What’s it like? I’ve heard it’s a boring city, but…

– Is it reasonably near Paris/Amsterdam/Bruges/other cool places?
– Is there good riding nearby (even if it’s only road – gnarly cobbles – Paris Roubaix etc.)?
– Although it’s boring, I’ve also heard it’s a more meritocratic place than the City, with fewer Sloanes and particularly Apprentice candidate-types. Is this accurate?
– Do you have long-term prospects there if you don’t speak any foreign languages?

chocolate, beer and sea food, oh and chips. what more do you want?

And waffles. Nom nom.

1) I’ve only been on holiday but didn’t seem boring to me. Plenty of nice bars, bands, stuff going on etc. (Far more exciting than Bruge I reckon)
2) Not that near to Paris / Amsterdam but few can do it by train in a few hours (and the trains are much better)
3) Seemed to be a bit more common sense and people doing stuff rather than bigging themselves up for creating managment plans and product images. People were still smart but didn’t seem to have such a smugness about it.
4) EVERYONE spoke perfect English and so one seemed at all bothered by the language stuff. I know several people who’ve worked there one one year placements and have got on fine without it.

WARNING avoid city centre tourist bars, they are mega expensive and there’ll be something cheaper and nicer, if you’re a bit more persistant.

boring? it’s a wicked place. what andy said for a start plus great architecture. also belgians love bikes, so there is plenty of riding stuff to do, they all speak about 150000000 languages and there’s a statue of a boy taking a piss.

I lived there for a while. In summary: expensive, Front 242, beer, French-ness, Eurostar.

(I shared an office with a concentration camp survivor, which was very interesting.)

I lived and worked there for about a year. Note that I was parachuted in there following the takeover of a Belgian company by a UK parent, so they didn’t choose me. Also I had to get rid of a fair number of staff, so it’s fair to say that I would never have been on their ‘favourite guy’ list.

It’s a bit like Wolverhampton but without the atmosphere, though I suppose at least the transport links (by train) are very good. Traffic’s appalling, and don’t even think of trying to get to the airport by road on a Friday afternoon.

Meritocratic is not what I’d call it, though it depends on whether you’re connected to the political sphere (in which case it’s a nest of vipers) or the business world (in which case it’s a place like any other). It’s not like the City, more like working in Manchester. It doesn’t feel like a capital city, let’s put it that way.

Whilst most Belgians (at least in the business world) speak very good English, they’re (in my experience at least) fairly intolerant of outsiders, and you’ll hear a lot of switching into Flemish/French when you approach if you only speak English. Depends on if you’re in a multinational where English is the mandated language, but even then language skills would be a huge advantage.

It feels a little like the 1970s in some senses – my experience is that staff like to be led and expect “the management” to make decisions. I certainly saw a good deal less creativity from the business in general than I did from the UK, German or French offices. Also they’re a pretty formal bunch; office doors were generally closed, there was a suits-only dress code, and you’d do well to leave your sense of humour at home rather than taking it to the office. Dour would well describe the people I worked with in Brussels.

Would I recommend it? I left there at the end of 2008 and have not been back. Nor do intend to at any time in the near future ever again.

I work in Brussels but live about 70km west near Gent.

Brussels is pretty sh1tty in my honest opinion though it depends what your experience is. I’m not really a city dweller (more of largish town kinda guy). There are a huge amount of foreign nationals in the city so English is absolutely no restriction to living but may hamper your long term work prospects. Obviously learning one of the local languages isn’t so hard but you must realise that speaking languages is not considered a skill in Belgium – just normal. My lady speaks EN, NL, FR & DE all fluently. I have learnt NL (Flemish) which to be honest is not so hard though the accents can be a bit of kick in the balls at times.

Traffic jams are quite frankly an arse.

With regards cycling Belgium is just awesome. Lots of everything. There are stunning marathons every weekend in the Ardennes & more signposted tours than you can ever dream of.

Thanks for this. Really helpful.

I think I’m going to do it. It’s only six months and I’m just so, so sick of the City (the West End might be different).

I’m saddened to hear Brussels is like Wolverhampton but without the atmosphere (very funny description by the way)…at least though there are important decisions being made there, institutions, etc.

If you are used to London then Brussels may actually be quite pleasant 🙂
6 months is not really moving anyway! That’s just a long business trip…

Going to work at (or linked to) the EU commission?

Back when I used to contract I did two stints (one of 6-months and the other of a year) living and working in Brussels with the family. Now while I suspect it isn’t the most exciting place to visit it’s actually a pretty good place to live, with lots of nice resteraunts and some decent museums etc. It’s also pretty easy to get to other parts of Europe (I used to be able to drive from my house in Brussels to my other house in Munich in bang on 5 hours).

All signposted MTB-routes in Flanders and Wallonia:
http://www.mtbroutes.be/kaart.aspx

If speed and safety are important, then go for the towpaths along Belgian rivers and canals:
List: http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/by/fietslogies
Map: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Belgium-cycling-routes-by-Fietslogies-summary
Only one of all these tracks passes through Brussels: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bruxelles-Brussel-Charleroi-Thuin-Maubeuge-Fourmies-Hirson-Guise

Look out for the mtb club thingy – organises rides twice a week, many in forests around Brussels.
I lived out in the suburbs which was a bit of a pain one way or another. A place nearer town would have been better, not least cos the daily commute would have been shorter – traffic is a real pig every morning and evening and even more so on Fridays.
Plenty to do if you like cafes, bars, clubs, museums, street markets, etc. I had mixed experiences with restaurants – generally over priced in Brussels, some very good ones around in and out of Brussels.
Antwerp is great fun and only 40 mins away by train, Leuven is good too.