Puppets aren't just for children in the downstairs pub of Brussels' Theatre de Toone where puppeteers put on works by Aristophanes and Shakespeare, the theatre was established in 1830

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Toone

Top choice in Brussels


At the home to Brussels’ classic puppet theatre, this irresistibly quaint and cosy timber-framed bar serves beers and basic snacks.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Brussels attractions

1. Rue des Bouchers

0.03 MILES

Uniquely colourful Rue and Petite Rue des Bouchers are a pair of narrow alleys jam-packed with pavement tables, pyramids of lemons and iced displays of…

2. Galeries St-Hubert

0.05 MILES

When opened in 1847 by King Léopold I, the glorious Galeries St-Hubert formed Europe’s very first shopping arcade. Many enticing shops lie behind its…

3. Brussels City Museum

0.06 MILES

Old maps, architectural relics and paintings give a historical overview of the city. Don’t miss Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1567 Cortège de Noces (Wedding…

4. Jeanneke Pis

0.06 MILES

Squatting just off Rue des Bouchers, this pigtailed female counterpart of Manneken Pis is the work of sculptor Denis Adrien Debouvrie, who installed her…

5. Maison du Roi

0.06 MILES

This fanciful feast of neo-Gothic arches, verdigris statues and mini-spires is bigger, darker and nearly 200 years younger than the surrounding guildhalls…

6. Le Pigeon

0.06 MILES

Victor Hugo lived here at the artists' guildhall during a part of his exile from France in 1852.

7. Chaloupe d’Or

0.07 MILES

The dressmakers' guildhall is now a particularly splendid grand café whose upper-storey rooms (when open) offer fine views across the square.

8. Maison des Boulangers

0.08 MILES

The bakers' guildhall is now the cafe Le Roy d’Espagne. The gilded bronze bust above the door is bakers’ patron St-Aubert.