Mont des Arts

Mont des Arts is the terraced garden that connects Brussels' upper and lower towns — a formal slope of clipped hedges, fountains, and a clock tower that provides the best view of the city's most famous silhouette: the Town Hall spire rising above the Grand-Place rooftops, with the towers of the cathedral beyond. The garden sits between the Royal Library, the Musical Instruments Museum, the Bozar arts centre, and the Royal Museums, making it the cultural crossroads of the city.

The garden was created in the 1950s on the site of a demolished neighbourhood (Brussels has a complicated relationship with demolition — much of the historic city was destroyed for modernisation projects in the 20th century, a phenomenon locals call 'Brusselisation'). The current design — geometric, Art Deco-influenced, with a central fountain and symmetrical planting — provides a formal counterpoint to the organic medieval streetscape visible from its terraces.

The view from the top of Mont des Arts at sunset — the Grand-Place spire backlit, the lower town rooftops glowing amber, the garden's fountains catching the last light — is the single best free view in Brussels. The Musical Instruments Museum (MIM), housed in the Old England Building (a spectacular Art Nouveau department store), sits at the garden's edge and contains over 8,000 instruments, with a rooftop café that offers the same view with coffee. The garden is open 24 hours and is at its best in the early morning or at sunset, when the light on the Town Hall spire is most dramatic.