© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Oceania

Many highly ranked restaurants can be found in the high-impact gastronomic guides, such as the Michelin Guide. Brands of Belgian chocolate, like Neuhaus, are world renowned and widely sold; even the cheapest and most popular brand, Leonidas, has earned a reputation for its quality. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer (ales, pils, Stella Artois, Jupiler) (see Belgian beer). Belgians have a reputation for loving waffles and French fries, actually both originally from Belgium; the national food is steak (or mussels) with French fries and lettuce.

Universities

Brussels has several universities, the UniversitÈ Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the FacultÈs Universitaires Saint Louis (FUSL), the Katholieke Universiteit Brussel (KUB) and the Royal Military Academy (RMA). A satellite campus of the UniversitÈ catholique de Louvain (UCL) is also located in Brussels: it is called "Louvain-en-Woluwe" or "UCL-Brussels", and hosts the faculty of Medicine of the university.

Transport

Brussels is served by Brussels National Airport, located in the nearby Flemish municipality of Zaventem, and by Brussels South Airport, located near Charleroi (Wallonia), some 80km from Brussels. Brussels' major train stations link the city to the United Kingdom by Eurostar, and to other major European cities by high speed rail links (such as the Thalys). The Brussels metro dates back to 1976 (but underground lines known as premetro have been serviced by tramways since 1968). A comprehensive bus and tram network also covers the city. Brussels also has its own port on the Willebroek canal located in the northwest of the city.

There are four companies managing public transport inside Brussels:

• STIB/MIVB (metro, bus, tram)

• SNCB/NMBS (train)

• De Lijn (buses based in Flanders)

• TEC (buses based in Wallonia)

An interticketing system means that a STIB/MIVB ticket holder can use the train or long-distance buses inside the city. The commuter services operated by De Lijn, TEC and SNCB/NMBS will in the next few years be augmented by an RER rail network around Brussels.

Railway stations

The major stations in Brussels are on the North-South Junction:

• Brussels North (Dutch: Brussel-Noord, French: Gare du Nord)

• Brussels Central (Dutch: Brussel-Centraal, French: Gare Centrale)

• Brussels South (Dutch: Brussel-Zuid, French: Gare du Midi or Bruxelles-Midi) (the Eurostar, Thalys, HST or TGV and ICE international terminal)

Two more stations serve the EU district in Brussels. Trains towards Namur and Luxembourg call at:

• Brussels Luxembourg/Luxemburg

• Brussels Schuman

The last two stations located in the centre of Brussels (they also are on the North-South Junction and operate only in rush hours) are:

• Brussels Congress (French: Bruxelles-CongrËs, Dutch:Brussel-Congres)

• Brussels Chapel (French: Bruxelles-Chapelle, Dutch: Brussel-Kapellekerk)

Other railway stations in other Brussels municipalities include :

• Schaarbeek (French: Schaerbeek)

• Etterbeek

• Ukkel Stalle (French: Uccle Stalle)

• Ukkel Kalevoet (French: Uccle Calevoet)

• Jette

• Merode

• Delta

• Sint-Job (French: Saint-Job)

• Vorst Oost (French: Forest Est)

• Vorst Zuid (French: Forest Midi)

• Sint-Agatha-Berchem (French: Berchem Sainte-Agathe)

• Sint-Gillis (French: Saint-Gilles)

• Watermaal (French: Watermael)

• Bosvoorde (French: Boitsfort)

• Boondaal (French: Boondael)

• Meiser

Road network

In mediaeval times Brussels stood at the intersection of routes running north-south (the modern Hoogstraat/Rue Haute) and east-west (Gentsesteenweg/ChaussÈe de Gand-Grasmarkt/Rue du MarchÈ aux Herbes-Naamsestraat/Rue de Namur). The ancient pattern of streets radiating from the Grote Markt/Grand'Place in large part remains, but has been overlaid by boulevards built over the River Zenne/Senne, the city walls and the railway junction between the North and South Stations. As one expects of a capital city, Brussels is the hub of the fan of old national roads, the principal ones being clockwise the N1 (N to Breda), N2 (E to Maastricht), N3 (E to Aachen), N4 (SE to Luxembourg) N5 (S to Reims), N6 (SW to Maubeuge), N8 (W to Koksijde) and N9 (NW to Ostend) [1]. Usually named steenwegen/chaussÈes, these highways normally run straight as a die, but on occasion lose themselves in a labyrinth of narrow shopping streets. As for motorways, the town is skirted by the European route E19 (N-S) and the E40 (E-W), while the E411 leads away to the SE. Brussels has an orbital motorway, numbered R0 (R-zero) and commonly referred to as the "ring" (French: ring Dutch: grote ring). It is pear-shaped as the southern side was never built as originally conceived, owing to residents' objections. The city centre, sometimes known as "the pentagon", is surrounded by the "small ring" (Dutch: kleine ring, French: petite ceinture), a sequence of boulevards formally numbered R20. These were built upon the site of the second set of city walls following their demolition. Metro line 2 runs under much of these. On the eastern side of the city, the R21 (French: grande ceinture, no particular name in Dutch) is formed by a string of boulevards that curves round from Laken (Laeken) to Ukkel (Uccle). Some premetro stations (see Brussels metro) were built on that route. A little further out, a stretch numbered R22 leads from Zaventem to Sint-Job.

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