Brussels Midi, Zuid, South: Location map

Bruxelles Midi in French, Brussel Zuid in Flemish or Brussels South Station in English, it's Brussels' main station used by all mainline trains including Eurostar to London, Eurostar (formerly Thalys) to Paris, Amsterdam & Cologne, German Railways ICEs to Cologne & Frankfurt, Intercity trains to Luxembourg and Belgian domestic trains to Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp & so on.

Brussels Midi originally opened as a terminus in 1869.  Brussels Nord was also a terminus.  In 1952, the 3.8km Jonction Nord-Midi line opened through the centre of Brussels linking Nord, Central & Midi.  This turned Nord & Midi into through stations and enabled Brussels Midi to become the main hub for all trains serving Brussels.

small bullet point  Which platform for your train?

small bullet point  Arriving by Eurostar & Leaving by Eurostar

small bullet point  Short cut from Eurostar to your onward train

small bullet point  How long to allow for connections in Brussels?

small bullet point  Ticket offices

small bullet point  Left luggage office & lockers

small bullet point  Pullman Hotel bar - a VIP waiting room!

small bullet point  Places to eat

small bullet point  Hotels near Brussels Midi for an overnight stop

 

small bullet point  How to walk into central Brussels

small bullet point  Free transfer to Brussels Central for Eurostar passengers

small bullet point  Brussels Central station

small bullet point  Hotels near the Grand Place for a longer stay

On other pages

small bullet point  Trains from Brussels to other European cities

small bullet point  Trains from other European cities to Brussels

small bullet point  General information for European train travel

Entrance

There's a main entrance on each side of the station at either end of the ground-level concourse under all the tracks.  This is the entrance on the north (platform 1) side of the station.  The red arrow indicates the taxi rank.  The blue arrow indicates the Pullman Hotel, a good place if you need to stay between trains.  The Brasserie de la Gare is on the other side of the road, directly behind the camera.

Brussels Midi station entrance, north side

Concourse

I have to admit that Brussels Midi isn't my favourite station.  The main concourse (couloir principal or stationshal) at Brussels Midi is a somewhat gloomy street-level passageway underneath all the tracks, spanning the width of the station between north & south entrances.  The train tracks are above street level with escalators & stairs up to each platform.  A similar but much narrower concourse runs underneath all the platforms a hundred metres to the south, called the couloir sud.

Brussels Midi main concourse

In this photo you can see the main departures board and (on the left) a set of escalators up to platforms 7 & 8.  Note the TV screens above the escalators, telling you the destination & calling points of the next train from that platform.  The international ticket office is visible in the background, under the departures board.

Brussels Midi main concourse, another view

Another view of the main concourse, with escalators up to platform 16 on the left.

Which platform for your train?

There are 22 platforms, numbered from northwest to southeast.  The tracks run on a viaduct above ground level, there are escalators & stairs to the concourse at street level below.  Check the departure screens and boards to see which platform your train leaves from.

There is free and open access from street to concourse to platforms, without ticket gates or barriers, except for (a) platforms 1 & 2 which are secure and accessed via the Eurostar terminal and (b) there are occasional ID checks before boarding a Eurostar to Paris, Amsterdam or Cologne, though I've yet to see one myself.

Brussels Midi platforms 5 & 6

Platforms 1-6 have been modernised with smart terrazzo flooring.  Platforms 1 & 2 are used for Eurostars to London and can only be accessed via the Eurostar terminal.  Platforms 3-6 are used by ICEs to Cologne & Frankfurt, Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains to Paris, Cologne & Amsterdam, and Eurostars linking London with Amsterdam.  Above, an ICE to Cologne is about to leave from platform 5.  The escalators lead down to the main concourse below the tracks.

Brussels Midi platforms 7-22

Platforms 7-22 have not been modernised and retain a more 1950s feel.  They're used by domestic trains plus the non-high-speed international trains to Luxembourg and the Netherlands.  The tracks are above street level, the escalators lead down to the street-level concourse below.

Arriving by Eurostar

Short cut between platforms at Brussels Midi

This is the escalator you're looking for, roughly level with car 11.  This is the one on platform 2.  There's a similar escalator on platform 1, where platform & escalator are to the left of the train.  Photo courtesy of @EurostarJustinp

Leaving by Eurostar

The entrance to the Eurostar terminal is on the main concourse level with platforms 1 & 2, signed Channel Terminal.  If you walk into the northern entrance it's just inside on the right.  You must check in at least 30 minutes before the Eurostar leaves (15 minutes with Premier tickets).  Inside the terminal entrance hall, you first scan your ticket barcode to open the automatic ticket gates.  Then comes Belgian passport control followed by UK passport control and the relatively painless X-ray security check.  You then wait in the Eurostar departure lounge until your Eurostar is ready for boarding.  Then up the escalators or lift to platform 1 or 2 or occasionally 3 onto the train for London.  More about checking-in for Eurostar.

Brussels Midi entrance to Eurostar terminal

How long to allow for connections

Eurostar to ICE 20 minute connections

20-minute connection between Eurostar and ICE

20 minute connection, Eurostar to ICE:  That's the 11:04 Eurostar from London on the right, arrived at 14:05 on platform 3, and the 14:25  ICE to Cologne & Frankfurt on the left on platform 4.  All you have to do to change trains on this particular departure is walk 20 feet across the width of the platform!

Ticket offices

The domestic ticket office sells tickets for Belgian destinations and for the IC (Intercity) trains to Rotterdam, Amsterdam & Luxembourg.  For all other international tickets you'll need to use the international ticket office, which charges a booking fee - or book online to avoid the fee.

Brussels Midi international ticket office   Brussels Midi domestic ticket office

International ticket office on the main concourse near platform 3.  There's a numbered queuing system.

 

Domestic ticket office, on the main concourse next to escalators up to platform 10.

Left luggage lockers

There are left luggage lockers if you want to stash your bags while exploring Brussels.  From the main concourse under all the tracks, walk into the broad passageway level with platforms 3-6, next to the international ticket office.  The lockers are at the back near the toilets.  There are M, L, XL & XXL size lockers, for prices, click here.

M = 19 cm x 30 cm x 60 cm. 

L =  44 cm x 34 cm x 60 cm. 

XL = 58 cm x 50 cm x 60 cm. 

XXL = 89 cm x 50 cm x 60 cm.

How to use the lockers:  The system will allocate a locker for you, so first go to the control panel touch screen and click English.  Choose your locker size, choose your own 6-digit PIN code, pay with a contactless bank card (no coins necessary) and a locker of the correct size will pop open for you.  When you return, go to the control panel, enter your PIN code and it'll open again.  See full locker instructions.

Brussels Midi left luggage lockers control panel   Brussels Midi luggage lockers

Luggage lockers control panel with instructions below.  See locker instructions.

 

Luggage lockers in the broad passageway off the concourse between platforms 3 & 6, next to the toilets.

Express Supermarket

The Carrefour Express minimarket is the best place to stock up for your journey.  It's down this passageway which comes off the main concourse level with platforms 3 & 4, opposite the international ticket office, marked with a trolley symbol on the station map.  It also stocks beer & wine.

Brussels Midi supermarket

Pullman Hotel bar

The Pullman Hotel bar is perhaps the best VIP waiting room at Brussels Midi, an oasis away from the hustle of the station concourse for the price of a coffee or beer - a pint of Goose IPA will set you back €9, but think of it as €9 VIP lounge access with a free pint of beer.

The hotel in fact has two bars, one on the ground floor open 09:00-15:00 daily and the main bar on the first floor, open 15:00-23:00 daily.

The bars have free WiFi and the downstairs bar has tables with mobile/laptop charging points.  You can buy bar snacks, but for something more substantial the hotel has a decent restaurant on the first floor.

The Pullman Hotel is an integral part of Brussels Midi station, you don't even need to cross the road as there's a door from the station into the hotel lobby.

To find this door, first find the Channel Terminal, level with platforms 1 & 2.  Now look for the retail passageway directly opposite the Channel Terminal on the opposite side of the concourse.  The hotel door is inside this passageway on the left just beyond the Haagen Dazs ice cream shop, see the photos below.

If you'd prefer somewhere cheaper, try the SAS cafe (see SAS Cafe's Facebook page) across the road from the main southern exit on the platform 22 side of the station.

Pullman Brussels Midi bar, first floor

This is the Pullman Hotel 1st floor bar, open all day until 23:00.

Pullman Brussels Midi bar, ground floor

This is the Pullman Hotel ground floor bar, open 09:00-16:00.

Pullman Hotel Brussels Midi   Pullman Hotel Brussels Midi

Door from station to hotel, next to Haagen Dazs ice cream shop.

 

Table with charging points.  The bar also has free WiFi.

Places to eat

There's a row of brasseries across the pedestrianised road from the main exit on the northern (platform 1) side of the station, including the Brasserie Europa & the Brasserie de la Gare, see photo below.  They do good food & beer and are decent places to wait for your train.  The Brasserie de la Gare does a good steak tartare!

The Portuguese cafe-restaurant Cantinho da Cidade gets good reports, 5 minutes walk from the station, see walking map.  Open all day early until late 7 days a week.

Food at Brussels Midi Brasserie de la Gare   Brussels Midi Brasserie de la Gare

In the city centre: Aux Armes de Bruxelles

If you've time to hop on a local train one stop to Brussels Central and walk 5 minutes to the Grande Place in the heart of old Brussels, there are vast numbers of tourist trap restaurants, just avoid these and head for the celebrated Aux Armes de Bruxelles, auxarmesdebruxelles.com.  This is one of the few good traditionally Belgian restaurants near the Grande Place.  Their moules-frites are excellent.

For a taste of Belgian beer whilst in Brussels, try the equally-celebrated Delirium cafe near the Grande Place, www.deliriumcafe.be.

Aux Armes de Bruxelles restaurant   Aux Armes de Bruxelles restaurant - mussels

Hotels near Brussels Midi

Walking to Brussels city centre

The Grand Place, Brussels

The Grand Place in central Brussels, on a September day.

Free train transfer to Brussels Central or Brussels Luxembourg

Brussels Central station

Brussels Central station   Brussels Central war memorial

Brussels Central, 5 minutes walk from the Grand Place.

 

The war memorial inside Brussels Central....

Brussels Central ticket office   Brussels Central platforms

Brussels Central ticket office, now in the room on the left.

 

The platforms are underground...

Hotels near the Grand Place

Belgium's national railway museum


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