Is Brussels Expensive?

“Is Brussels expensive?” is kind of a rhetorical question. Of course it’s expensive.

It’s the home of the EU parliament in Western Europe. It was never going to be cheap.

Brussels is the second city in Western Europe that we’ve spent a whole month in (the other being Amsterdam) and we’re definitely feeling the pinch in some ways and yet, surprisingly, not in others.

My sister lived here for a few months several years ago and I never remember her complaining about the price of things. Although, that may have had something to do with the fact that when we visited my parents always used to pay for everything 😉

We are renting a stylish vintage apartment in the trendy Ixelles neighbourhood, which we got a great deal on because the girl was leaving to go travelling for three months (pretty apt, huh?). This means that, luckily, we are able to cook most of our meals.

But we have found that this is where Brussels is more expensive than Amsterdam. Everyday things such as bread, meat and toiletries push the total cost of our shopping trips higher than we would have expected.

We don’t mind splurging on tourist treats such as amazing chocolate, waffles and fries, but we’re shocked when we buy groceries and they cost more than they would have done in Amsterdam.

The other day we visited the Comic Strip Museum, which cost us €8 each. The museum was interesting and had a fun theme, but half of the museum was only transcribed in French and Flemish, meaning that we couldn’t read any of the plaques. This meant that for a total of €16 we only got to enjoy half of what we paid for and would have appreciated that information before we went in.

We understood before we came to Europe about the expense and we just wanted somewhere close to the UK where we could have a base for a month, get some work done and do some cooking. So we don’t mind absorbing costs like those above. But what about tourists only here for a short time?

Things To Do in Brussels

Luckily for most short-term visitors it’s easy to find cheap holidays to Europe, so it is just a case of budgeting well once you get here. In this vein, I thought I’d break down some of the costs of the most popular past-times in the city right now (with the American dollars equivalent listed second)

A cone of frites with sauce – Around €2.60 {$3.50}
A Belgian beer – Bars: €2.75 {$3.70} Supermarket: €2.50 {3.30}
A cinema ticket – €10 {$13}
Entrance to the Atomium – €11 {15} (Atomium + Mini Europe: €23.40 {$31})
A bar of Godiva chocolate – €5 {$6.60}
Meal at a mid-range restaurant – €50 {$67}
Average price of a plain waffle – €2.50 {$3.30}
A dish of moules frites (mussels and fries) – €20 {$27}

Brussels is a cool city and is on a par with many other major European cities in terms of cost, but as with everything you should shop around before paying what you may consider to be an expensive price. Head out of the city centre for (usually) better quality and lower prices.

Other Brussels Posts

Brussels: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Brussels Comic Strip Walls