Brussels

Brussels rewards walkers with layers most visitors never expect: a Grand-Place rebuilt in gilded splendor after a French bombardment, a tiny statue that somehow became a national icon, and an old town small enough to cross on foot between a dozen different stories. A free walking tour is the fastest way to make sense of a city ruled in turn by Burgundian dukes, Habsburg emperors, French armies and Dutch kings before finally becoming Belgian in 1830 — and that today doubles as the unofficial capital of the European Union.

Start with the classic route through the medieval core and the Sablon, then branch out: a beer tour that treats Trappist ales and sour lambics as seriously as fine wine, a mysteries walk through the revolts and executions the guidebooks skip, or a stroll through the glass towers of the European Quarter, a few Metro stops and several centuries away from the Grand-Place. Local guides are the ones who explain why a small bronze boy gets dressed up several times a week, and why Brussels speaks two languages at once.