Biscuit Travels: 48 Hours in Brussels

Our Ecommerce Manager Rachel made the resolution at the beginning of the year to visit 3 new countries. After popping to Estonia and Finland in March, Rachel took the super quick 1 hour 20 flight from Edinburgh to Brussels and ticked off country number 3. 

Here are her recommendations for a weekend in the Belgian capital: 

We stayed with friends in the Saint-Gilles neighbourhood which had a really lovely feel, very like where our Bruntsfield store is situated in Edinburgh. 

First stop has to be breakfast at Wild Lab, a delicious cafe filled with greenery and even a little clothing store tucked round the corner. 

Rue Antoine Bréart 44, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Belgium

Banana nut toast

Their concept is sustainability

The surrounding area of Saint-Gilles is filled with independent stores. 

 

We wandered up Avenue Brugmann, along Rue Darwin and down Avenue Louise Lepoutre, seeing lots of familiar brands along the way. 

Before heading to Rue du Bailli for more shops and a scrummy ice cream shop called Le Framboisier Dore.

Rue du Bailli 35, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium

After browsing the huge array of clothing stores, coffee and cake (peach loaf was our fav) at Prelude was much needed. 

Rue de Lombardie 28, Saint-Gilles 1060

After a quick tram journey down to Place Stephanie and we found a the Bellerose flagship store! 

Although they were in full sale mode the store was still absolutely beautiful.

Dutch store Dille and Kamille is the kind of store I dream about, selling everything from granola to glassware and absolutely everything in between. 

The Tram system is the city is super easy to use and means you can cover the main attractions in an afternoon. 

The statue of the peeing boy, is a tiny bronze statue and judging by the huge number of tourists surrounding him he is perhaps the most famous site in Brussels... Here he is dressed up for Bastille day. 

Dinner at La Famille, nachos, mezze and a glass of rose of course. 

La famille, Rue du Bailli, Ixelles, Belgium

 

On our second morning we grabbed a quick brunch at Le Paloir (carrot juice was delicious) before venturing down to the Marollen area.This historic district is found just below the Palais of Justice and is full of vintage shops, art galleries and flea markets.  

We chose to stop for bagels at L'atelier en Ville, another space with a clothing store attached. 

Rue Haute 64, 1000 Bruxelles

 

Brussels has so much to offer and with more time there is so much more to explore and you can even take day trips to Gent and Bruge too. 

And it just so happened that the new Autumn collection of our favourite Belgian brand, Bellerose, arrived the following week! 

 Shop the new Bellerose collection here>