There's much more to Brussels than beer, chocolate and chips. Brussels is a stylish city where business-suited Eurocrats hope to build continental unity in one of Europe's only bilingual capital cities. Its tradition of pragmatic mercantilism and international relations is symbolised by grand halls, amazing architecture and Pis Mannekin, the sculpture of a little boy urinating that has become the city's beloved symbol.

This inland capital city of Belgium, bordered by The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, it is a multi-cultural and multi-lingual city at the very heart of Europe. Indeed, it claims with some justification to be the 'Capital of Europe'.

Brussels was already a thriving trade centre by the Middle Ages. The Bruxellois inherited the wisdom of ancestors who lived under Roman, Spanish, Austrian, French, Dutch and German domination - their country winning independence only in 1830.

Despite the population of Belgium numbering only 10.2 million, with Brussels itself just some 970,000-strong, the Bruxellois have the ability to compensate for their small numbers with skilled diplomacy, compromise and negotiation. These striking traits are followed closely by a highly intellectual and off-beat sense of humor, underpinned by a strong sense of the bizarre. This may help explain why the Surrealist art movement, pioneered by René Magritte, took off in Brussels. A playful and irreverent reaction to life is also revealed in the Belgian love affair with the comic strip, popularized worldwide with Hergé's boy hero, Tintin.

Your first visit to Brussels, uncoloured by expectations, is therefore all the more rewarding. Narrow cobbled streets open suddenly into the breathtaking Grand-Place, with its ornate guild houses, impressive Town Hall and buzzing atmosphere. It would be difficult to find a more beautiful square in the whole of Europe.

Bars, restaurants and museums are clustered within the compact city centre, enclosed within the petit ring, which follows the path of the 14th-century city walls. The medieval city is clearly defined by its narrow, labyrinthine streets, making it easy to distinguish the later additions, such as Léopold II's Parisian-style boulevards - Belliard and La Loi - today lined with embassies, banks and the grand apartments of the bourgeoisie and close to the glitzy new EU quarter. The working class still congregate in the Marolles district, although this area is on the up-and-up.

With a pleasant temperate climate - warm summers and mild winters - and a host of sights and delights to entertain, Brussels offers far more than just beer and chocolate.

Seeing is believing. If you want to know more about the stylish city, why not visit?

About the Author

Keely Smith: She recommends mbt shoes