Brussels WW2 Walking Tour: Life in Occupied Brussels
- 2 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- 2 languages
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
This is the official Occupied Brussels walking tour, created as part of an independent historical project dedicated to making the city’s Second World War occupation history more accessible to visitors. During this 2 hour, intimate and easy-paced walking tour, you will learn: - How the Belgian government responded to the invasion. - How ordinary people adapted to survive: the Belgian exodus, black markets, bombings, and resistance movements. -How the Jewish population was discriminated against, persecuted, and targeted for deportation. -How Brussels managed to regain its freedom and peace once more. The Guide Héctor Martínez is a fiction writer inspired by the complexities of war. Drawing on research and storytelling, he created Occupied Brussels to make the city’s hidden wartime stories accessible, connecting documented events to the streets where they happened.
Inclusions
What's included
- Visite guidée
Itinerary
The official palace of the King of the Belgians. At this stop, we will explore how the population first reacted to the German invasion in May 1940, and examine the complex role played by the monarchy and the Belgian government before and during the occupation.
Now a high school, this building once housed a printing shop that became world-famous for a bold act of resistance against Nazi propaganda during the occupation.
At Belgium’s most important synagogue, we will reflect on the experience of Brussels’ Jewish community during the occupation: daily restrictions, persecution, arrests, deportations, and the systematic violence of the Nazi “Final Solution.”
Here, we will visit the monument honouring Belgian infantrymen of both World Wars, before turning to two major sites of occupation history: the Palais de Justice, occupied by the Nazis and set on fire during their retreat, and Avenue Louise, where the Gestapo headquarters became the target of a daring act of resistance by a Belgian pilot.
In the heart of the Marolles district, where black markets once flourished under occupation, this lively square conceals an almost forgotten wartime secret beneath its cobblestones.
Along this old street, a visible reminder remains of the Jewish people deported during the wartime roundups. At the end of the street, a nearly century-old women’s organization that courageously helped hide Jewish children from deportation continues its work to this day.
In April 1945, Hitler killed himself in his Berlin bunker. But in Brussels, the news gave rise to rumours, disbelief, and one of the city’s most unusual acts of public satire.
World-famous cartoonist Hergé continued publishing Tintin during the occupation in Le Soir, a newspaper controlled by the German authorities. After the liberation, he was accused of collaboration, raising difficult questions about art, compromise, and survival under occupation.
In September 1944, as local authorities regained control of the city, twice-occupied Brussels could finally celebrate its liberation.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Know before you go
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 6 travellers
- Operated by
- WW2 Occupied Brussels | Walking Tour
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
How it compares in Brussels
- Its from-price is 57% below the median of the 680 experiences we list in Brussels.
- It is shorter than most of them.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About Brussels
Brussels, Belgium's capital and a seat of European institutions, pairs a gilded Grand-Place with comic-strip murals, Art Nouveau houses and waffle stalls.
The Grand-Place is the centre of old Brussels, a cobbled square ringed by gilded guildhalls and the Gothic town hall, whose spire rises over everything. A few streets away, the small bronze Manneken Pis draws a crowd. On the hill above, the Royal Palace and the Mont des Arts gardens look down on the lower town, while the Atomium, a giant model of an iron crystal built for the 1958 World Fair, stands on the northern edge.
Top-ranked sights in Brussels: Grand-Place (Grote Markt), Manneken Pis, Royal Galleries of Saint Hubert (Les Galeries St-Hubert).
Special offers in Brussels
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
