Marolles Flea Market

The Vieux Marche has been held on the Place du Jeu de Balle every morning since 1873, seven days a week, and it is a genuine flea market rather than an antiques fair: stalls and ground sheets spread with house clearances, tools, furniture, records, clothing, crockery, and a great deal of ordinary junk, with prices that reflect that and dealers who expect haggling. The Marolles around it is a working-class Brussels quarter with its own dialect and a long history of resisting redevelopment, and the streets running off the square hold second-hand shops, cafes and a run of restaurants. Weekend mornings are the largest days; weekdays are smaller, cheaper and easier to look through properly.

The main sights

• Daily since 1873 - a flea market that has run every morning for 150 years.
• Ground-sheet stalls - house clearances spread out on the cobbles.
• The Marolles quarter - a working-class district with its own dialect.
• Second-hand shops around it - the trade spilling into the side streets.

When to go

Year round, every morning from about seven; it packs up by early afternoon. Two hours. Weekends are biggest and busiest; weekdays are quieter and prices lower. Rain thins it considerably.

Practical notes

Much of what is sold is genuine junk. Prices for visitors start high and haggling is expected. Pickpocketing is a known problem on busy days. It packs up by early afternoon, so late arrivals find nothing.

Nearby

The Sablon is uphill; the Palais de Justice looms above the quarter.