Brussels Historical Walking Tour with Chocolate and Waffle Tasting

The waffle house on Rue Lebeau

The tour begins at a small waffle house at Rue Lebeau 25, between the Grand-Place and the Sablon, dedicated to preserving the craft of the Belgian waffle. You are welcomed with a waffle made fresh in front of you, served with coffee or tea, while the guide explains the two traditions: the light, rectangular Brussels waffle with its deep pockets, eaten with icing sugar or fruit, and the denser, caramelised waffle of eastern Belgium made with pearl sugar in the dough. You hear how waffle irons were engraved with coats of arms in the Middle Ages and how street vendors made the waffle a symbol of the city.

This is a sit-down start of about twenty minutes, so arrive a few minutes early to settle in. The waffle house is a five-minute walk from Central Station and from the Grand-Place, and because the group is capped at fourteen the guide learns everyone's interests before the walk begins.

Grand-Place and City Hall

From Rue Lebeau the guide leads you to the Grand-Place, the square that has been the commercial and civic heart of Brussels since the twelfth century and is admired as one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. The City Hall, begun in 1402, is the only building that survived the French bombardment of 1695 intact; its 96-metre spire carries a gilded statue of the Archangel Michael, and its facade is covered with statues of dukes and duchesses of Brabant. The guild houses around the square were rebuilt in just five years in exuberant Baroque, each named and decorated for its trade, from the bakers to the archers.

The guide spends about twenty minutes here explaining how a small river settlement grew into the capital of Belgium and of Europe. The best time to see the Grand-Place is on the 10:00 departure, when the square is still quiet; the 14:30 departure catches the gilded facades in afternoon light.

Manneken Pis and the cuberdon tasting

A short walk down Rue de l'Étuve brings you to Manneken Pis, the bronze fountain of a small boy that has stood here since the early seventeenth century and embodies the irreverent spirit of Brussels. The guide tells the competing legends of its origin, explains the wardrobe of hundreds of costumes it wears through the year and why the statue has been stolen and recovered more than once. This stop also brings the first sweet tasting of the walk: cuberdons, the cone-shaped, raspberry-flavoured gummy sweets with a crisp shell and liquid centre that are a Belgian speciality.

Together with the cuberdons you try historic sweets made to recipes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the kind sold at fairs and markets of the old city, which the guide uses to explain how sugar, spices and cocoa reached Brussels through its trade routes. Plan on about fifteen minutes here, including photographs at the fountain.

Saint-Hubert Royal Galleries and the praline

The Saint-Hubert Royal Galleries, opened in 1847, were the first grand covered shopping arcade in Europe, a glass-vaulted passage of marble pilasters, theatres, cafés and chocolatiers that links the lower town to the cathedral hill. It is the birthplace of the praline, the filled chocolate invented here in 1912, and the natural place for the chocolate tasting on this tour: a praline from the chocolate house that holds the royal warrant as supplier to the Belgian court. The guide explains what makes a true Belgian praline, from the quality of the couverture to the freshness of the filling.

You spend around twenty minutes in the galleries, learning the stories of its shops and theatres and where to buy chocolate of real quality for the rest of your trip. People searching for a Brussels chocolate tour or a waffle tour in Brussels find that this combination of history and tasting in one walk is what makes the route memorable.

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

Above the galleries rises the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, the Gothic cathedral of Brussels built between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries with twin towers in the French style. It is the church of royal weddings and state funerals, and the guide explains its role in Belgian national life as well as the architecture: the tall nave with statues of the apostles on the pillars, the sixteenth-century stained glass windows, the Baroque pulpit carved from oak and the chapels added by the Habsburg rulers of the Low Countries.

The stop lasts about fifteen minutes, with time for a photograph of the facade and a look inside when services allow; entry to the nave is free and cathedral opening hours generally run from morning to evening every day. From here the walk climbs gently towards the Upper Town and the gardens of Mont des Arts.

Mont des Arts and Place Royale

Mont des Arts, the hill of the arts, is the terraced garden and cultural complex between the lower and upper town, laid out in the twentieth century and flanked by the Royal Library and the museums of the Upper Town. From the top of its steps you have the best panoramic view of Brussels: the City Hall spire in the centre, the roofs of the old town and, on a clear day, the Atomium on the horizon. The walk ends a few steps beyond on Place Royale, the neoclassical square with its equestrian statue and the church of Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg built over the remains of the medieval ducal palace.

On Place Royale the guide holds a short information session, answering questions and giving personal advice on restaurants, museums and day trips, and hands you a written list of recommendations. From here it is about five minutes downhill through Mont des Arts back to the Grand-Place.