Brussels' Royal Museums cluster — the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, the Musée des Instruments de Musique, and the Africa Museum in Tervuren — constitute one of Europe's finest museum complexes.
Brussels' Royal Museums system encompasses six collections in or near the city, with three of particular international significance: the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts (Fine Arts), the Musée des Instruments de Musique (MIM), and the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Africa Museum) in Tervuren.
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts (MRBAB): the museum complex on the Place du Musée holds one of Europe's finest collections of Flemish Primitives, Bruegel (the elder's The Fall of Icarus, Census at Bethlehem), and an exceptional Symbolist collection (James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, Léon Spilliaert). The Magritte Museum, incorporated in the complex, holds the world's largest collection of René Magritte — 230 works, including Le Retour, La Trahison des Images, and Les Amants.
Musée des Instruments de Musique (MIM): in the former Old England store — an Art Nouveau masterpiece designed by Paul Saintenoy in 1899 — the MIM holds 8,000 instruments, the world's largest musical instrument collection. The rooftop restaurant is one of Brussels' finest architectural dining spaces.
Africa Museum (Tervuren): 15 kilometres east of Brussels in the town of Tervuren, the Royal Museum for Central Africa was built by Leopold II in 1897 and reopened in 2018 after a 5-year renovation that contextualised the Belgian colonial collection in contemporary ethical terms. The collection of 180,000 objects, including 80,000 ethnographic pieces, is the world's most comprehensive DRC cultural heritage collection.
FFGR Belgium museum circuit: a full Royal Museums day departs Brussels at 10:00, visits the MRBAB for 2 hours (Magritte + Flemish Primitives), lunch at MIM rooftop, continues to Tervuren for the Africa Museum (90 minutes), and returns to Brussels by 17:30.