Where to stay in Brussels

Below the Palais de Justice: the daily flea market on Place du Jeu de Balle, antique dealers on Rue Blaes and cafés that have not changed in decades. Cheaper rooms, and a free public lift up to the upper town.

A short walk south of Gare du Midi: Horta's own house, streets of Art Nouveau facades and the bars around the Parvis. More local and cheaper than the centre, with the metro and trams to everything.

The medieval lanes around the Grand-Place: the guildhouses, the glass-roofed Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert and the restaurant row of Rue des Bouchers. Every sight in the lower town is a walk away; rooms cost more and the streets stay full until late.

The old port quarter around the filled-in canal basins: seafood counters, natural-wine bars and Flemish fashion on Rue Antoine Dansaert. The liveliest place to eat in the centre, and five minutes from the Grand-Place.

The upper-town square of antique dealers and the great chocolate houses, under the Gothic Notre-Dame du Sablon, with the Royal Museums and the Mont des Arts a few minutes away.

South of the inner ring: Avenue Louise's hotels and boutiques, the Art Nouveau houses around the Ixelles ponds and the Congolese quarter of Matongé. Place Flagey and Place du Châtelain hold the neighbourhood's best restaurants.