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Brussels Shopping Capital

Brussels is not only full of trendy bars and restaurants, fabulous food, great nightlife, museums, exhibitions and festivals of all sorts and art nouveau buildings, it is also becoming well known for its fantastic shopping, attracting more and more of the big names in natinal and international fashion to its growing shopping districts.

Around the Grand Place, one of the most beautiful squares in the world, you can buy typical souvenirs such as Belgian chocolates, “speculoos” (a type of brown sugar biscuit), lace, fine glassware,Tintin memorabilia, and Belgian beer, or you can admire the elegant window displays in the vaulted Galeries Saint-Hubert which houses a whole variety of boutiques as well as a good choice of cafés and chocolatiers.

In the Sablon and Marolles districts you can also give in to some of the finest chocolates in Brussels, find that rare object from antique dealers, or simply browse in the flea market or many second-hand and decorative outlets that can be found there in abundance.

The rue Antoine Dansaert is an area of avant-garde designers and fashion boutiques, where established and up-and-coming Belgian designers show off their clothes and accessories, and more designer shops can be found on the rue de Namur and avenue Louise, with top quality shoes, clothes, accessories and home decorations.

On rue du Bailli and rue de la Toison d'Or, every boutique exudes luxury and quality with national and international styles that include Laura Ashley and Kenzo. The nearby tiny rue Pépin is where Isabelle Baines presents her simple and delicate knitwear, and the boulevard de Waterloo offers a mainly Italian and French line-up with such famous names as Gucci, Armani, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Ralph Lauren.

As Brussels is not only a great destination for shopping and sightseeing, you will also be spoilt for choice by its hundreds of restaurants catering for all tastes and budgets and by the fantastic nightlife that it has to offer, with many lively bars and bistros, jazz venues and fashionable clubs.

You can also make the most of your stay and book into one of the lovely boutique hotels or cosy guesthouses that are spread around the capital, and some of the more up market hotels offer spa packages too.