4 Best Sights in Brussels, Belgium

This four-story building is almost as impressive as the museum it houses. Built in 1899, architect Paul Saintenoy didn't hold back. Its elaborate facade twists its glass and iron into a symphony of Art Nouveau. Inside, it's no less fascinating. If you've ever wanted to know what a gamelan or Tibetan temple bell sounds like, here's your chance. In addition to seeing more than 2,000 instruments, you can listen to most of them via headphones. Head to the rooftop café for fantastic views of the city; also look out for MIM's regular lunchtime concerts—some are even free.

The house where Victor Horta (1861–1947), one of the major forces in Art Nouveau design, lived and worked until 1919 is the best place to see how he thought. Inspired by the direction of the turn-of-the-20th-century British Arts and Crafts movement, he amplified its designs into an entire architectural scheme, shaping iron and steel into fluid, organic curves. Horta had a hand in every aspect of his design, from the door hinges to the wall treatments. 

While its opening hours are somewhere mercurial, it's worth timing a visit right to ride one of the museum's vintage trams, which date from the 1935 World's Fair. Most visits include a 40-minute ride, though on Sunday between April and September, you can do the four-hour tram tour. The journey, accompanied by a commentary on the city, includes a stop for lunch at Schaerbeek's station, where you'll also find the Train Museum. Alternatively, the Tram Museum has around 90 examples of old horse-drawn carriages, trams, and buses from the late 19th century onward to peruse.  

Set in the Tour & Taxis building on the riverfront, the city's first computer-game museum only opened in 2020. Its collection charts the history of gaming from 1972, the launch of the Odyssey by Magnavox, to the present day, and elicits great waves of nostalgia among those who lived through this era.