|
Lying northwest of the city, Heysel , a 500-acre estate bequeathed to the authorities by Leopold II in 1909, is best described as a theme park without a theme. Its most famous attraction is the Atomium (daily: April-Aug 9am-8pm; Sept-March 10am-6pm; ?5.45), a curious model of a molecule expanded 165 billion times, which was built for the 1958 World Fair in Brussels. The structure has become something of a symbol of the city. Unfortunately what it contains in its dilapidated interior is an unremarkable science museum, and the main interest is the feeling of disorientation when travelling from sphere to sphere by the escalator. The Atomium borders a large trade fair area - the Parc des Expositions , where they held the World Fairs of 1935 and 1958 - and the Stade du Roi Baudouin , formerly the infamous Heysel football stadium in which 39 (mainly Italian) supporters were crushed to death when a sector wall collapsed in 1985. International fixtures are held here, and it was the main Belgian venue for Euro 2000, which Belgium hosted jointly with Holland. The Bruparck leisure complex is also close by, and although its commercial nature is not to everybody's taste, it's a handy place to take the kids. The child-oriented attractions include Oceade, a water funpark, a gigantic cinema complex called Kinepolis, and Mini-Europe, where you can see scaled-down models of selected European buildings.
Your Tip for Heysel
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Heysel - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Heysel - visit the main Heysel forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Heysel webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
