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Information and maps
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Aside from the offices at the airport, there are two
tourist information offices
in the city, both located right in the centre. The main one is the
BI-TC
(Bruxelles International - Tourisme et CongrA?s), in the HA?tel de Ville on the Grand-Place (May-Sept daily 9am-6pm; Oct-Dec & March-April Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-2pm; Jan & Feb Mon-Sat 9am-6pm; tel 02 513 89 40, fax 513 83 20,
www.tib.be
), which handles information on the city only. It stocks a wide range of handouts, including free city maps, has details of up-and-coming events and concerts and sells a variety of general- and specialist-interest guides, the most useful of which is the detailed
Brussels Guide and Map
(a?¬2). In addition, the BI-TC issues a list of all the city's (recognized) hotels, and makes
hotel reservations
for free - the deposit is subtracted from your final hotel bill. This is especially attractive as the BI-TC can often offer substantial discounts on published rates. It can help with public transport, too: the BI-TC sells the 24-hour
carte d'un jour
pass and issues free public transport maps. Finally, the BI-TC offers several
package deals
, combining public transport and admission into certain sights, though frankly these aren't especially enticing. Probably the best is the
Tourist Passport
(a?¬7.45), which entitles bearers to free use of the city's public transport network for two days and offers modest discounts at a variety of attractions, though you do have to work fairly hard to recover your outlay.
The Bulletin (a?¬2.35), the city's main English-language weekly, contains an excellent entertainment listings section, detailing what's on and where. The magazine is on sale at most downtown newsagents. The BI-TC also provides The Bulletin 's listings section - "What's On" - for free. The city centre's second tourist office, the Belgian tourist information centre , footsteps from the Grand-Place at rue MarchA© aux Herbes 63 (July & Aug Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm & 2-7pm; May, June, Sept & Oct Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-1pm & 2-6pm; Nov-April Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm & 2-6pm, Sun 9am-1pm; tel 02 504 03 90, fax 504 02 70), provides information on the whole of Belgium. They do stock a few brochures on Brussels, but this is not their main concern - they leave the city largely to the BI-TC. They also operate a hotel room reservation service, but again it's for the rest of Belgium, not Brussels.
If you need a large city
map
, buy the
Girault Gilbert
map, which comes complete with an index. It's available at most city-centre souvenir shops, newsagents and bookshops, but at prices that range from a?¬4.95 to a?¬7.45: as you might expect, the souvenir shops near the Grand-Place tend to up the ante. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Belgium,
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