Brussels Airport → city centre: train, bus, taxi or private driver?

The bus station is on level 0, about a hundred metres from the arrivals hall, to which it is linked by a covered walkway. From here, STIB, the Brussels public transport operator, runs its line 12, the Airport Line, which serves Bourget, Da Vinci, Genève and Meiser before Schuman, Maelbeek, Luxembourg and Trône. According to the timetable published by STIB, departures from the airport run every day from shortly after 05:00 until around 00:30; check the times on its website on the day. Allow twenty to forty minutes to Schuman, depending on the time of day and the traffic.

Leaving the airport, you need a specific ticket that costs more than a standard city ticket: the Airport2City, paid by contactless, loaded onto a MOBIB card or bought as a paper ticket, or an Airport Line season ticket. Travelling to the airport, on the other hand, any STIB ticket will do. For an hour after validation, the Airport2City is valid across the whole network, so you can change to the metro at Schuman (lines 1 and 5) or Trône (lines 2 and 6). Bus 12 works well for a meeting at the EU institutions or a hotel near Place du Luxembourg, much less so for the Grand-Place.

Official taxis are available without booking at the exit from the arrivals hall. The airport gives two ways to recognise them: a number plate containing a T, and a blue and yellow symbol on the front of the vehicle. Follow the signs to the taxi rank rather than accepting an offer inside the terminal. Fares are governed by regional regulations; if you have a budget to stick to, ask for an estimate before loading your luggage, especially if your address is far from the centre.

A taxi remains the simplest option when you land late with nothing arranged, or for an address that is poorly served by rail from the airport, in Uccle, Woluwe or the north-western municipalities. If there are four of you with holiday luggage, check the size of the boot before loading everything. Travelling with a baby, bear in mind that the Highway Code exempts taxis from the child seat requirement: without a seat, the child simply travels in the back. That is a legal exemption, not a safety measure.

To be frank: if you are travelling alone, with only cabin baggage, to a hotel two streets from Brussels-Central, the train is hard to beat. A pre-booked driver comes into its own in other situations: parents with a pushchair and two car seats, a group of six coming home from holiday, an executive expected in Uccle as soon as the plane lands, a flight landing after the last train. The price is known before you confirm your request and does not depend on traffic jams on the Ring.

Another difference from a taxi: the journey is arranged before your flight has even taken off. The driver works to the actual landing time and takes care of your luggage all the way to the vehicle. At Atemia, you can still book online in the morning for a flight landing that evening, as the minimum notice is three hours. A sedan is enough for up to three passengers and two suitcases; beyond that, the Van takes seven people and six suitcases.

Before choosing, ask yourself three questions: what time does the plane land, how many suitcases will you have to carry, and is your destination a short walk from a station or a bus 12 stop? The answers almost always settle it. The same traveller might take the train on a Tuesday lunchtime with a rucksack, then book a car for a Sunday-evening return with two sleeping children.

Bear in mind the dead of night: between about 00:30 and 05:00, neither trains nor bus 12 run. According to the airport, De Lijn's N62 night bus then takes over, roughly every thirty minutes between 00:55 and 04:45, but it serves Schaerbeek, Evere, Diegem and Zaventem, not the city centre. To reach the Grand-Place at 02:00, your options are a taxi or a pre-booked car.