Comics Art Museum Brussels: a guide to the Belgian Comic Strip Center
Brussels: Brussels Comic Art Museum Entrance Ticket
Is the Comics Art Museum in Brussels worth visiting?
Yes, on two counts — it's a well-curated celebration of Belgian and European comics (Tintin, the Smurfs, the artists and craft behind them), and it's housed in a stunning Victor Horta Art Nouveau building, so you get architecture and comics in one. Allow 1.5–2 hours; it's central and great for families and design lovers alike.
Comics and Horta under one roof
The Comics Art Museum — officially the Belgian Comic Strip Center (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée / CBBD) — is a double treat. It’s both a serious, joyful museum of the art form Belgium gave the world, and one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau interiors in the city, because it occupies Victor Horta’s former Waucquez textile warehouse (1906). Whether you come for the comics or the architecture, you get both. Here’s how to visit. For the wider trail, see the comic strip route.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Where | Rue des Sables, lower town, near the comic murals trail |
| Cost | Around €14 adult ticket; reduced for children/students/seniors |
| Time needed | Around 1.5–2 hours |
| Getting there | Central; short walk from Bruxelles-Central or a few tram/metro stops |
| Best time | Weekday mornings, or any time — it’s an indoor, all-weather stop |
The building (worth the ticket alone)
Before the comics, the Horta interior: a luminous central hall under a glass roof, the signature sweeping iron staircase, and the flowing ironwork that made Horta famous. It’s a free-flowing, light-filled space that exemplifies Art Nouveau — and a rare chance to experience a Horta interior beyond the Horta Museum (hidden Art Nouveau gems). Even non-comic-fans leave impressed.
The warehouse was designed for the Waucquez textile company and built between 1903 and 1906. Horta, who designed it in a period when his practice was shifting from private residences to public and commercial buildings, brought the same organic intelligence to a utilitarian brief: maximum natural light via the central glass roof, iron columns set back to open the floor plan, and the now-characteristic flowing metalwork. It was derelict for much of the mid-20th century — Art Nouveau went out of fashion catastrophically — and was rescued for its current purpose in the late 1980s.
Walking in from the street and seeing the full atrium open up overhead remains one of Brussels’ better architectural surprises. The light at noon, when it floods down through the glass roof, makes the ironwork look almost decorative in the way Horta intended.
What’s inside
- The history of the comic strip — how the form developed, the techniques of drawing and storytelling, original plates and sketches.
- The Belgian greats — Hergé’s Tintin, Peyo’s Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Spirou, Gaston Lagaffe and more, with original artwork.
- A reconstructed Tintin rocket and iconic set pieces popular for photos.
- Rotating exhibitions on artists, genres and the modern bande dessinée scene.
- A specialist comics library and shop for fans.
Allow 1.5–2 hours.
The permanent collection takes you from the origins of the comic strip as a narrative form — Rodolphe Töpffer’s 19th-century picture stories are here — through the golden age of Belgian publishing in the mid-20th century, when magazines like Tintin and Spirou turned Brussels into an international hub for the art form. The original plates are the draw: seeing a Hergé page at close range, with all the pencil construction and deliberate precision of the ligne claire style, is an entirely different experience from reading it in print.
The Belgian comic tradition: why it matters
Belgium treats comics as the “ninth art” — a legitimate cultural form on a par with cinema or painting — and this museum reflects that seriousness. The collection doesn’t condescend: it analyses the techniques of storytelling, composition and character design with the same rigour you’d find in a fine art museum. For visitors who grew up knowing Tintin or the Smurfs as childhood books, seeing the originals is genuinely moving. For those encountering Belgian BD for the first time, the museum is a generous and convincing introduction.
The emphasis is on the Franco-Belgian tradition specifically: the bande dessinée that emerged from Brussels and the French-speaking world and differs markedly from the American superhero tradition or Japanese manga. It’s European in its visual restraint, literary in its storytelling ambitions, and political in a tradition that runs from Tintin’s colonial-era adventures (complicated, much discussed) through the biting social satire of later generations.
Full background on the cultural context is in Belgian comics explained.
Practical info
- Central location near the lower town / Rue des Sables, easy to combine with the murals.
- Tickets ~€14 adult, reduced for children/seniors/students; a museum entry ticket can be booked ahead to skip the queue.
- Closed Mondays (check current hours).
- Family-friendly, though some content is aimed at adult comic-art appreciation.
The museum shop deserves a visit even if you don’t do the full exhibition: it’s well stocked with original editions, prints and some beautiful collector pieces. Prices vary widely; the affordable end is good for a Tintin souvenir that has more substance than the airport shop version.
Make it a comic day
The museum is the indoor anchor of a perfect Brussels comic day:
- Morning: hunt the outdoor murals on the comic strip route — free and fun.
- Midday: the Comics Art Museum for the artwork and the Horta building.
- Afternoon: dive deeper into Tintin (guide) or browse a comic shop for a Hergé souvenir.
To add expert context, a comic murals tour or a Tintin and street-art walk pairs beautifully with the museum.
Where it fits with the rest of your trip
If comics and design aren’t your only interests, the museum sits within easy reach of other central sights: it’s a short walk from the Grand-Place and easily combined with a stop at Manneken Pis on your way through the lower town. Families building a broader day should also check things to do in Brussels with kids and the wider family activities guide, both of which slot the museum into a fuller itinerary. If you’re museum-hopping, see how it stacks up against the rest of the city’s collections in best museums in Brussels.
How it fits with the wider Art Nouveau trail
For visitors doing the Art Nouveau walking route, the Comics Art Museum is a slightly different proposition from the Horta Museum: it’s a commercial building rather than a private residence, which means a bigger, more open interior and a less domestic atmosphere. The Horta Museum on Rue Américaine is the essential Art Nouveau interior; the CBBD is a compelling bonus, particularly for anyone who has already seen the private house and wants to experience Horta at a larger scale.
The two combined make a very satisfying design day: Horta Museum in the morning for the intimate residential genius, CBBD in the afternoon for the grand public space. Both are within tram range of each other, and neither demands more than two hours.
How to pace your visit
The best way to enjoy the museum is to treat it as two visits in one. Start by standing still in the central hall for a few minutes before you look at a single page of artwork. The glass roof, the staircase and the ironwork reward slow looking, and the room is easier to appreciate before it fills with people. Then move through the collection in the order the museum suggests: origins first, then the golden age, then the contemporary scene. The story only makes sense in that sequence, because each generation of artists is reacting to the one before it.
Don’t try to read everything. The wall texts are good, but the originals are the point. Pick a handful of plates that appeal to you and spend real time with them, looking at how the pencil lines sit under the ink, how a panel is balanced, how a speech bubble is placed so that your eye lands exactly where the artist wants it. Most visitors who leave disappointed did so by skimming; most who leave delighted slowed down in front of a few pages.
If you are visiting with a partner who is less keen, agree on a meeting point near the shop or the atrium. Comic fans tend to disappear into the rotating exhibitions, while others are happier circling the building itself, and a shared coffee afterwards works better than forcing one rhythm on both of you.
Visiting with children
Children who already know Tintin or the Smurfs usually engage straight away, because they recognise the characters on the walls and in the set pieces. For younger visitors, make it a game: ask them to find their favourite character, then explain how the drawing was made. Older children and teenagers often get more from the craft sections, where the process of turning a rough sketch into a finished page becomes visible.
Pace matters more than planning. A short, focused visit with a break in the middle beats a long march through every room. Keep the more text-heavy exhibitions for adults to browse while the children linger over the interactive and colourful parts. For wider ideas on filling the rest of the day, see Brussels with kids, the two-day itinerary for families and the family things to do guide.
A rainy-day plan
Because the museum is indoors, it is one of the most reliable answers to bad weather in the lower town. If the forecast turns, build the day around it and add other covered stops nearby. The Brussels rainy day itinerary sets out a full sequence, and the rainy day survival blog post is a more personal take on keeping a wet city break enjoyable. When the weather clears, the outdoor murals are still waiting, so nothing is lost by doing the museum first.
Pairing it with food and drink
A comic morning naturally leads to lunch. The lower town is full of places to eat, and it is easy to drift into a tourist trap if you are not careful, so read where not to eat around the Grand-Place before you choose. For something typically Belgian, the Belgian dishes to try and best frites in Brussels guides point to the classics, while best waffles in Brussels helps you pick a sweet stop without falling for the worst of the tourist stalls.
If you want to turn the afternoon into something more structured, a walking tour that includes a Belgian lunch is a relaxed way to combine a local guide with tastings after the museum. Chocolate is the other obvious pairing: see the best Belgian chocolate in Brussels and chocolate shops around the Grand-Place for where to stop on the way back.
Combining the museum with a longer stay
The museum works well as one anchor in a longer city break. On a first visit, slot it into the one-day Brussels plan only if comics genuinely matter to you; otherwise the three-day itinerary gives it more room. Comic fans can go further with the dedicated Brussels comic art day, which strings together the museum, the murals and the shops into a single route.
If you are still deciding how long to stay, how many days in Brussels will help you weigh up what to include. And if you are comparing sights and passes, Brussels Card vs individual tickets is worth reading before you buy anything, because the right choice depends on how many museums you plan to visit.
For readers who enjoy first-hand accounts, the best comic murals we found post and the hidden gems blog are good companions to this guide, and the Brussels destination page gives the wider context for planning your trip.
What to take away
Whatever brings you here, the museum rewards curiosity. Come with a little knowledge of the Franco-Belgian tradition, leave time to enjoy the building, and let the originals do the talking. You will walk out with a better understanding of why this small country is so proud of its cartoonists, and with a fresh eye for the murals and shopfronts you pass on the way back through the city.
Verdict
Worth it. Few museums give you a world-class art form and a UNESCO-calibre building in one modest ticket. Comic fans will love the originals; everyone else will be won over by the Horta interior and the sheer charm of a country that treats cartoonists as national treasures. For the why behind that, read Belgian comics explained.
Frequently asked questions — Comics Art Museum Brussels: a guide to the Belgian Comic Strip Center
How much is the Comics Art Museum and how long do you need?
Tickets are modestly priced (around €14 adult, less for children/concessions); allow 1.5–2 hours. The building itself — Horta's former Waucquez warehouse — is part of the attraction, so factor in time to admire the Art Nouveau interior.Is the Comic Strip Center good for kids?
Yes — children who know the Smurfs or Tintin enjoy it, and it's interactive and colourful, though some exhibits skew to adult comic-art appreciation. It pairs perfectly with the free outdoor comic murals hunt for a family-friendly comic day.Is the Comics Art Museum the same as the Horta Museum?
No — they're different Horta buildings with different purposes. The Comics Art Museum occupies Horta's former Waucquez commercial warehouse, while the Horta Museum on Rue Américaine is his own private house and studio, and is the more intimate, essential Art Nouveau interior. Fans of Horta's work often visit both.
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