Mont des Arts

Rue Saint-Jean runs into Place de l'Albertine, and the Mont des Arts begins on the other side of it. The bottom of the climb is visible from the apartment balcony, and from the front door it is about five minutes on the flat before the steps start.

The Mont des Arts is the staircase between two versions of Brussels. Below it is the lower town, the Grand-Place and the shopping streets; above it, the Place Royale, the fine arts museums and the road out to the Sablon. The garden in between was laid out for the 1958 World's Fair, and it is still the most efficient way to climb the hill.

The view is the reason to stop. From the top terrace you look straight down the formal beds and over the rooftops, with the spire of the Hôtel de Ville rising out of the lower town. It costs nothing and there is no queue.

Around the garden sit the Royal Library, the national archives and the entrance to the museum quarter, so it is easy to combine with an afternoon indoors. The small carillon tower at the top plays on the hour.

Going up is a climb. There are lifts, and a gentler route round the side from the Albertine if the steps are not appealing.