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The Royal Museums of Fine Arts

The portico of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts
Photograph by Michel wal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Six museums on one site, sold in combinations — and the Magritte collection is the one most visitors are actually looking for.

What it costs

Ticketed, and the structure matters: the Old Masters, Fin-de-Siècle and Modern museums sit together, with the Magritte Museum as a separate entrance and a separate ticket, and combined options across them.

Ask what your ticket covers before you pay — this is the easiest place in Brussels to buy the wrong thing.

The facade of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts
Photograph by Michel wal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

When to go

Closed on Mondays. The Magritte museum is the busiest part by a wide margin; go there first or last, not in the middle of the day.

Getting there

Rue de la Régence, between the Mont des Arts and the Sablon. Metro to Gare Centrale or Louise.

A statue outside the Royal Museums of Fine Arts
Photograph by Michel wal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

If you only have an hour

Buy the Old Masters ticket and go straight to Bruegel. One hour in those rooms beats a rushed circuit of six museums, and it is quieter than the Magritte floor.

What people get wrong

The Old Masters holding is the serious one — Bruegel, Rubens, van der Weyden, Bosch — and it is quieter than the Magritte rooms upstairs. If you have one hour and you like paintings rather than a name, spend it down there.

A carved medallion on the Royal Museums of Fine Arts
Photograph by Michel wal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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.

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