The European Quarter Walking Tour (Self Guided), Brussels

Along with Luxembourg and Strasbourg, Brussels is one of the European Union’s de facto capitals. The office blocks of the European Quarter are mainly concentrated along and between two wide boulevards – rue de la Loi and rue Belliard – which Léopold II built to connect his Parc du Cinquantenaire with the city center.

Begin your exploration with the EU’s most symbolic construction, the Berlaymont, a huge office building that was widely praised for its design – shaped like a giant cross of St Andrew – when it opened in 1967. After a refurbishment that took thirteen years, it reopened in 2004 and certainly looks even better as a home to the European Commission.

Not far away, the Charlemagne high-rise accommodates the rest of the Commission’s bureaucracy, while opposite, housing the Council of the EU, is the cream-colored Justus Lipsius building, constructed in the mid-1990s and linked via two skyways to the much newer Europa Building – seat of the European Council.

On rue Belliard, the low-rise Jacques Delors building houses the European Economic and Social Committee as well as the Committee of the Regions, while the European Parliament is at l’Espace Léopold. The latter’s curved glass roof, rising to 70 m (228 ft), can be seen from all around the district, and there are particularly pretty views from Parc Léopold at its eastern side.

Take this self-guided walking tour to discover Brussels’ European Quarter at your own pace.