Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts, or Musées des Beaux Arts in French, is the generic term for the Oldmaster's museum, the Magritte Museum, the Fin de Siècle Museum, the Modern Museum, the Wiertz Museum and the Meunier Museum. All these expositions are located in the center of Brussels and accessible via the same beautiful entrance hall of the Fine Arts Museum (except for the Wiertz and the Meunier Museum - which by the way are free). Once you've decided which section you'd like to visit, you can buy a ticket for one museum in particular, or get the €15 combination ticket if you want to visit several. This combination ticket is valid for one day only, so make sure you reserve enough time to adequately visit the museums.

Below is an overview of the royal art museums I have visited so far. There is a tremendous amount of artworks on display, so I'll have to return to see the rest.

Oldmaster's Museum

You might want to start your visit in the Oldmaster's Museum, since this one has the most famous paintings. The collection includes works by old masters, mostly Flemish, like Brueghel, Ruebens, Bosch and Van der Weyden. It contains iconic paintings like the Fall of Icarus and The Death of Marat painted by Jacques Louis David.

Magritte Museum

The Magritte modern art museum is a walk away and features some of Magritte's lesser known works. It doesn't contain his most famous paintings, but it tells you a lot about Magritte's life. Some other surrealists are on display here as well.

Fin de Siècle Museum

The Fin-de-Siècle Museum showcases international art forms popular in Europe around the turn of the 20th century. It has a nice collection of impressionists and wonderful art nouveau furniture and vases.

Practical information

• The Museum, situated in Rue de la Régence, is very close to Central Station in the heart of Brussels.
• Entry is free on the first Wednesday of the month from 13:00.
• There can be a long line to get tickets, so it might be a good idea to book a ticket beforehand and skip the entrance line.
• With the Brussels Card you have free acces to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts and 40 other Brussels museums during 24, 48 or 72 hours (depending on what you chose). There is also a formula of the Brussels Card that includes free public transportation.
• This museum usually participates in the Brussels Museums Nocturnes (mid-September to beginning of December), which is an occasion to visit the museum in the evening at a reduced price.
• Although it isn't essential information, it is nice to know that somehow the museum manages to be relatively selfiestick free.

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