Heysel, Brussels: neighborhood guide

Heysel — De Heizel in Dutch — is the flat plateau in the far north of Brussels, built up for the 1935 World's Fair and rebuilt for Expo '58. The Atomium is the survivor of that second expo, and it still sets the skyline. Around it sit the Centenary Palace, the Kinepolis cinema complex with its ring of bars and restaurants that locals call the village, and the King Baudouin Stadium, which hosts football and the Memorial Van Damme athletics meeting.

This is a leisure district rather than a residential or commercial one. Between events it is quiet, with wide pavements, parkland and car parks. The Museums of the Far East — the Japanese Tower and Chinese Pavilion — and the Royal Greenhouses sit on the eastern edge of the plateau, closer to the Araucaria tram stop than to the Atomium.

The district has one heavy historical mark: the 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster, when rioting before a European Cup final killed 39 people. The old stadium was demolished and replaced by the King Baudouin Stadium. It is remembered, not a sight.

Choose Heysel if your trip is built around a stadium match, a concert, the cinema or the Atomium itself, or if you are driving and want easy parking away from the centre. Families with small children sometimes like it for the space and the quiet.

Skip it if you want to walk out of your hotel into Grand-Place, eat at a different restaurant every night or use Brussels as a rail base — Heysel is a metro ride from the centre and the last stretch of that ride crosses the International District, which is not somewhere to linger after dark. A half-day trip covers the sights comfortably.

Food here clusters around the Kinepolis complex, where the village of bars and restaurants serves cinema and event crowds. Expect Belgian standards — steak frites, pasta, burgers, beer — at mid-range prices, plus fast food inside the cinema. On event nights book or arrive early; on ordinary weeknights places can be half empty.

For anything more interesting, eat in the centre before coming out, or head to the neighbouring districts. There is no market or food street in Heysel itself.

Metro line 6 runs to Heysel station, about 30 minutes from the historic centre, with a change from line 1 or 5 at Beekkant or Weststation. Line 2 runs parallel but stops at Simonis, so you can switch between the two anywhere along it. From Heysel station most sights are within a 300 m walk.

Tram 19 terminates directly under the Atomium and is the better ride if you want to see the city on the way. Trams 3 and 7 serve the eastern side of the plateau for the Museums of the Far East and the Royal Greenhouses; get off at Araucaria. Tram 3 from Beurs takes about 25 minutes. Buses 84 and 88 reach the Heysel transport hub, and night bus n18 covers late event nights, but buses sit in traffic.

Cycling out is uphill the whole way; the pleasant option is to take the metro out and ride a Villo bike back downhill. A cycle route follows tram 3 through the forest on the east side of the Royal Domain, which is safer than riding through Laken.