Brussels - the capital of Europe

Amongst Europeans, Brussels is best known as the home of the EU, which, given recent developments, is something of a poisoned chalice. But in fact, the EU neither dominates nor defines Brussels, merely forming one layer of a city that has become, in postwar years at least, a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis.

It's a vibrant and fascinating place, with architecture and museums to rank among the best of Europe's capitals, not to mention a superb restaurant scene and an energetic nightlife. Moreover, most of the key attractions are crowded into a centre that is small enough to be absorbed over a few days, its boundaries largely defined by a ring of boulevards known as the "petit ring".

Eating
Thanks to its excellent food and diversity of cuisine, Brussels has moved into the European culinary limelight. While not the cheapest of cities to eat out in, its thousands of restaurants offer consistently high quality fare and spectacular value for money. The excellence exhibited by restaurants like Comme Chez Soi has trickled down to mainstream dining, and as a result, there really is no excuse for eating poorly. With the natives expecting this minimum level of quality, even the trendiest of restaurants are obliged to have a cuisine which matches the sleek decor. Apart from the excellence of the native Belgian fare, the city is among Europe's best for sampling a wide range of different cuisines - from the ubiquitous Italian places, through to Spanish, Vietnamese, Japanese and Russian restaurants.

Restaurants aside, it's worth remembering many bars and cafés serve food. Though this is often limited to pastas, soups and croques monsieurs , many have wider-ranging menus usually consisting of traditional Brussels fare. There are also plenty of frites stands and pitta places around the Grand-Place, notably on rue du Marché aux Fromages, known locally as "Greek Street", and on rue des Bouchers.

Unfortunately, Brussels is lacking when it comes to specifically catering for vegetarians , but many restaurants, particularly Middle Eastern ones, serve a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

The Lower Town is great for good-quality cuisine that doesn't cost the earth. The fashionable rue Antoine Dansaert is an excellent place to start, with several stylish restaurants. The Lower Town also holds the frenetic rue des Bouchers, a restaurant ghetto well worth checking out. There's another cluster of good restaurants around the lovely place du Grand Sablon in the Upper Town , although the food doesn't come cheap and you may find yourself paying extra for the pretty scenery. Out of the town centre, Ixelles is home to some of the capital's finest restaurants, particularly at the place Stéphanie end of chaussée de Charleroi, but also close by the attractive place du Châtelain. The EU Quarter holds a few spots that rise above the average business lunch gulpdown, while the commune of Ganshoren is home to two of the finest restaurants in the city.

Generally speaking, most places are open from noon to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm. Sundays and Mondays tend to be the quietest days, and some restaurants close down altogether in July and August. It's not usually necessary to make a reservation midweek, but it's highly advisable on Friday and Saturday nights.

Restaurant prices vary, depending on where you eat and when. Lunch menus are considerably less expensive than evening menus, whereas the plat du jour - the main course meal of the day - is often great value for money and usually available all day.

Service charges are automatically included, and you need only leave a tip if service is above average.

Nightlife
After a slow start, club culture seems to have finally taken hold in Brussels. The city has a number of established meccas playing anything from acid and techno beats to deep house, including the throbbing Fuse with its regular line-up of big-name house DJs, to the sassy Who's Who Land, which often sees crowds of over 1500 and attracts people from as far away as Paris and Amsterdam.

Most venues are in the Lower Town , especially in the area between place St Géry and the Manneken Pis, and in the scruffily hip Marolles quarter just southeast of the Grand-Place. The Upper Town has a only few offerings of its own, and there are a couple of places beyond the petit ring that are worth the trip. If you do venture out of the centre, don't forget that the public transport system finishes at 12.30am and starts up again at 5.30am, so you may have to get a taxi home. Night buses are fairly infrequent.

As a general rule, clubs are open Thursday to Saturday from 11pm until as late as 6am, but it is possible to club every night. Entry prices are fairly low: you rarely have to pay more than ?10, and many of the smaller clubs have no cover charge at all, although men have to tip the bouncer a nominal fee (?1.25 or so) on the way out.

The cost of drinks varies depending on where you are, although shorts and cocktails are expensive across the board. If you're on a limited budget it's worth remembering that the bars which morph into clubs on a weekend, such as Le Sud and L'Acrobat , tend to have cheaper drinks than ordinary clubs.

Although the city just about holds its own on the club scene, Brussels fares extremely well as a place to catch live music . The capital has a vibrant jazz scene, with many bars, both in the centre and on the outskirts, playing host to local and international acts. Jazz buffs in particular will be pleased to learn that live jazz has been popular in Brussels since the 1920s - a tradition kept alive today by small atmospheric venues such as Sounds and L'Archiduc , and by the annual Brussels Jazz Festival - widely regarded as being one of the best in Europe.

Unfortunately the local rock and indie scene isn't particularly kicking, although if you are prepared to go off the beaten track you can still catch some excellent live music at the Fool Moon, Magasin 4 and VK . The good news for mainstream gig-goers is that Brussels is a regular stop on the European tours of major and up-and-coming artists. The biggest gigs are held in Forest National , although many medium-sized gigs are held in Le Botanique, Cirque Royal and Ancienne Belgique . It's also worth considering going to one of the music festivals held regularly outside Brussels, which usually attract a good line-up of rock bands mixed with dance DJs. The Torhout-Werchter Festival, held in early July, is the biggest.

Shopping
Brussels has a wide range and variety of goods on offer although it's not the cheapest of cities in which to shop . There are two main shopping areas in the city: the city centre around the Grand-Place , and the south part of the Upper Town . The city centre's main shopping street is rue Neuve , which is home to City 2, the ultimate inner-city shopping mall.

Not far from the Grand-Place, Galeries St Hubert accommodates a smattering of conservative boutiques in stark contrast to the Galerie Agora , which peddles cheap leather jackets, incense, piercing jewellery and ethnic goods directly opposite. Behind the Bourse, rue Antoine Dansaert caters for young, cutting-edge fashion-groupies, housing a number of young designers as well as shops selling clothing ranging from the internationally known to such Belgians as the Antwerp 6 and Raf Simons. Neighbouring St Géry contains rue des Riches Claires and rue du Marché au Charbon which have streetwear shops and vintage stores.

Uptown, the chaussée d'Ixelles has most of the big stores and a lively feel in the African quarter around the Galerie d'Ixelles. The label-conscious will want to shop at the smartest addresses on avenues Louise and de la Toison d'Or, where shops offer everything from DKNY to Giorgio Armani, as well as Belgian designers.

The Grand Sablon has a weekend antiques market and the surrounding area has a good selection of similar shops. For bric-à-brac, it's best to wander down to the Marolles district - the closest Brussels gets to New York's Lower East Side - and the daily flea market at the place du Jeu de Balle. There is a labyrinth of old books in the stores of the Galerie Bortier near Gare Centrale.

Belgian beer, chocolate and lace - though found throughout the city - are highly concentrated in the tourist areas around the Grand-Place. Shops catering to another national passion, the comic strip or "bande dessinée" (BD), can be found a little further afield near the Bourse and on the chaussée d'Ixelles near place Fernand Cocq

Taking the Kids
Although many of the main sights and museums in Brussels (the Manneken Pis, the Grand-Place, the Musée d'Art Moderne) hold little interest for kids, worry not - Brussels can be child-friendly.

In the centre, the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée museum, Scientastic , and the Théâtre de Toone are the main attractions for younger and older children alike. Elsewhere, the Musée des Sciences Naturelles is host to an impressive display of dinosaur skeletons and is ideal for pre-teens, whereas the Musée du Jouet , with its huge collection of toys throughout the ages, seems to be a hit with everybody regardless of age.

Out of town, Heysel gives the impression it was specifically designed for the under-12s, and is home to both Mini-Europe and Océade , as well as the excellent Planétarium which holds regular exhibitions. Further afield, the brand-new Six Flags Belgium amusement park and attached Aqualibi water park offer enough roller-coasters, amusement rides and water slides to make a day of it.

Most of the city's parks have playgrounds - the most popular one is at the lovely Bois de la Cambre. The city also has a summer fun fair - Foire du Midi - which is held near the Gare du Midi from mid-July to mid-August. Here you'll find the usual riot of candy floss, amusement arcades and rides, including a large Ferris wheel.