Things to do waiting for a connection at Brussels Midi

I will be travelling to Brussels on route to Cologne in December. There will be a 2 hour delay for connections. Does anyone have any ideas of things to do around the area for a couple of hours?

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There is nothing much to see in that area and I wouldn%26#39;t recommend walking around it, it%26#39;s a mixture of new concrete jungle, building site or extremely run down and awaiting redevelopment. You could investigate the row of cafés and restaurants in the rue de France (take the exit closest to the Eurostar terminal), in particular the very %26quot;design%26quot; Midi Station, which is open all day as café, bar and/or restaurant.

Or you could take either local train (e.g. any of those going to the airport) 1 stop to Gare centrale or underground tram a couple of stops to Bourse; both cost €1.70 and take only a few minutes. From either of those you are very close to the Grand%26#39; Place and nearby Galeries St. Hubert, which are worth an hour or so of anyone%26#39;s time.

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It just occurred to me that if by any chance it will be on a Sunday, there is a market all around the station (watch your purse!), and on any day of the week, the flea market (06:00 till 14:00) isn%26#39;t all that far away in Place du Jeu de Balles off rue Blaes, near Porte de Hal. In fact, if you like castle-type buildings, you could also visit the Porte de Hal, see:

opt.be/informations/…17613.html

To walk there (+/- 10 mins), take the Avenue Fonsny exit at the opposite end of the station from Eurostar Terminal, cross to the Ibis Hotel and continue up the street directly ahead which is rue d%26#39;Angleterre: where this comes out onto the Bd du Porte de Hal, the Porte de Hal is to your right and rue Blaes is directly across the big boulevard, with the flea market a little way down on the left.

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The station itself is not the best place to hang around for hours. Every week plenty of people get some of their belongings stolen there. So keep a close look at your bags, do not put them on the ground to take a look around.

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Many thanks for all your help. I may head out to Brussels central and see what there is to do there.

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wander up to porte de halle and go down rue blaes to the skeiven arkitekt have a couple of beers and weave back down hill.

the brueghel is pretty good too.