Hop-On Hop-Off Bus in Brussels: Bus, Walking Tour or Brussels Card?
4 min read
For most first visits, a guided walk of the centre beats the bus; the bus earns its ticket if you want the sights that lie away from the Grand-Place. The Tootbus hop-on hop-off ticket costs €24.75, is rated 4.0 from 5,001 reviews and is valid for 24 or 48 hours. The guided walking tour costs €25, is rated 4.6 from 4,355 reviews and takes 2.5 hours.
What the bus ticket includes
According to the booking page, you get a 24- or 48-hour ticket, an open-top double-decker, audio commentary on the bus and in the provider’s app, a children’s audio guide, onboard Wi-Fi and earphones, or you can bring your own. The app also holds the mobile ticket, real-time bus tracking and self-guided walking tours. Sights named on the page include the Atomium, the Grand-Place, the European quarter, Manneken Pis, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Sablons quarter, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Place Royale, the cathedral and the Marolles. The page marks the bus as wheelchair accessible and excludes oversize luggage, alcohol and drugs. Timetables are not on the booking page; the provider asks you to check its website.
The point of the bus is to go further afield: the booking page names routes to the Atomium and Mini-Europe. Mini-Europe itself is closed for the winter from 4 January to 12 March 2027. If you plan to see them, read our guide to Mini-Europe and the Atomium first.
What the walking tour gives you
The walk is led in Spanish, English and French. According to its booking page, it splits the centre into the Lower City and the Upper City to show how Brussels grew: the Grand-Place, the monument to Everard ‘t Serclaes, Manneken Pis, the Royal Galleries of Saint-Hubert, Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral, the Royal Park and the Royal Palace. A Belgian chocolate tasting is among its highlights, and the meeting point is Grand-Place 29. The page also labels it wheelchair accessible; confirm the route with the operator before booking if that matters to you. Tram or bus tickets and museum tickets appear in the page’s list of inclusions and exclusions without a clear mark, so plan to pay for them yourself.
Another option is the guided walk with optional beer tasting, also 2.5 hours, priced from €19 with 90 reviews. The tasting is an option, so check what you select.
Or a Brussels Card
If you want several museums, look at the Brussels Card instead. The official visit.brussels pages describe it as a 24-, 48- or 72-hour card with free entry to dozens of museums, plus optional add-ons for STIB public transport, the Atomium and the Tootbus. The Choco-Story museum says on its own site that it is covered. On GetYourGuide, the Brussels Card costs €41 and is rated 3.9 from 239 reviews. A card only pays when you actually use it: count the museums you would visit before you buy.
How to decide
- First visit, centre only, two or three hours: the walking tour.
- Sights spread across the city, little walking: the bus.
- Several museums in two days: the Brussels Card, checked against your list.
Our recommendation
Book the guided walking tour for the centre, and add the bus only if the Atomium and the outer districts are on your list. More options are on our bus and bike tours page and our walking tours page.
