With £40 return flights with Ryan Air return from Manchester we thought there had to be a catch, with closer inspection we found that the flights were to the Brussels (Charleroi) a good 35 miles out of Brussels city centre. However the shuttle bus service was very easy to locate as we hopped on with our online tickets costing us 14 euros each way, we still couldnt complain with the price it cost us.

Our drop off point was Brussels-Midi Train station in which we eventually made our way to Brussels Central for 2 euros and we were finally at our destination with the round trip taking around an hour and a half. Stepping out of the Central station it didnt take long before we stumbled across some of the architecture Brussels is famous for, we found ourselves in Mont des Arts Gardens which we quickly found out that a cold morning in early January isnt the best time to visit these gardens, however the surrounding buildings and historic statues made up for the lack of colour provided by the gardens. After taking our first couple of landmarks and finding our bearings we took a leisurely stroll and found our first activity, being the Museum of Fine Arts which to our surprise we could take in a lot of amazing pieces of historic art for no cost at all or enhance your visit for around eight euros for each exhibition and if youve still not had enough art the surrounding area is full of galleries from African to Asian art which will satisfy even the biggest art buffs needs. After all the travelling and culture we decided to stop off at one of the many cafes on offer for a traditional Belgium waffle overlooking one of the many charming squares Brussels has to offer.

We then headed toward our accommodation for the weekend which was located roughly an 8 minute walk from the stunning Grand Place which is where everything seemed to be happening. Our accommodation was the Menninger Hotel which cost all together 32 euros for a ten bed mixed dorm room for the two nights we were staying. The atmosphere at the Menninger was very friendly with a great common room and bar area full of travellers like us from Brazil to China it really creates a friendly mellow feel to the quirky modern building.

After settling down in our accommodation we stumbled down to the Hotel bar grabbed a couple of pints and headed off to see what the Belgium beer scene was all about. The walk into town was via the Grand Place, one of the most magnificent squares you can imagine with architecture from 3 different eras (Baroque, Gothic and Louis XIV) giving it an electric flavour. We carried on walking towards the old town and found a wide selection of restaurants crowded down the small alley ways

of Brussels. The one that took our eye was the Italian Restaurant Pizza Saco, with a great traditional Italian feel to it we grabbed a pizza and some Jupiler beers for around 21 euros mixed in with great service we were in and out within the hour allowing us to enjoy our night on a full stomach. We then headed to the highly recommended and spoke about bar called Delirium, it didnt disappoint. With hundreds of different beers and three floors all buzzing with a different feel to each floor it was simply put one of the best bars I have ever been to. After tasting a wide range of different beers and chatting to some locals as well as some fellow tourists we moved across the road to Floris a rum bar boasting over 400 different types of rum from all over the world, with great staff you simply tell the friendly staff what taste you fancy then shortly after your presented with the perfect rum for you. We visited a couple of other bars along the buzzing streets all walking distance from each other with a lovely unique feel to each bar before heading back to our Hotel prepared for the next day in Brussels.

Waking up we found that we had two new roommates, a teacher from Australia and Japanese girl after exchanging pleasantries we found out that the hotel provides a free walking tour of Brussels with an English speaking tour guide that was our day sorted! We headed out for breakfast just of Grand Place, finding a very pleasant Irish bar called the Six Nations which enticed us in with promises of a traditional full English breakfast and big screens showing the football it didnt disappoint. It was then time to meet our tour guide along with the rest of the hotel. After finding out the history of Grand Place our next stop was Manneken Pis which to be honest was pretty disappointing considering the amount of pictures and souvenirs but is worth a visit as its two minutes from the Grand Place square. We carried on through the streets of Brussels seeing some magnificent buildings and landmarks and learning the history of the city, most notably the stories of World War 1 caught my attention which if I had more time I would defiantly recommend having a look at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History which again is situated about 10 minutes walking from Grand Place. Our tour of the city was over and a well-deserved tip was given to the excellent tour guide provided by the hotel defiantly well worth joining.

Our final night again started in the hostel bar with a new addition to the gang as our Australian roommate decided to hit the town with us and join us for dinner. We had seen the meal Brussels is famous for being Moule Fritas (mussels and fries) so we decided it would have to be our meal of choice for the night. We again had no preference on restaurant so we headed into the old town in which have restaurants galore and settled on the busiest one we could find with the most reasonable prices. The mussels were very fresh and plentiful however the fritas were amazing and I could not understand how people could get so excited over a bunch of fried potatoes until I tried it for myself. We took advantage of an offer promoted by the owner and got our meal for roughly around 15 euros each with a half pint of Stella Artois included. Our next stop was Le Bier Circus recommended by the tour guide at the hotel one of the strangest bars in the city (the theme was clowns which some people may be put off by) however its defiantly an experience you wont forget with again the famous beer culture living up to expectation. We then headed to Zanzibars an African bar again walking distance from the main area of Brussels this bar again provided a different theme then we were used, three strange cocktails later we were on our way. Our night then took us to the newly refurbished night club Fuse VIP again an impressive selection of beers finished us off for our last night in Brussels.

The final day was devoted to making our way home, we took advantage of the free late checkout and made our way back into Brussels to find out that on that day taking place was a march through town in honour of Charlie Hebdo a more sombre end to our trip, non the less we paid our respects and were honoured to be part of it moving on catch our bus to Charleroi and inevitably our flight home. In summary we couldnt understand why people dont rave about Brussels as much as it honestly deserves, the people were friendly the city was beautiful and everything was reasonably priced especially taking into account the price of the flights, transfers and accommodation it really was a great trip for value.

Visit below for cheap trips to Brussels

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Museum of Fine Arts

Grand Place

War Museum

Grand Place at night