Guide to what is available Cultural centres and community centres Museums Festivals

Some of the museums in the Vlaamse Rand

Volkssterrenwacht MIRA (public observatory), Grimbergen

This oldest public observatory of Belgium introduces the public to the marvels of astronomy, by means of observations, experiments, multimedia programmes, courses, exhibitions, a library and documentation centre, and so on. A guided tour with explanation adapted to the target group, may take place during the day as well as in the evening.  

Museum Felix De Boeck, Drogenbos

this museum is devoted to the work of Felix De Boeck (1898-1995), one of the founding fathers of abstract painting in Belgium. It also holds exhibitions on this painter’s contemporaries and invites promising contemporary artists to show their work.

Gaasbeek Castle , Lennik

the museum in the castle has a great many works of art of various types: tapestries from Doornik and Brussels, paintings (Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Maarten van Valckenborg), sculpture, furniture (mainly Flemish Renaissance, 16th and 17th centuries) and countless decorative objects in silver, copper, tin and ceramics.

Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren

a fascinating collection of works of art, historical documents and ethnographic objects, mostly from Central Africa. It also holds the complete archives of Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer whom Leopold II commissioned to open up the Congo. In recent years the museum has been more critical in its view of Belgium’s colonial past, in which it itself played a part.

Museum of Technical History, Grimbergen

an impressive collection of handtools, machines and watermills displayed in temporary exhibitions in three historical buildings in Grimbergen. In addition, the museum functions as a knowledge centre for technical history, with an extensive library and website.

Grape Museum, Overijse

gives an outline of the history of viticulture in the area and a complete picture of the art of grape growing.

Abbey Beer Museum, Grimbergen

shows the origins and evolution of the beer brewed in the Norbertine abbey in Grimbergen.

Woodland Museum, Hoeilaart

modern woodland museum in the heart of the Zoniënwoud, for all those who want to find out about the wood and its inhabitants and to learn the principles of forestry.