Royal Palace of Brussels and Coudenberg

The Royal Palace is the official working palace of the Belgian monarch, who does not live there, and it opens to the public free of charge for about six weeks from late July, which is the only way to see the state rooms: the Throne Room, the Grand Staircase, the Empire Room, and the Mirror Room, whose ceiling Jan Fabre covered in 2002 with the iridescent wing cases of about a million and a half jewel beetles, a commission that remains the most argued-about thing in the building. Beneath the square in front lies the Coudenberg, the medieval and Renaissance palace of the dukes of Brabant and of Charles V, which burned in 1731 and was levelled and built over, leaving cellars, the Rue Isabelle and the Aula Magna as an archaeological site open year round.

What you actually see

• The beetle-wing ceiling - a million and a half jewel beetle cases in the Mirror Room.
• State rooms in summer - throne room and staircase, free for six weeks.
• The buried Coudenberg palace - cellars and streets under the square.
• The Aula Magna - the great hall of Charles V's palace, underground.

When to go

Late July to early September for the palace, which is the only period it opens; the Coudenberg site is open year round. Two to three hours for both. Queues form in the palace opening weeks.

Honest expectations

The palace is open only about six weeks a year and queues can be long; outside that you see the facade. The Coudenberg is a separate ticket and is essentially cellars, which needs interest in the archaeology. Photography rules vary.

Nearby

The Magritte Museum and Mont des Arts are a short walk; the Sablon lies south.