the city, and then go home for breakfast. This is a harsh condemnation of a city which is ideally-sized for a weekend. In autumn, the tour buses have deserted the streets and the game season begins in a country whose centre already claims to be the gastronomic capital of Europe.

Beam down

The cheapest Eurostar (0345 303030) fare is pounds 79 if you book a week in advance and stay over on a Saturday night. Trains arrive at Brussels Gare du Midi, from which you can connect to the metro. BA (0345 222111), British Midland (0345 554554) and Virgin Express (0800 891199) all fly into Brussels. The train from the airport to the city centre leaves three times an hour and goes into the Gare Centrale.

Get your bearings

The city centre is enclosed by a ring road, and many of the places you will want to see are inside the ring. At the centre is the Grand Place; one of the most photographed city squares in Europe, and certainly one of the most impressive, with its cobbled stones and beautifully preserved buildings which originally housed the medieval craftsmen's guilds. To the east, the Royal Palace and the Belgian Parliament face each other on either side of the city park; continue down the rue de la Loi, and you will get to a conglomeration of modern buildings which are the headquarters of the European Union. To the west are the commercial district, the stock exchange, and most of the city's shops and markets.

Check in

The Ilot Sacre, the maze of streets around the Grand Place, is handy, although the moderately-priced hotels here are often functional and lacking in charm. The Aris, 78-80 rue Marche-aux-Herbes (0032-2514 4300) is as well situated as any, with rooms starting at BF3,500 for two people. Slightly less central, but still easily accessible, is De Boeck's on rue Veydt (0032-2537 4033). It started life as a townhouse and was turned into a hotel. Double rooms start at BF1,600. If you want to be near the Eurostar terminus at the Gare du Midi, you could do worse than try the Galia, 15-16 place du Jeu de Balle (0032-2502 4243), where two people could expect to pay BF1,800 for the cheapest rooms.

Take a ride

A walk around the southern end of the city centre offers an interesting contrast in lifestyles. Start in the place du Jeu de Balle in the Marolles district at the flea market; get there early for the best bargains. The area has had a varied history over the centuries, providing a home for a range of artisans, lepers, and illegal immigrants. Its late-20th century progress towards upward-mobility can be gauged as the Marolles turns into the more gentrified Sablons district. The junk stores become pine furniture warehouses, which make way for antique shops, and you are in one of the smartest parts of the city.

Lunch on the run

Stay in the Sablons area, which is full of cafes and sandwich shops. Try Le Perroquet (58 rue des Minimes, 0032-2512 9922), where you can get salads and snacks, and sit for a while watching the world go by.

Cultural afternoon

Take your pick from the tiny bronze statue of the Manneken Pis, which has somehow become a symbol of the city; or the steel and aluminium Atomium, built for the World's Fair in 1958 and still towering over the Brussels skyline; or mini-Europe, a continent-in-a-park, which displays models of the major buildings of other European cities at 1/25th of their normal size. But one place I always return to is the house of Victor Horta, the father of Belgian art nouveau.

Window shopping

The Belgians, like many other Europeans, have perfected the art of window- dressing, in a way which the British never have. This is more in evidence in chocolate and cake shops than anywhere else, and the displays of perfectly arranged tarts and chocolates are a delight to behold. In a league of its own, not only in window displays but in the quality of the goods on sale, is Wittamer, 12-13 place du Grand Sablon. The colour schemes in the window vary with the seasons, with the sugared almonds dyed to match the time of year.

An aperitif

Whichever bar you go to, the only thing to drink in Belgium is beer, which comes in almost as many varieties as wine does in France. There are white beers, fruit beers, beers made by monks, beers made by brewers to resemble beers made by monks, beers made by mixing several sorts together, as well as beers made for a particular season of the year. Try as many of them as you can manage at Le Falstaff, an art nouveau cafe behind the Stock Exchange (19-25 rue Henri, 0032-2511 8789).

Demure dinner

Although fashions in restaurants change in Brussels, as they do anywhere else in the world, many of the best places are long-established. The choice ranges from the astronomically priced, and impossible to get into, Maison du Cygne (9 Grand Place, 0032- 2511 8244), to a more reasonable selection. Most of the restaurants are in the lanes near the Grand Place, but many are over-priced tourist traps. If you don't mind walking through the kitchen to reach your table, try Rotisserie Vincent (8 rue des Dominicains, 0032-2511 2303), where the nautical theme of the decor is over the top, but the food is good, hearty Belgian fare. For a more casual dinner, try t'Kelderke (15 Grand Place, 0032-2513 7344), a lively brasserie in a cellar at the upper end of the Grand Place.

Sunday service

One of the most attractive churches in the city is St Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, opposite the Palace in the place Royale. It was built in the late 18th century in neo-classical style to resemble a temple. You are as likely to find an organ recital taking place as a service.

Bracing brunch

Brunch has become something of an institution in Brussels, largely because of the number of expatriates who seem to have adopted the meal as an essential part of the weekend routine. You can go for the international-hotel variety at the SAS, or the unashamedly American style at Rick's (344 avenue Louise, 0032-2647 7530); my personal favourite is the much more laid-back Amadeus, 13 rue Veydt, 0032-2538 3427, in the place du Jeu de Balle.

A walk in the park

The Cinquantenaire Park, commissioned by King Leopold II and finished in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Belgium, is the most pleasant of the city parks. A triumphal arch, reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, links two wings of a former palace; these now house the Royal Art and History Museum, and the Museum of Military History.

Take a hike

One of the real pleasures of Brussels is that even in the heart of the city, you are never far from the countryside. The suburb of Tervuren isn't exactly deep in the country, but it is worth a visit if only for the pleasure of the journey there on the number 44 tram. Start at Montgomery, at the far end of the Cinquantenaire Park, and go to the end of the line. The trip takes you through the Foret de Soignes and the Parc de Woluwe, and stops outside the Africa Museum. This colonial relic, intended, when it was built at the end of the 19th century to commemorate Belgium's glorious African conquests, houses a collection of stuffed wildlife. The museum's surroundings are, on the whole, more interesting than its contents.

The icing on the cake

One of the greatest pleasures of a trip to Brussels is the opportunity to stock up on some of the many different varieties of exquisite Belgian chocolate. It may be that I'm addicted, but I usually tell myself that those spare Belgian francs need using up. You will find a branch of Neuhaus, Leonidas or Godiva on every street corner.