If you're a chocoholic like myself, it's hard to walk through Brussels without stopping every five minutes to pop into another chocolate shop and try a praline or truffle. Brussels has many amazing sites and foods to offer, but one of my top to-dos was trying as much chocolate as I could during my weekend visit. While I would have loved a guided chocolate tour, they can range anywhere from around €30 to €75! I decided to save some money, do my own research, and create a self-guided tour of the Chocolate Capital of the World.
Before We Get Started
Our tour consisted of five chocolatiers, four of which have shops located in the Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert which makes hitting all the stops super easy. We went to most of the stops in quick succession with a few breaks for sight seeing in between, but of course you can make your tour last as long as you'd like! Including the walking, sight seeing, and time spent in each location, we spent about 1.5 hours total on our tour. You can also make it as cheap or expensive as you'd like, though overall getting a few pieces at each place won't break the bank! I got 2 or 3 pieces of chocolate at each place and never spent more than €3 at any of the shops.
La Belgique Gourmande
We started our tour at La Belguique Gourmande. You can find them in the Royal Gallery or near the Grand Place (this is where we went). At first I only picked out one chocolate here - their Speculoos truffle. My first Belgian chocolate, and it did not disappoint! I think this was one of the best things I've ever eaten, so before our flight home I stopped by and picked some up for the road.
Location: Rue de la Colline 9
Le Comptoir de Mathilde
Next stop was Le Comptoir de Mathilde. This is the only one that you won't find in the Royal Gallery - instead, it's located only a minute away from the Grand Place. You won't find the typical plethora of truffles and pralines here. Instead, you'll find blocks of chocolate, a self-service area with small chocolate squares, and amazing hot chocolate options. They offer hot chocolate to go so you can warm up on a chilly Brussels day, or packaged hot chocolate on a stick to take with you when you leave the city. We opted for a couple of the chocolate squares. They weren't my favorite chocolate pieces, but they were the cheapest!
Location: Rue au Beurre 17
Neuhaus
We then made our way to the beautiful shopping center, Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, where we hit our third stop - Neuhaus. This was the prettiest chocolate shop we stopped in, and one of my favorites! This is where the praline was born, created in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus Jr. I took a walking tour of Brussels where I also learned that Neuhaus started as a pharmacy - Jean Neuhaus Jr. would cover his medicine in chocolate to make it more appealing. Later on, he created the praline by replacing the medicine inside the chocolate coating with, of course, more chocolate. At Neuhaus I tried two pieces - one covered in bits of waffle (incredible), and one filled with caramel.
Location: Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, but there are several locations throughout Brussels.
Mary
Mary Delluc opened the first Mary Chocolatier store in 1919 and it has been a success ever since. Mary offers pralines and truffles in a wide variety of flavors, from champagne to spicy caramel. When it comes to chocolate, I'm not super adventurous and tend to go for basic flavors. Here I tried the dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate peanut, and the spicy caramel (essentially cinnamon). The chocolates were amazing and absolutely beautiful, but you will spend a bit more money here.
Location: Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, but there are several locations throughout Brussels.
Leonidas
Leonidas was our last stop on the tour, and honestly the least impressive. The atmosphere was not as exciting as the other shops and their chocolate not quite as delicious. There is no such thing as bad chocolate, this was just my least favorite of the five. I tried a piece of plain ol' milk chocolate and dark chocolate pistachio, and my friend tried the banana praline (which she loved).
Location: Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert, but there are several locations throughout Brussels.
Want More?
If your chocolate craving isn't quite satisfied yet, here are a few more chocolatiers you can check out.
Pierre Marcolini One word: luxury. The chocolates are beautiful, and this seemed to be a favorite for many visitors.
Elisabeth Very cute and very simple. Along with a counter where you can choose your own chocolates, there are lots of packaged assorted chocolates if you're in need of a gift to take home with you (or to keep for yourself).
Godiva You'll find Godiva shops all around Brussels (and the world). We decided to forego Godiva because we can find it just about anywhere, but their chocolate never disappoints!
Corne-Port Royal We didn't get any chocolate at Corne-Port Royal, but the shop is luxurious and beautiful, it's worth checking out.
I hope this helped guide you along your own chocolate journey through Brussels!
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