The fifth-largest church in the world, mostly empty, with a dome walkway that gives the widest view over Brussels.
What it costs
Free to enter the church, which is vast and very plainly furnished.
The panorama walkway around the base of the dome is ticketed, and it is the reason to make the trip — a full circuit above the city, usually with almost nobody else on it.
When to go
Open daily; the panorama has shorter hours and closes earlier in winter. It is never busy.
Getting there
Metro 2 or 6 to Simonis, then about ten minutes uphill through the park.
If you only have an hour
Go up. The panorama walkway is the entire reason to come this far out, and you will likely have it to yourself. Twenty minutes up there, ten in the church, and the walk back down through the park.
What people get wrong
It looks nineteenth-century and is not: begun in 1905, halted by two wars, and only finished in 1970, in Art Deco brick and concrete rather than the Gothic originally planned. Parts of the building are let out as offices, a school and a radio studio, because the church could never fill it.
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.