One of Brussels star attractions is The Atomium, originally constructed for the 1958 World’s Fair and is located just to the north of the city centre. As we are staying within touching distance of the metro network, it made sense to hop on at Gare Du Midi. Unfortunately, on our walk around yesterday, we discovered that the lift down from street level was out of order. As we only have one full day in Brussels, it was decided that taking the manual wheelchair would be far easier and quicker. The added benefit being that an escalator could be used at Gare Du Midi…
The current rolling stock on the Brussels Metro network possess quite a large gap hence it is required to notify a staff member that one needs a ramp. However, the manual wheelchair made light work of this issue with a little manpower…
Conveniently, the Atomium is located around a 10 minute walk from Heizel metro station (which is wheelchair accessible) and stands proud over its surroundings…
Due to the limited accessibility of The Atomium (only areas that can be accessed via the central elevator are suitable for wheelchairs), disabled individuals can enter for a reduced price (€8,50) Although, very strangely, if you have ‘reduced mobility’, you can enter for FREE.
The individual spheres can be accessed by a series of escalators and stairways which criss-cross the structure with some resembling the launch of Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris.
For one, there was nothing for it but to travel to the individual spheres by foot (or sitting down on escalators), great exercise I will admit!
The tram network also runs fairly close to the Atomium and is far more wheelchair friendly with level boarding (although some gaps are quite wide) and spacious areas hence it was decided that we would meander our way back to the hotel using this mode of transportation…
Tomorrow, we head over the border again, this time into Germany with the destination being Cologne!