The Grand-Place is the obvious place to begin in Brussels, and the dense lattice of pedestrian lanes around it — the Îlot Sacré — is the city's tourist heart. The square itself, ringed by gilded guild houses and the lace-like spire of the Town Hall, is one of the most theatrical in Europe; UNESCO-listed, it is at its best early in the morning or late at night, when the floodlights catch the gold. Every two years in August it disappears under a vast carpet of begonias.
A few minutes' walk in any direction brings you to the rest of the centre's set pieces: the small bronze Manneken Pis, the glass-roofed Royal Galleries of Saint-Hubert — Europe's oldest shopping arcade — and a tangle of streets, Rue des Bouchers above all, packed with restaurants, frites stands, chocolate shops, and some of the city's oldest beer cafés. It is touristy, unapologetically so, but the beauty is real.
This is also the easiest base for a first visit: walkable, central, and a short stroll from the Sablon, Sainte-Catherine, and the Royal District.