Sightseeing Buses-Hop on Hop Off from Midi Station

Hi There,

Husband and I will be visiting Brussels (7 hours to be exact) from Paris and arriving at Midi Station around noon.We would like to see the highlights of the City and try some famous Belgian Waffles and Chocolates.Reading through the posts, the hop on hop off tour will be a good idea to get an overview of the City.I have also taken notes on some recommended places by the Brussels destination experts. Will we be able to catch one of these buses at the Midi Station? If not, how much will a cab cost to the Grand Place or Hop on Hop off stations? We will only have 7 hours to spend in Brussels so wanting to see the fastest and efficient way to get around. Thanks in advance and looking forward to visiting Brussels.

Andrea

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All the HoHo tours start from Central Station and you can travel to that station on your Thalys ticket, since the destination %26quot;Brussels%26quot; covers you to other stations within the city. There must be a train going in the direction of Gare du Nord (which stop first at Central) every 10 minutes, including all the trains to the airport (every 20 minutes or so), so just hop on the next one you can identify at Midi, and get off at the next stop (underground).

Otherwise it shouldn%26#39;t cost more than €5-6 in a taxi, although since I%26#39;ve never done it myself by taxi this is a guess.

HoHo buses are not the fastest and most efficient way of getting around Brussels, but they are probably the best way of doing so in such a way as to pass the most %26quot;sights%26quot;, if you want to see anything other than the Grand%26#39; Place/Galeries St. Hubert area. From other people%26#39;s experience, the red or blue ones (it%26#39;s actually the same company) are better than the green or yellow.

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Thanks Gaminari. This is helpful.We will probably take the taxi to the city centre and take it from there. We%26#39;re not that savvy with trains/underground and afraid will end up in a different destination (done that before in Germany):). Will keep an eye on those Red/Blue HoHo buses as suggested.Have a great day.

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Sorry but I don%26#39;t think the HoHo buses should be recommended - yes they all go from the Central Station (which is a short walk from the Grand Place) when we went a few weeks ago we negotiated a price with the ticket seller reducing the 18 Euros each to 12 each - we were then told the bus was leaving immediately and rushed to find a seat, it waited at least another 15 minutes as others were told the same;

the commentry is very poor - you are given your own headset to plug in - each of the buses has a slightly different arrangement so each time you get on you must search to find where to plug in, the there is a choice of several languages each bus seems to have a different setting for each language so you must search through all of the numbers trying to find the best -

But worst of all, the commentary does not match the route and the route plan given out is not followed by the buses, there is no clear bus stop for the HoHo so one might drop you on one side of the square and the next stop somewhere different to pick you up (they all run at about 15 - 30 min intervals so if you do get off one the next will be along soon)- howevre as the comentary and the route do not match you have no idea where you are - we wanted to get off at the Botanic Gardens and ended up at the War Museum

- unless you want to see the Atomium or the European congress buildings I would recommend just walking around the historic areas close to the Grand Place, I wouldn%26#39;t even bother with Manekin Pis - it%26#39;s tiny and not worth the walk!

Otherwise cafes, bars, people and chocolate are all very nice - just avoid the HoHo buses

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