You will be walking pretty much everywhere – partly because Brussels is so compact, partly to walk off lunch, dinner, and waffle and chocolate snacks. Wear sensible shoes.

Smell rare blooms at the royal Laeken Greenhouses in April or May, dance at May's Jazz Marathon and drink in good company at the Urban Aperitifs from June to September. Watch chivalric action at July's Ommegang Pageant, laze on the artificial Brussels Beach in August and sample some of Belgium's 450+ beers at September's Beer Weekend. Shop at Brussels' Christmas Market and at the same time skate around the Grand' Place at Brussels on Ice.

New Year's Day (1 Jan), Good Friday, (Mar/Apr), Easter Sunday (Mar/Apr), Easter Monday (Mar/Apr), Labour Day (1 May), Brussels Capital Region Day (8 May), Ascension (May), Pentecost (Jun), Pentecost Monday (Jun), Flemish Community Day (11 Jul), National Day (21 Jul), Assumption (15 Aug), French Community Day (27 Sep), All Saints' Day (1 Nov), Armistice Day (11 Nov), Christmas Day (25 Dec).

Brussels is blessed with warm summers, with August averages around 22°C, and mild winters, when temperatures rarely fall below 7°C in January. It's also cursed with a high average annual rainfall. When it rains, retire to a café for a beer or three until it stops.

230V AC, 50 Hz, two-pin plugs are standard.

+32 (national), (0) 2 (Brussels) + 7-figure number.

Euro (€) is the currency.

GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 in summer).

Brussels Tourist Board website

Forsake dark suits for rust, sand and bottle green if you are here on business. Wear classic Belgian Olivier Strelli on Grand Sablon square. Relax in T-shirt and jeans around studenty place Saint-Géry.