Beyond the Museum: A Walking Route Through Brussels' Canal District

Start: Kanal-Centre Pompidou, Place Sainctelette

Kanal opens on Saturday 28 November 2026 at Place Sainctelette (Sainctelettesquare 21, 1000 Brussels). It occupies a former 1930s Citroën garage of about 40,000 m² on the canal.

About half of the building is free public space, which you can explore without an exhibition ticket. The building also houses Kanal Architecture, the institution formerly known as CIVA.

The opening weekend on 28–29 November is a free festival, running from Saturday 10:00 through Sunday 22:00. It includes ten exhibitions plus performances, concerts and DJ sets. The exhibitions require a pre-booked time slot, and the free opening-weekend tickets have already been claimed, so check the opening weekend page for what is still available. Expect crowds, and treat the walk below as a way to stretch your legs between sessions.

Tickets and hours

• Art Ticket: €18 regular, €16.20 over-65s, €9 ages 19–26, €2.50 ages 13–18, free for under-12s. Brussels Card and museumPASSmusées holders get in free.
• NO SHOW ticket: €14 regular, €2.50 ages 13–18, free for under-12s. It covers the temporary exhibition in Room 3, which runs from 28 November 2026 to 17 January 2027, and is valid for one day.
• Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00–19:00, with late opening on Fridays until 22:00.

Full details are on kanal.brussels.

Stop 2: Tour & Taxis and its park

From Place Sainctelette, head north along the canal side towards Avenue du Port. Tour & Taxis (Avenue du Port 86C) is the city's great former customs and freight complex, and its scale is a good match for Kanal's.

The centrepiece for visitors is Gare Maritime (1 Rue Picard), a former freight station turned into a hub for food, shops and events. It's a practical lunch stop on the route if you've arrived without a plan.

Behind the buildings, Tour & Taxis Park opened in 2014, with wide lawns and long sightlines over the old railway land. In late November the light goes early, so this is the stop to do while it's still bright.

A few practical points if you're coming here first:

• Brussels-North station is about a 10-minute walk from Kanal.
• The Red Route hop-on hop-off bus stops at Gare Maritime.
• Drivers should note that the site is in the Low Emission Zone.

Stop 3: The Molenbeek bank

Walk back south and cross to the west side of the canal. This is Molenbeek, and the quayside here is residential and unpolished. It feels very different from the curated spaces you've just left.

The reason to come over is the perspective. From this side you see the canal as the border it has always been, between the old centre and the communes to the west, and you get the view back across the water to Kanal and the port-era buildings around it. Keep the pace easy and save your coffee for the next stop.

Stop 4: Quai aux Briques and Sainte-Catherine

Cross back over the canal and head into Sainte-Catherine. Its long, open quays trace the lines of the old inner docks that once brought boats into the heart of the city. Quai aux Briques is the street for a sit-down break, with waffle counters and tea rooms along the quay.

Stop 5: Rue Antoine Dansaert

Finish on Rue Antoine Dansaert, the city's fashion and design street. It runs between the canal and the Bourse, so walking it towards the Bourse brings you neatly back into the centre.

Stops along the way include Stijl, the Brussels multi-brand fashion store, and the Belgian design shop Icon. You'll also pass the gallery of Antwerp designer Dries Van Noten. For skincare, Oh My Cream is at number 10 and opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30–19:00.

Planning your walk

• Pick your day carefully. Kanal is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Oh My Cream, for one, is closed on Sundays. A Wednesday to Saturday gives you the best chance of finding everything open.
• Try it in reverse on a Friday. Start with lunch in Sainte-Catherine and shopping on Dansaert, then walk out to Tour & Taxis while it's light. End at Kanal for its late opening until 22:00.
• Dress for the quays. The route is flat, but the canal is exposed. A November wind off the water is reason enough to stop for that waffle.

Opening hours, ticket prices and tenants at Tour & Taxis can change, especially around a major opening, so check before you go. Use kanal.brussels and tour-taxis.com, and see visit.brussels for more on Dansaert and Sainte-Catherine.