Musical Instruments Museum

The museum occupies the Old England building, an iron and glass Art Nouveau department store of 1899 by Paul Saintenoy, and holds a collection of around eight thousand instruments from across the world and across several centuries, of which about a thousand are displayed on four floors. Its distinguishing feature is the audio: infrared headphones trigger recordings automatically as you approach each case, so the instruments are heard as well as seen, which for a collection of this kind changes the experience completely. Strengths include early keyboards, Adolphe Sax material since he worked in Brussels, non-European instruments from the Congo collections, and mechanical instruments. The rooftop restaurant has one of the best views in the city.

What you actually see

• Automatic audio at every case - instruments heard through headphones as you pass.
• The Old England building - an 1899 iron and glass Art Nouveau store.
• Adolphe Sax instruments - material from the saxophone's inventor in Brussels.
• The rooftop restaurant view - across the lower town from the top floor.

When to go

Year round. Two to three hours; the audio makes it slower than a normal museum. Closed Mondays. The rooftop is worth booking at lunchtime. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Honest expectations

The headphones fail intermittently and some cases have no audio. Only an eighth of the collection is displayed. The building has many small level changes. The rooftop restaurant is expensive and busy.

Nearby

The Magritte Museum is uphill; Mont des Arts is at the door.