The short version: you don't need a car in Brussels, and most people who live here don't rely on one. Walk the compact old centre, hop on the STIB/MIVB metro, tram or bus for longer distances, take a train to the airport or another Belgian city, and pick up a shared bike when the weather is good. Between them these options cover almost any trip — often faster than driving and hunting for a parking space.
As a rough guide:
- Short hops in the centre: walk.
- Across town: take the metro, a tram or a bus and tap a contactless card.
- To the airport or another city: take the train.
- Fresh air and flexibility: grab a shared bike.
The only real skill is knowing which mode suits a given journey. The SMOVECITY app puts metro, tram, bus, train and shared bikes on one map and plans a door-to-door route across all of them, so you can see the quickest way instead of guessing.
Is the Brussels metro easy to use?
Yes. Brussels has a compact metro of four numbered lines — 1, 2, 5 and 6 — run by STIB (in French) and MIVB (in Dutch), which are two names for the same operator. Stations are signed in both languages, the lines are colour-coded on every map, and between them they link most of the places a visitor heads for: the EU quarter, the centre, Midi station and the main museums. Trains come frequently through the day, so you rarely wait more than a few minutes.
The metro is quick for crossing the city, but Brussels is smaller than it first appears. For many short trips a tram or a ten-minute walk gets you there just as fast.
What about trams and buses?
This is where the network really earns its keep. Brussels has an extensive tram system that reaches neighbourhoods the metro never touches, backed by a dense bus network — including night buses at the weekend. Trams and buses share the same tickets and the same STIB/MIVB system as the metro, so you can change between all three on one fare. For a lot of inner-city journeys a tram will drop you closer to the door than the metro would.
How do you pay for the metro, trams and buses?
The easiest way is contactless. Tap a contactless bank card, phone or smartwatch at the metro gates or on board a tram or bus — it is genuinely 'tap and go', one tap per journey. If you change vehicles within the transfer window, which is around an hour, the connection is included, so a single fare usually covers a whole trip from start to finish.
Staying longer, or travelling as a family? Pick up a reusable MOBIB card and load individual tickets or a season pass onto it, which also unlocks reduced fares. Prices change from time to time, so check STIB/MIVB for the current fares — but for most visitors, tapping a card you already carry is all you need.
Can you get around Brussels on foot?
Much of the time, yes. The historic centre — the Pentagon, around the Grand-Place — is small, largely pedestrianised and genuinely walkable, with many of the headline sights only a few minutes apart. Two things to expect: cobblestones, and a real climb between the Lower Town and the Upper Town, where the Royal quarter and the big museums sit up the hill. Comfortable shoes make a bigger difference here than any transport pass.
What about bikes and scooters?
Cycling is one of the nicest ways to cover ground. Villo! is the city's docked bike-share, with stations dotted across the neighbourhoods: unlock a bike at one dock and return it to another. Alongside it, operators such as Bolt and Dott run free-floating shared e-bikes that you unlock with an app and leave within the permitted area.
Shared e-scooters have been part of the mix too, but Brussels is phasing them out, so availability is limited and changing — worth checking before you rely on one. That is exactly where a live map helps: it shows which shared bikes are free near you right now, rather than walking you to an empty dock.
How do you get to and from Brussels Airport?
By train. Brussels Airport-Zaventem has a railway station directly beneath the terminal, with frequent SNCB/NMBS trains — several every hour — to the three main stations: Brussels-Nord, Brussels-Central (the closest to the Grand-Place) and Brussels-Midi/Zuid. The journey into the centre takes roughly twenty minutes. There is a small airport supplement on top of the normal fare, so buy your ticket at the station or in the rail app and check SNCB/NMBS for current prices.
Those same three stations are your gateway onward, too. Midi/Zuid is the hub for Eurostar and high-speed trains to Paris, London, Amsterdam and Cologne, and all three connect straight into the metro and tram network.
What is the easiest way to plan a journey?
Because Brussels blends so many modes — metro, tram, bus, train and shared bikes — the fastest route is often a combination of two or three. Rather than juggling separate apps, use one that shows them side by side. See how getting around Brussels works on a single map, compare walking, public transport and a shared bike for the same trip, and set off with a plan. The app is free on the App Store and Google Play.