Brussels for solo travelers

Best hostels

Brussels funnels most of its budget beds into two zones — the old center around Grand-Place, where hostel rates compete with tourist-priced terraces, and the airport belt east of the city, where inventory shifts to layover overnights and early-departure sleeps. This list covers the airport belt: Diegem and Machelen, two villages along the Haachtsesteenweg where clean rooms run from around $56 a night and shuttle buses connect to the terminal. If your Brussels trip is the city itself — waffles on Rue du Midi, Magritte at the Royal Museums — stay in the center and pay for walkability. If Brussels is a connection point and you need a pillow near departures, these deliver on price without pretending to be neighborhoods you would wander on foot. The trade-off is transparent: you swap cobblestones for airport convenience, and the rates reflect it. Budget travelers heading into the city catch the train from Brussels Airport-Zaventem to Brussels-Central; the savings on the room cover the fare and then some.