Aside from the offices at the airport, there are two tourist information offices in the city, both located right in the centre. The main one is the BI-TC (Bruxelles International - Tourisme et Congrès), in the Hôtel de Ville on the Grand-Place (May-Sept daily 9am-6pm; Oct-Dec & March-April Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-2pm; Jan & Feb Mon-Sat 9am-6pm; tel 02 513 89 40, fax 513 83 20, www.tib.be ), which handles information on the city only. It stocks a wide range of handouts, including free city maps, has details of up-and-coming events and concerts and sells a variety of general- and specialist-interest guides, the most useful of which is the detailed Brussels Guide and Map (?2). In addition, the BI-TC issues a list of all the city's (recognized) hotels, and makes hotel reservations for free - the deposit is subtracted from your final hotel bill. This is especially attractive as the BI-TC can often offer substantial discounts on published rates. It can help with public transport, too: the BI-TC sells the 24-hour carte d'un jour pass and issues free public transport maps. Finally, the BI-TC offers several package deals , combining public transport and admission into certain sights, though frankly these aren't especially enticing. Probably the best is the Tourist Passport (?7.45), which entitles bearers to free use of the city's public transport network for two days and offers modest discounts at a variety of attractions, though you do have to work fairly hard to recover your outlay.

The Bulletin (?2.35), the city's main English-language weekly, contains an excellent entertainment listings section, detailing what's on and where. The magazine is on sale at most downtown newsagents. The BI-TC also provides The Bulletin 's listings section - "What's On" - for free.

The city centre's second tourist office, the Belgian tourist information centre , footsteps from the Grand-Place at rue Marché aux Herbes 63 (July & Aug Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm & 2-7pm; May, June, Sept & Oct Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm & 2-6pm; Nov-April Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm & 2-6pm, Sun 9am-1pm; tel 02 504 03 90, fax 504 02 70), provides information on the whole of Belgium. They do stock a few brochures on Brussels, but this is not their main concern - they leave the city largely to the BI-TC. They also operate a hotel room reservation service, but again it's for the rest of Belgium, not Brussels.

If you need a large city map , buy the Girault Gilbert map, which comes complete with an index. It's available at most city-centre souvenir shops, newsagents and bookshops, but at prices that range from ?4.95 to ?7.45: as you might expect, the souvenir shops near the Grand-Place tend to up the ante.

Brussels on the Internet
Tintin www.tintin.be Blistering barnacles! Anything you've ever wanted to know. Anderlecht football team www.rsca.be 'Ere we go, the thrilling fields of Anderlecht. Beer ...
read more >>