Today Brussels has more chocolate shops per square kilometre than anywhere else in Europe. The question is never whether to buy chocolate, it is where. Here is our guide to the best chocolate shops in Brussels, all located just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.
Neuhaus: where Belgian chocolate in Brussels began
Galerie de la Reine 5, Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
You can walk to Neuhaus from Aris Grand-Place in under two minutes. The house that invented the praline in 1912 is still producing it in the same Galeries where Jean Neuhaus worked. The ballotins, those distinctive gold boxes remain the standard against which all other Belgian chocolate packaging is measured.
The pralines are classic, precise and immediately recognisable. If you are buying a gift to take home, Neuhaus is the instinctive choice. If you are buying for yourself, allow the staff to guide you through the seasonal selection.
Wittamer: the finest pralines in Brussels, on the Sablon since 1910
Place du Grand Sablon 6 & 12
Wittamer has occupied its corner of the Place du Grand Sablon since 1910, and holds the title of Official Supplier to the Court of Belgium. The pralines are superb, the raspberry hearts are a particular point of loyalty among regulars. But the real case for Wittamer is its café on the upper floor: on a cold October afternoon, the hot chocolate served there is, without exaggeration, one of the best things you will eat or drink in Brussels.
A 10-minute walk from the hotels through the historic centre. Combine with the Saturday antiques market on the square, as we described in our guide to the Sablon.
Pierre Marcolini: chocolate as craft
Rue des Minimes 1, near the Sablon
Pierre Marcolini is Brussels’ most internationally recognised chocolatier, and the one most likely to prompt the question: is chocolate a luxury good? At Marcolini, the answer is yes and it is justified by the quality of the sourcing. Single-origin cocoa, direct relationships with plantation partners, no child labour, no glyphosate. The pralines are displayed like jewellery. The shop is designed like a boutique.
The grand cru bars are the best entry point for a first visit. The seasonal collections, which change throughout the year are worth following.
Laurent Gerbaud: the unconventional choice
Stoofstraat 19 / Rue de l’Étuve, near Grand-Place
Laurent Gerbaud won Chocolatier of the Year in 2021, and represents a different school of Belgian chocolate entirely. His creations are less sweet than the classic praline tradition, and his flavours reflect years of travelling: yuzu, matcha, fig and thyme, candied ginger. He works from a small shop, close enough to Grand-Place to visit before or after a walk around the square where you can sometimes hear the chocolate being made in the back.
If you are looking for something genuinely unusual to bring home, or something to eat on the spot, Gerbaud is the address.
Galler: approachable and just steps from Grand-Place
Rue au Beurre 44
Galler is the most accessible address on this list, in location and in price. The shop on Rue au Beurre is a two-minute walk from Alma hotel and three from Aris hotel. The chocolate bars, in their colourful wrappers and playful flavour combinations, are designed to be eaten immediately rather than given as gifts, dark chocolate with sea salt, milk chocolate with speculoos, white chocolate with raspberry. Buy one on your way back to the hotel.
One rule before you go
The Grand-Place and its immediate surroundings are lined with chocolate shops selling moulded Manneken Pis figurines and multicoloured pralines at tourist prices. They look appealing. They are not the same thing as what is listed above.
The difference between a tourist chocolate shop and a Belgian chocolatier is roughly the same as the difference between a souvenir baguette and a bakery. Both exist. Only one is worth your time.
Our Discover Brussels guide maps all of these addresses and everything else worth finding on foot from the hotel.
