If you are planning to travel to Brussels and don’t know whether to buy a Brussels Card, this article is for you. The card allows you to significantly save on visiting museums and attractions, gives you the right to free travel on public transport, as well as the opportunity to purchase some excursion programs at a reduced price. In addition, a certain list of stores offer good discounts with this card, and in cafes and restaurants that work with the Brussels Card, you can get a free drink or dish, and in some cases a discount on the bill amount.
Where to get?
If you decide you want this card, we recommend purchasing it in advance. You can buy the Brussels Card online and then you can start saving at the airport, since the card is valid on buses that can take you from the airport to the city and back.
The validity period of the card is 1, 2 or 3 days. You also have the opportunity to select additional options. For example, if you live in the center and plan to explore only nearby attractions, you may not need the “Public Transport” option, but it will be useful to additionally connect the option of unlimited access to red tourist buses.
Bus excursions
During a long-awaited trip, you want to have time to see everything at once, visit every attraction and not miss anything. This is quite difficult to do if you are in a new big city for the first time and you only have a couple of days to get to know it. In such situations, double-decker excursion buses come to the rescue, which travel around all the capitals of European countries. At first glance, it may seem that 20-35 euros (depending on the city) for a bus tour is too expensive, but this is only at first glance.
How do Hop-On Hop-Off tour buses work?
This bus travels along a circular route and stops near the most popular attractions. During the trip, the audio guide will tell you which streets of the city you are driving along, why they are famous and what attraction you are approaching. If an attraction interests you, you leave the route, examine it, and then take the next bus from the same company and continue your journey around the city. In large cities, each company usually has two or more route lines that intersect at certain stops. Thus, in one day, changing from one route line to another, you can easily explore the entire city.
Tickets for the hop-on hop-off city tour can be purchased in advance online here or from sellers who can be found near the most visited attractions or directly from the driver (you can pay either in cash or by credit card). Upon purchase, you receive a ticket valid for 24 hours or 48 hours, a map with the bus route and headphones to listen to a recording of the audio guide.
