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Brussels, the capital of Belgium is the administrative center of the European Union (EU), the European Community (EC) and a modern cosmopolitan city. The city functions as one of Europe’s major hubs and has even been referred to as the “capital of Europe”. Abundant in historical structures, the city features the Grand Place famous for its “Manneken Pis” and a beautiful streetscape full of art and other museums known as “Petit Paris”. As well, the old part of the city reminiscent of the medieval era is called “the art museum without the roof”. Although Belgium is roughly as large as the island of Shikoku in Japan, it is officially trilingual due to the sharing of borders with Germany, France and Holland. Brussels is the leading gastronomic center of Europe. Local guidebooks claim that the city boasts the world’s largest number of restaurants per capita and features many Michelin-starred restaurants, attracting epicureans the world over with traditional French cooking infused with Belgian local cuisine. Casual restaurants are concentrated in Ilot Sacre, the district extending northeast of the Grand Place in the central part of the city and known as “the stomach of Brussels”. The streets of this district are named after ingredients and seasonings and bustle daily with customers holding glasses of Belgian beer. Belgians are strongly proud of their domestic beer and are said to pay the same amount of respect to it as wine. International service to Brussels is provided by international high speed trains (EuroCity (EC), Thalys (THA) and Eurostar (ERS)), limited express trains (InterCity (IC)) and express trains (International Sneltrain (INT)). International terminals are located at 3 stations - Brussels North, Brussels Central and Brussels Midi. Train services linking to major cities in Western Europe such as InterCity (IC) and others stop at all three stations but international high speed trains such as Thalys (THS) and Eurostar (ERS) do not stop at Brussels north or Brussels Central as Brussels Midi is the terminus. Please make sure where your train stops when purchasing a train ticket. Approx. 2 hrs 40 min. via Thalys (THA) Approx. 2 hrs 45 min. via InterCity (IC) Approx. 5 hrs 45 min by International Sneltrain (INT) Approx. 1 hr 25 min via Thalys (THA) Approx. 5 hrs 20 min via Overnight Train Approx. 2 hrs 20 min via Eurostar (ERS) Approx. 2 hrs 18 min via Thalys (THA) Approx. 2 hrs 15 min via InterCity (IC) Long-distance bus services to/from all European countries depart and arrive in Brussels. International departure and arrival terminals are located below Brussels North Station. Approx. 4 hrs to/from Amsterdam, Holland Approx. 4 hrs to/from Paris, France Approx. 8 hrs to/from London, UK Approx. 6 hrs 30 min to/from Frankfurt, Germany Several airlines operate services to Brussels from Paris, London, Amsterdam and others with flight times of about 1 hr. For Air France and associated code-share flights, Thalys high-speed trains are used between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Brussels. This train fare is included in the airfare. Trains Approx. 20 min. 1st and 2nd class cost 4.3 euros and 2.8 euros, respectively. Taxis Approx. 20 min and costs about 30 euros. Unauthorized taxis are not recommended due to exhorbitant pricing. Make sure to choose authorized taxis bearing the yellow and blue iris flower mark. The price is calculated via meter with a base price of 2.35 euros per initial ride, incremented by 1.14 euros/km within the city and 2.28 euros/km outside the city. Idle time costs 21.86 euros per hour. During the evenings, a surcharge of 4.21 euros will be added to the base price. Buses　　　　 The #12 bus operates between the airport and Brussels.