Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (Belgian Centre for Comic Strips)
The history of the Belgian comic strip, including its links with silent movies and animation, is displayed throughout the airy and uplifting Grand Magasin Waucquez, designed by Victor Horta. Original drawings by early masters, such as André Franquin (who created accident-prone Gaston Lagaffe), and Georges Remi (Hergé) (who breathed life into Tintin) are complemented by modern-day cartoons, temporary exhibitions, an exhaustive academic library, children's library and a brasserie.

Rue des Sables 20
Tel: (02) 219 1980.
Website: www.cbbd.be  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Musée Horta (Horta Museum)
Architect Victor Horta (1885-1946) worked to produce some 110 buildings, first in neo-gothic style, famously in art nouveau and latterly in sparse modernist style. Many (such as the Hôtel Solvay, Avenue Louise 224, and Hôtel Van Eetvelde at Avenue Palmerston 4) are still standing. However, the Musée Horta (the architect's former home and studio) is beautifully preserved and open to the general public. Attention to detail sweeps through the building, from the vertical letterbox and finely scripted number 25 on the facade to the sculpted staircase and dining room floor, where a marble mosaic encircles the finest American ash. A theatrical arrangement of secret front doors allowed the architect to welcome guests from different social and religious backgrounds without their being aware of each other's presence.

Rue Américaine 25
Tel: (02) 543 0490.
Website: www.hortamuseum.be  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1400-1730.
Admission charge.

Atomium and Mini-Europe
Léopold II bequeathed the 202-hectare (500-acre) estate of Heysel to the city of Brussels in 1909. The large exhibition spaces are located here, to the northwest of the centre. Its most famous landmark, however, is the Atomium - a giant model of an oxygen molecule, built for the 1958 World Fair as a temporary structure, although never fully dismantled. It reopened in February 2006 following extensive renovation, including replacement of its metal ‘skin'. The highest sphere gives a panoramic view of the entire region. The science exhibition is of interest only to young children. Nearby Mini-Europe shrinks Europe to a size that can be covered in a short walk, with faithful miniatures of the Eiffel Tower, Westminster and the Berlin Wall in the process of being dismantled. Among the most recent additions are Prague, Bratislava and Vilnius.

Atomium
Boulevard du Centenaire
Tel: (02) 475 4778.
Website: www.atomium.be  
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800.
Admission charge.

Mini-Europe
Bruparck, Boulevard du Centenaire
Tel: (02) 478 0550.
Website: www.minieurope.com  
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1800 (late Mar-Jun); 0930-2000 (Jul-Aug), Sat until 2400 (late Jul-late Aug); 1000-1800 (Oct-early Jan); 0930-1800 (Sep).
Admission charge.

Musée du Cacao et du Chocolat (Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate)
Opened in 1998, this delightful little museum on a corner of the Grand-Place pays homage to one of Belgium's most famous products. It traces the history of chocolate from Aztec times, and explains the production processes involved in making the modern sweet delicacy, including audio-visual presentations and demonstrations by masters of the chocolatier's art.

Rue de la Tête d'Or 9-11Tel: (02) 514 2048.
Website: www.mucc.be  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1630.
Admission charge.