Manneken Pis

Northwest Belgium

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Brussels isn't the only city in which a little boy statue relieves himself. Indeed, many locals insist that Geraardsbergen's Manneken Pis is the original. The gently dribbling fountain is in a corner of the main square fronting the turreted 1893 town hall, which adopts a medieval fantasy appearance when floodlit at night.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Officials unveil the restored exterior panels of "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb", an altar piece painted by the Van Eyck brothers in 1432, at Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent on October 12, 2016. .The restoration of the exterior panels and frames started in 2012, and constitutes the first phase of restauration which will be followed by two other phases for the interior panels and is set to last until 2020. / AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

    The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

    20.63 MILES

    Art enthusiasts swarm the Sint-Baafskathedraal to glimpse The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (De Aanbidding van het Lams God), a lavish representation of…

  • BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - August 09, 2014: General view of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, one of the most visited museums in Belgium with its large art collection.; Shutterstock ID 586734455; Your name (First / Last): Daniel Fahey; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts POI

    Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

    21.36 MILES

    This prestigious museum incorporates the Musée d’Art Ancien (ancient art); the Musée d’Art Moderne (modern art), with works by surrealist Paul Delvaux and…

  • Belgium, Ghent

    Gravensteen

    20.98 MILES

    Flanders’ quintessential 12th-century stone castle comes complete with moat, turrets and arrow slits. It’s all the more remarkable considering that during…

  • The museum of musical instruments "Old England", Brussels, Belgium

    Old England Building

    21.41 MILES

    This 1899 former department store is an art nouveau showpiece with a black facade aswirl with wrought iron and arched windows. The building contains the…

  • Triumphal Arch at Parc du Cinquantenaire in the EU Quarter.

    Parc du Cinquantenaire

    22.89 MILES

    Parc du Cinquantenaire was built during Léopold II's reign. It's best known for its cluster of museums – art, history, military and motor vehicles – which…

  • TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Laurent Thomet.A picture taken on July 28, 2011 shows stuffed rhinoceros at the Brussels Royal Institute for Natural Sciences Museum. It was a daring daytime robbery at the natural science museum. The two thieves snuck into the rhino gallery and ripped a stuffed head off the wall. They carried it to a restroom, opened a window, and dropped the 30-kilo trophy two-stories down to an accomplice waiting in a van. The museum had never been robbed until the July heist, when it became the latest of a rising number of science museums in Europe targetted by thieves for rhino horns, which can fetch tens of thousands of euros on the black market. AFP PHOTO / GEORGES GOBET (Photo credit should read GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty Images)

    Institut des Sciences Naturelles

    22.07 MILES

    Thought-provoking and highly interactive, this museum has far more than the usual selection of stuffed animals. But the undoubted highlight is a unique …

  • Lace making in Bruges, 2014. The intricate lace patterns in Belgium are unmatched in any other country. The lace trade rose during the early Renaissance. Emperor Charles V decreed that lace-making should be a compulsory skill for girls in convents and beguines throughout Flanders. Lace became fashionable on collars and cuffs for both sexes. Trade reached a peak in the 18th century. Lace makers are traditionally women. Hundreds of craftswomen still work in Bruges and Brussels, centres of bobbin lace, creating intricate work by hand, often using over 100 threads per bobbin. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

    Musée Mode & Dentelle

    21.15 MILES

    Lace making has been one of Flanders’ finest crafts since the 16th century. While kloskant (bobbin lace) originated in Bruges, naaldkant (needlepoint lace…

  • Musée Art & Histoire

    Musée Art & Histoire

    22.76 MILES

    This astonishingly rich collection ranges from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and Meso-American masks to icons to wooden bicycles. Decide what you want to…

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Nearby Northwest Belgium attractions

1. De Permanensje

0.04 MILES

Combining the local tourist office and the former Manneken-Pismuseum, this compact museum has a variety of multimedia introductions to the trades and…

2. Muur van Geraardsbergen

0.23 MILES

For cycle-racing enthusiasts the name Geraardsbergen is inextricably linked with the 'Muur' (Mur de Grammont in French), a steep cobbled rise that…

4. Geraardsbergse Musea

0.32 MILES

This simple, sweetly old-fashioned museum has no one distinct theme but features rooms with small collections of artefacts as diverse as matchboxes,…

5. Hôpital Notre-Dame à la Rose

4.64 MILES

Founded in 1242, this is Belgium’s only medieval convent-farm-hospital complex to have survived reasonably intact. Laboriously restored, it demonstrates…

6. Parc d’Enghien

8.8 MILES

Originally set out in the 17th century by the dukes of Arenberg, the Parc d’Enghien incorporates vast stands of woodland, fountains, statues, a tiny …

7. Espace Gallo-Romain

10.8 MILES

A fascinating place to learn about the region's Roman roots, with audiovisual displays and a collection of objects from the distant past. Among the…

8. Maison des Géants

10.99 MILES

If you miss the giants' festival, you can learn more at the Maison des Géants, in a grand old mansion opposite the castle-style tower of Église St-Julien…

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