In the capital of the flat country, you don’t have to pull out your wallet to take part in exciting activities. Yes, our beautiful capital is brimming with free goodies! Want to get out and about in Brussels without spending a thing? The choice is yours: between walks, museums or monuments… many free plans are completely free! Find out more here.
What monuments can I visit for free in Brussels?
The Grand-Place, the city’s number 1 tourist attraction, is (fortunately) accessible free of charge! Stroll along its typical houses with amusing names, enter the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville, discover the Magritte boutique, have a coffee at the Roy d’Espagne and taste Neuhaus chocolates.
Other tourist attractions can also be visited free of charge: Manneken Pis, Mont des Arts (the place itself, with a view over Brussels), Parc de Bruxelles, Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (and the other covered passageways), Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule (and the other churches of Brussels), the hall of the Palais de Justice (on certain days), Bois de la Cambre, the gardens of Abbaye de la Cambre, the botanical garden…
Please note: the Royal Palace of Brussels is open free of charge for one month of the year, during the summer. For more information, click here.
The Parlamentarium (European Parliament) and the Berlaymont also offer a number of free tours throughout the year.
Which museums are free to visit in Brussels?
Many museums in Brussels offer several free admission options, depending on their opening day and time. For example, the Musée Magritte, one of the best-known, is free every 1st Wednesday of the month from 1pm to 5pm. The Maison du Roi (the Musée de la Ville de Bruxelles) is also free every first Sunday of the month from 10am to 5pm.
The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium are also free every 1st Wednesday of the month from 1pm (as is the Wiertz Museum, which belongs to the same group). The same applies to the Musée Fin de Siècle (every 1st Wednesday from 1pm). The Boghossian Foundation offers free guided tours every first Sunday of the month, from May to September, at 3.30pm.
The Musée Mode et Dentelle, located in the city center, is also free, every 1st Sunday of the month, from 10am to 5pm. The Musée Art et Marges, which promotes independent designers, opens its doors free of charge every 1st Sunday of the month from 11am to 6pm.
The Musée National de la Résistance is free from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. The Bibliothèque Royale du Mont des Arts also offers free admission to its temporary exhibitions. Finally, the WIELS contemporary art center offers free admission, but only for art students under 26.
Find out more about all the free museums in Brussels here.
Free: stroll through Brussels’ fabulous parks
From the Parc Royal to the Botanique, via the Parc de Laeken (with its view of the Atomium), the Square du Petit Sablon(so so cute!), the magnificent gardens of the Abbaye de la Cambre and, of course, the grandiose Bois de la Cambre, a walk in the heart of nature in Brussels won’t cost you a cent! And there’s no shortage of parks and gardens in Brussels!
To extend the experience – and if you’ve got a green thumb – you should know that several of the Region’s non-profit organizations and communes offer guided tours of certain parks. They also offer fun gardening workshops, which are completely free of charge. Find out more here.
Also worth noting: the Schaerbeek Greenhouses, Boulevard Lambermont 141, are open to the public free of charge once a year, usually around the first Sunday in May and by reservation. The Jardin Botanique Jean Massart and the Jardin des Plantes Médicinales Paul Moens also offer free tours.
How free is public transport in Brussels?
Unfortunately, public transport is not free in Brussels, as it may be in neighboring Luxembourg, for example.
But here’s something you should know: in Brussels, children under 6 years of age (accompanied by a +12 year-old with a travel ticket) can travel free of charge on the entire Stib network. Children aged between 6 and 11 can apply for a “abonnement J”, free of charge, but with a €5 guarantee.
Cinema: numerous free screenings throughout the year
The seventh art is ours! And in Brussels, there’s no shortage of “free” screenings! Provided you’ve got a good popcorn, of course! The Centre Culturel Chinois and Centre Culturel Coréen de Bruxelles regularly organize free film screenings to introduce the general public to their cinematic culture. For the visually impaired, the Cinematek also organizes several free audiodescription screenings; accompanying persons and guide dogs are permitted.
For fans of short films, the Nova cinema (Rue d’Arenberg 3) offers 15-minute screenings once a month, with some activities free of charge.
And what can we say about the open-air film screenings that punctuate the Brussels summer! The Bruxelles Fait Son Cinéma festival takes place every year during the first two weeks of July in several of the capital’s outdoor venues.
The same goes for the Parvis de Saint-Pierre in Uccle, where free films are shown every June.
Concerts and music: ask for the free festivities menu!
We’re not telling you anything, Brussels is a city of bars. Many of them will welcome you throughout the year to the rhythm of numerous totally free concerts, to be enjoyed between two pints. These include Strof, Coq, Café des Tricoteurs, Café Kafka, Archiduc, Floréo, Rock Classic Bar, Bizon, Central, Roskam, Lava Café, Bonnefoi, Cercle des Voyageurs and Bar du Matin.
The Musée des Instruments de Musique, in the heart of the city, regularly hosts free concerts of various musical genres, as do the Académie de Musique d’Auderghem, the Chapelle des Minimes, the Jazz Station, the Brussels Conservatory and the Théâtre de Verdure d’Uccle. You can find a full list here.
On the festival front, the Fête de la Musique delights Brussels locals every June. Other highlights include the free Feeërieën concerts in August in the Parc Royal, the Fête de l’Iris (May), the Festival Plazey (Koekelberg, Ganshoren and Jette) and the Incredible Jazz Jam (Anderlecht, August).
Art classes: what’s free in Brussels?
Throughout the year, the many cultural centers associated with each of the Region’s communes offer hundreds of activities, some of which are free. Ask your local cultural center for details!
For Dutch speakers, the Kontakt and Den Dam cultural centers in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Auderghem offer free courses in sculpture, painting and drawing. You should also know that enrolment at the Académie de Musique, des Arts de la Parole et du Théâtre, de la Danse et des Beaux-Arts is free in French-speaking Brussels, subject to certain conditions.
It’s possible to do sport for free in Brussels!
Is sport free in Brussels? Far from gym memberships (at sometimes exorbitant rates), the city of Brussels offers a number of totally free “health trails” in its parks: these “Parcours Vita” are trails “signposted with different stops to carry out sports exercises, suitable for all ages, with explanatory signs for movements”, be.brussels tells us. There are several of these in many municipalities.
Playgrounds, sports centers, associations: you’re sure to find free sports activities in Brussels!
Theater, leisure, dance: what’s on offer free of charge in Brussels?
Oh yes, there’s free theater in Brussels! The Théâtre de l’Académie d’Auderghem offers free or admission-free shows, as do INSAS and the Conservatoires (with their end-of-year public performances). And don’t forget: the Kaaitheater (near Gare du Nord station) offers “Matinées Kadee” for the whole family; parents can attend theater performances while their children take part in fun classes.
During the summer, visit Parc de Bruxelles for free performances of Guignol puppets!
On the leisure front, the Region also offers free breakdancing classes (in Dutch, in St-Gilles and Etterbeek), knitting, Portuguese dance, Argentine tango, bike engraving (yes), meetings between authors or scientists, repairing objects, driving, hairdressing (as a customer)… in short, it would be hard to list them all!