The sunset view
The garden descending to the Gothic Town Hall spire — the postcard.
Ank Kumar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY 4.0 · Jean Housen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jean Housen — CC BY-SA 4.0
Mont des Arts is the terraced garden linking the lower town (Grand-Place) to the upper town (Place Royale and the museums), and holds Brussels' most photographed view: from the top of the steps you see the geometric garden descend toward the Gothic Town Hall spire on the horizon — Brussels' classic postcard, especially at sunset. The name is apt: around it are the Royal Library (KBR), the Palace of Fine Arts "Bozar", the Musical Instruments Museum, the Magritte Museum and the Royal Museums — a cultural density in one block. The garden was designed by René Pechère in the 1950s, and the library building carries a large clock whose bells play a tune every hour with moving figures. Free and always open, and a natural passage on every Brussels walk — climb it from the Grand-Place to the museums, and pause for the view.
The garden descending to the Gothic Town Hall spire — the postcard.
Bells playing hourly with moving figures on the library.
Bozar, the Royal Library, the MIM and Magritte around it.
Mont des Arts, 1000 Brussels
CINEMATEKBelgium's royal film archive, housed inside the BOZAR building. It preserves one1 minute walk4.7
KBR MuseumA museum inside the Royal Library of Belgium, opened in 2020 around one specific1 minute walk4.7
Coudenberg PalaceCoudenberg is Brussels' lost palace: on the hill of the Place Royale stood for c1 minute walk4.4
Palace of Charles of LorraineThe remains of an eighteenth-century palace built by Charles Alexander of Lorrai2 minutes walk4.4
BOZAR Centre for Fine ArtsBrussels's principal arts centre, in a building designed by Victor Horta and com2 minutes walk4.6Start at the Grand-Place, walk 5 minutes up to Mont des Arts, pause for the view from the top of the steps, then continue to the Place Royale: the Magritte Museum, the Royal Museums, the MIM and the Royal Palace are all there. That is Brussels' cultural axis in one half-day on foot.