Lesson Learnt

Always read the wikitravel guide before going anywhere. I dread reliving that incident. So don't ask me about it.

Brussels is generally a safe city. Some suburban neighborhoods have a poor reputation, but travelers are unlikely to visit them. The neighborhoods of Schaarbeek, Brussels North, Brussels Center, Molenbeek and Anderlecht should be avoided at night if possible.

However, pickpockets, sometimes in teams, operate in crowded tourist areas, and the train and metro stations (particularly at night) as well as parks (even in daytime) attract drug addicts and other shady types. Travelers should be particularly alert for distractions such as being asked for the time or directions and having attention diverted from their hand or shopping bag. Traveling with laptops--at any time--is strongly discouraged.

Be aware especially of the Parc de Bruxelles-Warandepark, situated between the Royal Palace and the Belgian Parliament, where criminals do not shrink from threatening their victims with violence: never leave your bags unwatched and keep them always close to your body! In case you should be robbed, though, there is a police office right next to the gate in front of the Belgian Parliament (on the right side when leaving the park, hidden in the bushes) where policemen experienced in this kind of 'accident' will help you, in addition speaking good French, Dutch and English.

In addition to the above advice be aware of Brussels Midi-Zuid train station. There is rarely a time when a traveler will not see a shifty drunk peeing in some corner near the tram stop or the odd vagrant brandishing some strange gash upon their face. The adventurous traveler is certainly in for a curiously steady stream of offending characters who seem to exist in no place more appropriately than a shady corner with a half bottle of whiskey in their left hand, fecal matter smeared on their right hand and a growing pool of urine at their feet.