About us - Explore Brussels

Explore Brussels?
An Introduction

Explore.Brussels is a network of high-quality guided tour organizations in the Brussels-Capital Region.
Founded in 1994 and incorporated as a nonprofit organization (ASBL) in 2015, it includes the member organizations ARAU, Arkadia, Bruxelles Bavard, and Pro Velo.
La Fonderie (2020) and Korei (2021) have joined the network as partner organizations.
The network centralizes a diverse and cohesive offering, providing visitors—at no extra cost—with a wide range of guided tour themes, thereby avoiding competition among its members.
Its shared mission is to showcase the tangible and intangible heritage of the Brussels-Capital Region.

Explore.Brussels also works with its members to organize large-scale guided interior tours that a single association could not organize on its own. The best-known event is the Brussels Art Nouveau & Art Deco (BANAD) Festival.
Explore.Brussels specializes in Brussels’ Art Nouveau and Art Deco heritage and is also a pioneer in showcasing neoclassical and eclectic heritage. As such, it also develops other projects related to these themes.

Topics

In addition to Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Neoclassical, and Eclectic styles, the platform’s selection of guided tours covers themes as varied as green spaces, art, comics, gastronomy, folklore, history, heritage, and Europe… a wide range of options, from classics such as the Grand-Place, beer, and chocolate, to the exceptional, the unexpected, and hidden gems—more than 500 themes in all.
Tours for individual visitors are available year-round and are conducted in French, Dutch, English, and German.
These tours take place on foot, by bike, by bus, and by boat.
All tours can be arranged for groups year-round and in a variety of languages.
Special tours are organized for specific audiences, including school groups and people with limited mobility.

Events and Projects

At the heart of the events organized by Explore.Brussels are guided tours of remarkable interiors that are usually closed to the public.

In collaboration with numerous partners, these tours are complemented by activities that also highlight the city’s architectural heritage: exhibitions, lectures, guided walks, concerts, themed evenings, family activities,
and more. The Brussels Art Nouveau & Art Deco (BANAD) Festival thus celebrates these two architectural styles every March.
The Brussels Biennale – Neoclassic (BBN) focuses on this architectural style of the long 19th century as well as on the urban development of the Region, which still governs many of the principles we know today.
The Brussels Biennale of Eclectic Architecture (BBEA) explores this architectural style, which spans from 1840 through Art Nouveau to Modernism.
The Hôtels de Maître tour program offers guided tours of a selection of Art Nouveau sites on the first Saturday of every month and year-round upon request for groups.

In addition to these guided tours, Explore.Brussels organizes the guide training program, the Owners’ Club, and the Friends of Explore.Brussels Club, and also offers an Art Nouveau walking map.

Explore.Brussels' Values

Respect: for the sites visited, cultural heritage, partners, the public, and the environment

Professionalism and expertise: quality of tours and activities, content, guides, hospitality, and partners

Synergy and Team Spirit: collaboration and communication with partners; quality of work within teams (permanent staff, temporary staff, guides, students, etc.)

Commitment and passion: from all employees and partners in the implementation of various projects