is 3.5 hrs enough time to do anything with in/near Brussels airport?

September 2, 2015 9:42 AM

I'm changing planes in Brussels, on a Monday later in Sept. One flight lands at 11:55, the other takes off at 15:35. My feeling is that I won't have enough time to do anything worthwhile, and I should just bring a book and wait it out. Is that correct? Bonus question: is there anywhere you'd recommend to sit & wait, in or near the airport?
posted by rd45 to Travel & Transportation around Brussels, Belgium (10 answers total)

Best answer: I just flew through the Brussels airport a week ago, transferring between a flight coming from Africa and headed to North America. I had to switch terminals, go through security again, and have my passport rechecked by United (ugh). It was time consuming enough that I definitely wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving and then re-entering, although the airport didn't seem hugely busy. I would recommend just sitting it out, sorry!
posted by ChuraChura at 9:52 AM on September 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Oh - the airport is pretty active on twitter (??) - they retweeted a picture I took there, for example, so you might tweet at them with more specific details (like where you are coming from and headed to) and see what they have to say.
posted by ChuraChura at 9:54 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: That's not enough time to leave the airport. International flights usually start boarding an hour before the departure time, and it can often take an hour just to get through transfer security or switch to the right terminal. With a 3.5 hour int'l layover you might be surprised at how little sitting and waiting you'll need to do.

I'd say as a rule of thumb you want at least an eight hour layover to be able to leave, have enough time to get through immigration, go somewhere and do something for a couple of hours, and come back without giving yourself a heart attack.
posted by theodolite at 10:06 AM on September 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Def wait it out.
posted by pintapicasso at 10:37 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Terminal A has a nice bar with Belgian beers. Maybe one of the airport shops will sell Tintin books...
posted by three_red_balloons at 10:47 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Crappy airport. Read your book while eating chocolate.
posted by rokusan at 10:50 AM on September 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I agree you should wait at the airport. Some good news though, Brussels is pretty crap so you will not be missing much (and I'd be there this evening if I wasn't unwell and I could not be less bothered).
posted by biffa at 10:53 AM on September 2, 2015

Best answer: I had such a lovely time drinking bucket-sized glasses of Hoegaarden at the bar there that I nearly missed my plane. So there's that.
posted by pipeski at 11:23 AM on September 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Some good news though, Brussels is pretty crap so you will not be missing much

That seems a little harsh - but Brussels is not an easy city to explore. Some cities have good connections where you go right out of the airport train/metro and into the main sights. Brussels is not at all that type of place.
posted by mumimor at 2:38 PM on September 2, 2015

Response by poster: That's quite a firm consensus - I'll make sure I have a good book. Thanks everyone!
posted by rd45 at 7:21 AM on September 4, 2015