Shopping in Brussels

The main areas for shopping in Brussels are the pedestrianized Rue Neuve, which features inexpensive middle-class stores, as well as Avenue Louise and Boulevard Waterloo. The latter receive the most positive reviews for shopping in Brussels due to the presence of numerous expensive boutiques including Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Cartier, Burberry, Versace, Chanel, and Christian Dior.

The largest shopping malls in Brussels include the four-story City2 on Rue Neuve, Inno (featuring about 600 brands of clothing, cosmetics, and accessories), the Agora gallery, and the Royal Galleries of St. Hubert.

Brussels outlet sale seasons last from July 1 to August 1 and from January 3 to February 3. If any outlet near Brussels announces a sale early, it faces a fine.

Brussels has a Tax Free system: if your purchases in one store in one day exceed 125 EUR, you can get a 21% VAT refund. To do this, simply ask the Tax Free store for a receipt with the names of the goods, their prices (with tax and refund amount), which must be presented at the last customs office when leaving the EU. Purchases must be sealed before being presented at customs.

What to bring from Brussels?

• Belgian chocolate from Leonidas, Neuhaus, Godiva, and Pierre Marcolini TMs. The last brand is considered an "icon" of Belgian chocolate, as each sweet in this atelier (that is how chocolate factories are called in Belgium) is made by hand, and ingredients are delivered from different parts of the world: almonds - from Portugal, lemons - from Provence, vanilla - from Madagascar, saffron and cardamom - from Sri Lanka, gold - from Congo. A box of chocolates will cost 25 EUR, 1 candy - 1-2 EUR.
• Belgian beer. It may be difficult to choose - in Belgium there are about 1,300 varieties of beer: with nuts, honey, rice, strawberry syrup, coriander, banana, there is even a variety of "Taras Bulba." It is customary to drink each type of beer from a special glass.
• Laces from Manufacture Belge de Dentelles (Galerie de la Reine, 6-8).