The Best Historic Sites

Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall; Brussels): Both the inside and the outside of this magnificent Gothic work repay careful study. The sculptors who created its intricate exterior decoration had a sense of humor -- or at any rate what passed for a sense of humor in the Middle Ages -- as well as skill. And the interior is lavish enough even for the extravagant tastes of the imperial aldermen who ruled over the city from here.

Galeries Royales St-Hubert (St. Hubert Royal Galleries; Brussels): One of Europe's oldest "shopping malls," the Italian neo-Renaissance style gallery with three connected wings opened in 1847, and is still a fine place to shop and to stroll through window-shopping.