Things to Do in Brussels in March

The complex on Rue de la Régence holds Flemish masters from Bruegel and Rubens through to the dedicated Magritte wing with over 200 works. In March, the rooms are noticeably emptier than summer. You can actually stand in front of Magritte's 'The Empire of Light' without someone's phone in your sightline. The Old Masters section alone could fill 2-3 hours if you linger, and the contrast between the Bruegel rooms and the surrealist wing makes for a full afternoon.

Booking tipBook online to skip the ticket desk, though in March walk-ups rarely face a significant wait.

Victor Horta's four townhouses in Saint-Gilles and Ixelles are UNESCO-listed. The Horta Museum on Rue Américaine 25 is the flagship, with its original staircase ironwork, stained glass, and mosaic floors intact. From there you can walk to the Hôtel Solvay on Avenue Louise and the Hôtel van Eetvelde on Avenue Palmerston. The residential streets between them are lined with lesser-known Art Nouveau facades, many with sgraffito panels that catch the afternoon light.

Booking tipThe Horta Museum has limited capacity. Weekday mornings in March typically have availability, but check their online calendar before heading over.

The Place du Grand Sablon and its side streets hold the densest concentration of high-end chocolatiers in Belgium. Pierre Marcolini, Wittamer, Patrick Roger, and Frederic Blondeel all have shops within a 5-minute walk of each other. March is when spring collections appear, with new ganache flavours and seasonal ingredients. The tasting experience is unhurried in the shoulder season, and staff at smaller shops will often walk you through their process.

Booking tipNo reservations needed. Mid-morning on a weekday is the quietest time to visit.

Brussels sits in the Senne valley, the only place where the wild yeasts for spontaneous-fermentation lambic beer occur naturally. Cantillon Brewery in Anderlecht gives self-guided tours of its 1900 facility, where open coolships expose wort to the ambient air. The smell of the fermenting barrels, yeasty and sharp, fills every room. Moeder Lambic Fontainas in Saint-Gilles carries over 40 lambics on tap, and the staff knows the producers personally.

Booking tipCantillon does not take reservations for the self-guided tour. Arrive when they open to avoid the midday rush.

The Marolles flea market runs every morning at Place du Jeu de Balle, but weekends bring the full spread. Dealers set up from around 6:00 and the best finds go early. The stalls carry Art Deco glassware, vintage Tintin comics, old Belgian railway signs, Congo-era colonial ephemera, and mid-century furniture. The surrounding Marolles streets have permanent antique and vintage shops that are worth checking after the market winds down around 14:00.

Booking tipNo booking needed. Arrive by 8:00 on Saturday or Sunday for the best selection.

The Atomium in Laeken, built for the 1958 World Expo, still looks like nothing else on earth. The top sphere gives panoramic views across Brussels on the clear days March occasionally delivers. The Design Museum inside covers Belgian mid-century design, with rotating exhibitions that change several times a year. The surrounding Heysel park area is quiet in March, and the walk from the metro through the park to the structure takes about 10 minutes.

Booking tipBuy tickets online. Combined tickets for the Atomium and Design Museum offer a small discount over buying separately.

Ghent is 35 minutes from Brussels-Midi by IC train, and a March visit avoids the summer crowds that pack Sint-Baafsplein around the van Eyck altarpiece. The Graslei waterfront, the medieval butchers' hall, and the Design Museum Gent are all walkable from Gent-Sint-Pieters station. The city's student population keeps the café and bar scene lively year-round, so the atmosphere does not feel dead in the off-season the way some Belgian towns can.

Booking tipIC trains run every 20 minutes from Brussels-Midi. No reservation needed, tickets available from the machines at the station.