What should I pack for Brussels?

Brussels will wreck your shoes. The Grand-Place is polished granite cobblestone. The Marolles flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle is rough-cut Belgian bluestone. The hill between the Upper Town around the Royal Palace and the Lower Town near the Bourse is steep enough that thin soles mean sore feet by noon. Pack walking shoes with thick, grippy soles, and avoid anything flat-bottomed or brand new. Brussels averages around 200 rain days per year, and a summer afternoon can shift from 20°C sunshine to a cold 13°C drizzle in under an hour. A packable rain jacket beats an umbrella because wind funnels through the narrow streets around Rue des Bouchers and inverts cheap umbrellas within minutes.

Layer everything. A June morning at the Atomium might start at 10°C with damp fog off the Heysel plateau, then climb to 22°C by the time you reach Parc du Cinquantenaire after lunch. Three thin layers beat one heavy jacket. A merino base layer, a light fleece, and that rain shell will cover you from a 7 AM waffle at Maison Dandoy on Rue au Beurre to a late-night lambic at Moeder Lambic on Place Fontainas. Bring one pair of pants that works in the cool marble halls of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts (founded 1801, and the galleries stay cold even in July) and on the muddy trails of the Forêt de Soignes, the 4,400-hectare beech forest on the city's southeast edge.

Belgium uses Type E plugs at 230V. Your phone charger is almost certainly dual-voltage, but leave the hair dryer at home. A universal adapter runs about €8 at Fnac in City 2 on Rue Neuve, though packing one saves the detour on your first day. Bring a portable charger. Brussels is walkable neighborhood by neighborhood, but the sights spread across 6-7 km from the Grand-Place south to the Marolles and north to the Atomium at Heysel. Google Maps plus the STIB transit app will drain your phone by mid-afternoon on a full day out. A crossbody bag or front-zip daypack is worth the trouble. Pickpocketing is a documented problem around Gare du Midi and on busy tram lines through the tourist center.

Skip packing toiletries. The Di pharmacy chain has locations every few blocks in Brussels, and Belgian brands like Bodysol cost half what US drugstores charge. That said, sunscreen above SPF 30 is strangely expensive here, around €15-20 for a small tube. Pack your own if you burn easily. Hema on Rue Neuve sells umbrellas for €3 and rain ponchos for €2, so leave those at home. Bring a reusable water bottle. Brussels has public drinking fountains around Parc de Bruxelles and Place Flagey, and restaurants charge €3-5 for still water. Leave space in your bag for the return trip. Belgian pralines from Pierre Marcolini on Place du Grand Sablon run €45-70 per box. They are not light.