We had the opportunity for a long girls’ weekend in Brussels, and although it was February, so chilly and not super sunny, there’s so much beauty to see in the city that the weather hardly mattered. Here’s a photo journey of art nouveau, Smurfs, the Atomium, some churches, and city sights.

A Taste of Art Nouveau

Brussels is world renowned for being the birthplace of art nouveau, so its easy to stumble upon incredible architecture, even if you’re not looking for it. I took a few morning runs to check it out, and we made it a point to choose a few restaurants and other spots to see. Its now on my to do list to have a proper art nouveau tour in Brussels one day.

De Ultieme Hallucinatie – we ate here for the views and the proximity, it was super close to our rental. We were definitely not disappointed – the lunch was great and the design a delight.

Huis Devalck – I took a run by Huis Devalck / Schaarbeek and could not ignore the fabulous colors and windows.

La Maison Cauchie – Paul and Lina Cauchie designed this house façade as a giant billboard, to draw the attention of passers-by and to showcase their art, in order to advertise and sell their work.

Le Botanique – these are former botanical gardens and now concerts are held in the Orangerie and the Rotonde. We didn’t go inside but it was great to wander around, since it was close to our rental.

Hotel Gresham – we sort of stumbled upon this building and popped inside to explore it. It now houses the Royal Fine Arts Museum.

Walking around Rue Royale and the Galeries shopping area, there are quite a few lovely art nouveau storefronts, so I and my adorable models posed in front of a few.

Palais 5 is an expo center built in the 1930s in the art deco style. Its right next to the Atomium.

Museum of Musical Instruments

It was a rainy day and we felt inspired to get out of the damp, so we took a little time in the musical instrument museum, which turned out to be really interesting, definitely recommended.

Atomium

The Atomium was designed and built as the flagship building and emblem of the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958, using the slogan “a world for a better life for mankind“. The Atomium was not intended to survive beyond the 1958 World’s Fair. In the 2000s it was restored; and now has many visitors. We had really no idea what to expect, but it was really a fun visit.

Firstly, Atomium is enormous. Its really tough to show the size in photos; but just consider that there are stairs in the columns and you can stand as a large group in the orbs.

Smurfs

The Smurfs were created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, and during our visit the Smurf Experience was happening, so we figured we would get a little smurfy.

Churches

We browsed around a number of cathedrals and churches in Brussels, and here are some of my favorites.

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

Place Sainte-Catherine

Sint Nikolaaskerk

Église Royale Sainte-Marie

I love this church, it is so beautiful, I ran by it almost every morning.

Church of Our Lady of Laeken

Matisse Around Brussels

We didn’t go in the museum but we still got a little dose of Matisse throughout the city.

Grande-Place, Mont des Artes and Around Brussels