Sightseeing
© CC-BY-2.0 by Jim Linwood
Starting in 2009, FOSDEM has hired professional guides each year to offer free guided tours of Brussels to the spouses/partners of FOSDEM visitors. If your partner would like to accompany you to Brussels but is not interested in the FOSDEM conference, this will make their stay worthwhile. Brussels has a rich historical past and a cosmopolitan present.
The free tours will take place on both days during the conference. Each tour will give you a view of a different side of the city, and the tours offered this year will be different from those offered in previous years.
The meeting point is next to the infodesk in front of the H building, and the tours end here as well. For both tours, Saturday and Sunday you have to register in front providing phonenumber and e-mail. Send an e-mail to tour@fosdem.org providing name, e-mail and phonenumber and await a confirmation. We need this information for emergencies and won't use it or store it for any other purpose. It will be deleted after FOSDEM ends.
Come to H-Building ON TIME. If you are to late we sadly can't wait for you! We gather in front of H-building next to the infodesk from 13:30 for both tours. We leave no later then 13:45 to the Busstop which will take you all to the city centre. (Carréfour de l'Europe)
From there the tourguide (Saturday: Adeline / Sunday: Adrian) will take you on a discovery tour through Brussels.
The Saturday tour will be the popular tour of the beautifull city centre of Brussels. The guide will show you the main sights of Brussels. By foot, we will introduce you to the most important monuments and we will give you a great overview of the city in just 3 hours, including: • Grand Place • Town Hall • Maison du Roi • Comic art scene • The Stock Exchange • Galeries Saint Hubert • Manneken Pis • The Monnaie Opera • St Nicolas’ Church • River Senne • The Royal Square • Mont des Arts The tour usually ends close to the Cathedral. After which we will walk back to the Busstop (Carréfour de l'Europe) where we'll travel back to the ULB. We expect to arrive back at ULB around 18:10
The Sunday tour starts at the same time as Saturday and will end at 17:00 after which we will travel back to the ULB. Here we will arrive approximately around 17:40. This is called the alternative tour which means we will show you Brussels from another side. Brussels Alternative tour means discovering a part of the City where Art represents the people and locals battle against gentrification. This 2,5 hour tour includes: • Gentrification and the Moralles area • The LGBT District • Locals’ artistic remembrance of terror attacks • Street art and Murals • The famous comic book route Europe’s second largest pedestrian zone • Belgiums `NO’ Cannabis policy and the reality • Riots and EU Demonstrations After which we will walk back to the Busstop (Carréfour de l'Europe) where we'll travel back to the ULB. We expect to arrive back at ULB around 17:40.
| Meeting point | Start | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday | Outside Infodesk H building | 13:30 | 18:10 |
| Sunday | Outside Infodesk H building | 13:30 | 17:40 |
© CC-BY-SA-3.0 by Ben2
Children are welcome to join, but bear in mind that these are walking tours of ~2,5 to 3,5 hours, and that it is February. Your children must be old enough to walk around for three hours in winter temperatures and travel on public transport (the responsibility is entirely yours).
Participation is free but places are limited <30, and you must register beforehand. Please send an e-mail to tour@fosdem.org with an e-mail and phonenumber where you are reachable during FOSDEM to register for these tours, and specify if you are willing to join the tour on Saturday, Sunday, or both.
To register, or if you have any questions about the sightseeing tours, please mail tour@fosdem.org.