How do I get to Brussels?

Brussels Airport (BRU) sits 12 km northeast of the Grand-Place and handles most scheduled international traffic. Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, United, and Delta all operate from here. The airport train to Bruxelles-Central takes 17 minutes, runs every 10 minutes, and costs €14.70 one-way (about $17 at current rates). Brussels South Charleroi (CRL), 46 km south near the old Walloon coal belt, is Ryanair and Wizz Air territory. The Flibco shuttle bus from CRL to Bruxelles-Midi takes roughly 55 minutes and costs €17. Mind you, CRL markets itself as "Brussels South" but it is closer to Charleroi than to actual Brussels. If your flight lands after 23:00 at CRL, the last shuttle may already be gone, and a taxi into the city runs €90-120.

From the US East Coast, United flies nonstop from Newark (EWR) to BRU in about 8 hours. Brussels Airlines covers JFK to BRU on a similar schedule. Round-trip fares tend to sit between $650 and $1,100, with the cheapest seats appearing in February and early March, when the air is cold and damp and the smell of hot frites carries from the Place Sainte-Catherine stands. From the West Coast, add a connection through Frankfurt on Lufthansa or Amsterdam on KLM for 12-14 hours total at $800-1,400. Brussels Airlines belongs to the Lufthansa Group, so Star Alliance miles apply and connections through Munich or Frankfurt work on a single ticket without rechecking bags.

From London, take the Eurostar. St Pancras to Bruxelles-Midi takes 2 hours, city center to city center, no checked-bag fees, and passport control is a quick scan at departure. Standard fares run £40-80 one-way when booked 2-3 weeks out. You step off at Bruxelles-Midi into the low hum of trilingual announcements, with waffle vendors already working the concourse by 07:00. The Grand-Place is a 10-minute metro ride north. From Paris Gare du Nord, the Eurostar covers 300 km in 1 hour 22 minutes for €29-80. From Amsterdam Centraal, 1 hour 50 minutes. For European connections, compare rail against air. The Eurostar from Paris starts at €29 and drops you at Bruxelles-Midi, while a flight from CDG starts at €90 and still leaves you with a 45-minute RER ride out of central Paris.

The cheapest months to fly into Brussels are January through mid-March and again in November. The December holiday window, roughly December 18 through January 3, sees transatlantic fares rise 40-60%. Summer stays moderate by European standards because Brussels does not pull the same beach-holiday crowds as Barcelona or Lisbon. Budget travelers from outside Europe might route through Dublin or Lisbon and connect on a €30-50 Ryanair hop to Charleroi. The combined fare often undercuts a direct routing by $200-300, adding about 3 hours to your travel day. You might also fly into Amsterdam Schiphol and take the 1-hour-50-minute train south to Bruxelles-Midi, which tends to work if AMS fares are running $150 cheaper than BRU.