Brussels – Hostels in Brussels. Maps for Brussels, Photos and Reviews for each hostel in Brussels.

Start your tour by heading out of the hostel to Brussels’ town square, the Grand Place. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the setting for regular festivals and events. Or you might just find yourself having a beer and admiring the architecture, such as the Town Hall, built in the 1400s.

Address: Grand Place 1000 Brussels, Belgium

District: Grand-Place

Backpack around Europe in an hour at this miniature park in Bruparck. It features 350 iconic buildings from 80 cities, plus a wealth of information about the European Union at the Spirit of Europe exhibition.

Website: www.minieurope.com

Address: Mini-Europe 1020 Brussels, Belgium

District: Bruxelles-ville

Impress your dorm buddies (or not) with your knowledge of European politics thanks to the Parlamentarium, the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament. It’s full of interactive exhibits and admission is free.

Website: www.europarl.eu

Address: Willy Brandt Building, Rue Wiertz 60/ Wiertzstraat 60, Brussels

District: Ixelles

Brussels’ most photographed attraction is tiny Manneken-Pis, the naked little boy called Juliaanske. Some say he’s peeing on a bomb to save the city. He’s often dressed up in one of his 600 little costumes. Find him on the corner of rue de l’Etuve and rue Chêne, close to many of the downtown hostels.

Website: www.manneken-pis.com

Address: Manneken Pis 1000 Brussels, Belgium

District: Basse Ville

Someone should design a hostel like this. This science attraction is housed in a 102-metre-high chrome and steel model of an atom, with exhibits in 18-metre diameter steel spheres connected by tubes. At night it is illuminated by 3,000 lights and there’s also a restaurant with panoramic views of Brussels.

Website: www.atomium.be

Address: Avenue de l'Atomium, 1020 Brussels, Belgium

District: Bruxelles-ville

The historical part of the city and the most touristy, this neighbourhood includes the Grand Place and Dansaert shopping areas, and is packed with cheap hostels. The LGBT area is along Rue du Marché au Charbon.

The ‘squares district’, just north of the Europe Quarter, is a residential area characterized by art nouveau and early modernist buildings. If you’re interested in architecture, a walk around here is a must – the contrast with the glass and steel EU buildings nearby is stark.

Backpacker favourite Ixelles is a big draw for young visitors, as it has a lively cultural, street scene and nightlife. Karl Marx and Alexandre Dumas are among famous writers and intellectuals who made Ixelles their home.

Brussels celebrates Belgian National Day on 21st July, with military parades, parties and festivals. Events take place at several venues, including the Grand Place, Place du Jeu de Balle and Brussels Park. On the eve of the National Holiday, head to Place Du Jeu De Balle for The People's Ball, a free evening of performances and dancing.

Every two years, a huge Flower Carpet covers the Grand Place for a few days and the city celebrates with a music and light performance and firework displays.

Website: www.flowercarpet.be

District: Grand-Place

These two collectives run fun, welcoming parties in a different venue every few weeks – they’re like regular mini-festivals, with a backpacker-friendly vibe. Check their websites for upcoming events.

Website: http://www.pikniks.be/

Book a Brussels hostel in winter and experience the city in festive mood. The Christmas Market season brings ice skating, a huge Ferris wheel, and pop-up wooden stalls selling all manner of stocking fillers. The fun is spread all over the city, but naturally the Grand Place is the epicentre.

District: Grand-Place

Like your street food? Get yourself to the area around Place d’Albertine and Mont des Arts to sample the wares of some of the best food truck businesses from Belgium and beyond.

District: Haute Ville

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/2hPkqGsHje/

© Copyrights: monbataqueria

Every August, Brussels’ Royal Quarter (Place des Palais, La Madeleine and Mont des Arts) comes alive with reggae, hip-hop, folk, electro, rock and jazz performances plus cinema and theatre events for Brussels Summer Festival.

Website: www.bsf.be

District: Haute Ville

Young talents and experienced performers take part in the Midis-Minimes Festival during July and August. Each day there is a short, 35-minute concert of well-known and less familiar works at Brussels Minimes Church and the Conservatory.

Website: www.midis-minimes.be

Address: Rue des Minimes 51, 1000 Ville de Bruxelles, Belgium

District: Marolles

The ProPulse Festival has concerts and performances at different locations, including music, dance and theatre acts. Look for downtown hostels in the south of Basse-Ville to be based nearby.

Website: www.propulsefestival.be

For fast food and some of the tastiest fries in Brussels, go to Frit' Flagey, a food stand on Place Flageyplein, 1050 Ixelles. Prices are low, but you’ll head back to the dorm stuffed.

Address: Place Eugène Flagey, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium

District: Ixelles

Fill up with a massive bowl of noodle soup at Pho Pho, a fast-food Vietnamese eatery. It’s small and doesn’t have masses of character, but the prices and the food more than make up for that.

Website: http://www.restaurant-vietnamien.be/

Address: Rue de la Paix 27, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium

District: Ixelles

Phone: 02 511 19 23

Also near Grand Place, Arcadi Café attracts locals and backpackers for tasty, inexpensive Belgian food – think mussels, steaks and the traditional gentse stoverj stew - all served super-quick.

Address: Rue d’Arenberg 1B

District: Basse Ville

Phone: 02 511 33 43

Chain eatery Exki serves healthy and wholesome soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts. You’ll find them dotted around town, but Exki Agora is handily located if you’re exploring the Royal Quarter.

Website: www.exki.be

Address: Rue du Marché aux Herbes 93, 1000 Brussels

District: Basse Ville

Phone: 02 502 82 48

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/nB3bQXM_Rz/

© Copyrights: health.hunters

Not far from Grand Place, Café Novo serves traditional Belgian food and lots more besides on a budget. Their farmhouse sausages with traditional stoemp will keep you going all day…

Website: http://cafenovo.be/

Address: Vieille Halle aux Blés 37 1000 Brussels

District: Basse Ville

Phone: 02 503 09 05

Moeder Lambic sells over 40 world-class draught and many bottled beer and specialises in Lambic beer. Knowledgeable staff will advise on what to sample. Some say it’s one of the best bars in the world.

Address: Rue de Savoie 68, Brussels 1060

District: Saint-Gilles

Phone: 02 539 14 19

Potemkine is a cool, industrial-looking space that puts on DJ nights and small concerts, shows free movies and does a good brunch. It was once famous for the whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling, now sadly removed.

Website: http://www.lepotemkine.be/

Address: Hallepoortlaan, 1060 Saint-Gillis, Belgium

District: Saint-Gilles

Phone: 02 539 38 00

The big one – this is the biggest techno club in Brussels, drawing some top acts and a happy crowd who know and love their music. There are some cheap hostels nearby, close to Brussels-Midi.

Website: http://www.fuse.be/

Address: Rue Blaesstraat 208, 1000 Brussel, Belgium

District: Marolles

Phone: 0 2 511 97 89

Located in backpacker favourite Ixelles, Café Belga is one of Brussels’ best-known café-bars, with attractive, old-style décor, a nice mix of age groups and reasonable prices.

Address: Place Eugène Flagey 18, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium

District: Ixelles

Phone: 02 640 35 08

Spirito used to be a church, and now it is quite the opposite: a large nightclub with three bars and an extravagant, glammy look.

Website: www.spiritobrussels.com

Address: Rue de Stassart 18, 1050 Ixelles

District: Ixelles

Phone: 483 58 06 97

This colourful, eclectic market is right in hostel-packed Basse-Ville. It takes over Halles Saint Géry on the first Sunday of every month, selling clothing, vinyl, ornaments and other collectables. Oh, and cupcakes.

Website: http://brusselsvintagemarket.be/

Address: Place Saint-Géry 1, 1000 Ville de Bruxelles, Belgium

District: Basse Ville

Hunt for bargains at this atmospheric flea market on pretty, cobbledPlace du Jeu de Balle. Vintage electrics, old photos and paintings, clothing – it’s all here.

Address: Place du Jeu de Balle, 1000 Ville de Bruxelles, Belgium

District: Marolles

Music-mad backpackers will love rummaging through the crates at this indie record store, handily located for city centre hostels. It stocks a huge range of genres and a few collectibles too. It also organises vinyl street fairs.

Website: www.vealsandgeeks.com

Address: Rue des Grands Carmes 8a, 1000

District: Basse Ville

For backpackers keen to tick off all the sights, a Brussels Card (valid for 24; 48 or 72 hours) gives free access to 30 museums and discounts on attractions, tours, food, drink and shopping. Brussels Card + Sightseeing option gives all the above plus free hop-on, hop-off bus travel. www.brusselscard.be

Villo! is Brussels’ bike hire system. The pricing is similar to other European systems: €1.60 will buy you a day ticket (€7.65 for a weekly ticket), then each ride is free for the first half hour, €0.50 for the second half hour and €2 per half hour after that. So if you plan your journeys, it can be a super-cheap way to get from your hostel to the sights.