A glass-roofed shopping arcade from 1847 — free to walk through, and one of the oldest of its kind anywhere.
What it costs
Free. It is a public passage and you can walk the whole length at any hour it is open.
What costs money is what is in it: chocolatiers, a cinema, a theatre and cafés, all priced for the address. The chocolate here is very good and very much not cheap.
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When to go
Open daily and covered, which makes it the obvious move in Brussels rain — a genuine consideration in this city. It is at its best in the evening when the glass roof is lit from below.
Getting there
Runs between Rue du Marché aux Herbes and Rue de l’Écuyer, a minute from the Grand-Place.
If you only have an hour
Walk it end to end, which takes ten minutes, and use the rest on the streets either side — Rue des Bouchers to see the tourist trap in action, then out to the cathedral. Perfect hour in rain.
What people get wrong
It predates the famous arcades it is usually compared to: opened in 1847, before Milan’s Galleria and before most of the Paris passages were roofed in glass on this scale. It is three galleries end to end — Roi, Reine and Princes — not one.
Nearby
Ticketing arrangements and opening patterns as published for 2026 and checked on 5 September 2026. These change without much warning — confirm with the site itself before you travel. More sights, and how they fit together, in Landmarks & Sights.