Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History

It is a place full of history and strong emotional impact, where you can really feel the weight of past events. The exhibitions are very detailed and immersive, making the experience both educational and moving. The museum is much larger than expected, so it definitely requires a considerable amount of time to explore properly. A powerful and impressive visit for anyone interested in history.

A very rich place with military uniforms and equipment. But the tour starts relatively underwhelming then you gradually begin to feel the experience getting better and better in terms of display and ease of finding the information. The hall containing world war 1 is presented relatively well but the best halls are of the suits of armour and world war 2, the lighting and method of display are modernised and very well presented. The hall of aircraft was a bit overwhelming because alot of jets are placed in a limited space. The armour vehicles were limited to a hundfull of tanks and troop support vehicles not wow but all in all it's a nice place to visit and would take a good 3 hours of your time.

It is highly recommended, even for those who may not be particularly knowledgeable about weaponry. I found myself thoroughly engaged for two and a half hours. While admission was once free many years ago, I still enjoyed the experience just as much as the last time I visited. It is only a slight disappointment that the rooftop's 360-degree view, which was previously superior, has been somewhat diminished due to the closure of a portion of the platform. The new exhibits detailing the histories and documents of World War I and World War II were exceptionally well-presented. It is certainly worth a visit!

Quick Takeaways 🏛️ Impressive, monumental building — but showing signs of disrepair and graffiti 🏅 Wide range of exhibits, from medals to tanks 👕 Strong focus on Belgium’s pre–WWI history and empire ✈️ Large aircraft collection — dusty, underfunded, but still impressive 🚛 Good military vehicle display, though many outdoors are weather-worn 🚧 Some sections closed off, which was disappointing ⏱️ Allow at least 2+ hours to explore fully Full Review The building itself is immense and powerful, set in an impressive landscape. Sadly, it’s slipping into disrepair, with damaged features and graffiti marking what was once a gleaming beacon of Brussels. Inside, the museum is packed with exhibits ranging from the smallest of medals to the largest of tanks. The heyday of the Belgian empire is strongly reflected in the vast collection of pre–First World War uniforms, equipment, and monuments celebrating the victories of the nation. The museum’s different sections are spread across large halls. The aircraft collection, though very dusty and clearly showing signs of age and underinvestment, is still striking in its scale. Similarly, the military vehicles are impressive, though those left outdoors are clearly suffering from exposure to the elements. Some areas of the museum were closed off, which was a little disappointing, but overall the visit left a very positive impression. It’s definitely worth going—just make sure to allow at least a couple of hours to explore everything properly.

I think this museum is good even for those who don’t think they will like to see a military museum. For one the roof is now reopened and the views from the top are vast. The museum itself is huge large hangers with glass roofs housing everything from Tanks to airplanes. A very well documented history of machinery used in conflict

Excellent museum: very large collection and well presented themed exhibitions. A great view from the rooftop terrace over the city is a nice bonus. Only minus is that there are no english texts on the (perhaps) most interesting exhibition on the German occupation of Belgium.

This is the most impressive Military Museum I have seen in Europe ! The collection is fantastic and has unique pieces. It is like Disney for any person that likes Military History. There are so many items that is difficult to pick a favorite one. This is fully recommended for everyone.

The museum is quite big and full of historical pieces, definitely worth the visit. It's a bit of a labirinth to find all the areas but is also possible to get on top of the arch. Very nice view.

WOW!! This place is massive! You could spend days trying to see the whole thing! Very nicely done and very comprehensive! Not a corner of military-adjacent history is left untouched. A few things to note: * As of July 2024, admission for one adult over the age of 18 is 12€. * Everything is in French and Dutch (lol obviously) but otherwise it varies pretty wildly. Some exhibits have a lot of English descriptions, some none at all. And the Antarctica exhibit is also in German!

I'm a sucker for history museums, the history of war, and especially looking at jets and planes so the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History was just the place for me to go on my last full day exploring around Brussels. This place is absolutely massive from the second you walk in and see the birth of Belgian history, all the flags hanging, and the hundreds of old military uniforms on display. The main reason I wanted to come was for what was next, the giant hanger full of old military airplanes, helicopters, and fighter jets. Words can't describe how much history was in that room but I throughly enjoyed the 45 minutes I spent looking at planes from Belgium, Germany, the UK, and even one where I'm from, Canada. The museum continues with deep Belgian history, an area covering Nazi Germany, Japan during world war 2, and so much more I can't even scratch the surface in this small review. Overall, The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History absolutely blew me away. The visuals here are breathtaking, the history beyond interesting, and the exhibits looked beautiful. My only complaint, similar to other Belgian museums was the lack of any sort of souvenir for the actual museum. I would have loved a magnet representing the experience I had here, oh well.

This museum was ok. It would have been nice to know that half of it was under construction. There wasn't too much to see on the airplane side. Half of the military museum was also under construction. We pretty much just saw WWII history.

Military history geeks like myself will love this place...its massive beyond imagination. This place has everything: uniforms, swords, rifles, handguns, bazookas, artillery, tanks, helicopters, aircraft, mannequins, short videos, some interactive exhibits, and all sorts of random military equipment...all from various armed forces throughout the world. You could spend 30 minutes, 2 hours like I did, or perhaps an entire day in here. Not everything is described in English though, so learn how to read French. Or just download Google Translate onto your smartphone. €5 is cheap, though this place used to be free.

If you are a military history fan this is a must see. I have been several times. The museum itself is of the old fashioned style of lots of exhibits with out much explanation nor human interest. If you are knowledgeable about military equipment this is a real plus but if not you may find yourself feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of "stuff." Since a great deal of both World Wars 1 and 2 in the west were fought in Belgium there is a lot of material from those conflicts. The World War 1 weaponry looks medieval - flame throwers, trench mortars, and early tanks look like something from a video game except these are real. . There are a lot of World War 1 airplanes both allied and German. A few still have their original fabric covering. There are also some World War 2 airplanes from 1940 including the Fairey Battle which proved so vulnerable to the invading Germans. I never thought I would see one of these. This museum is highly recommended for anyone whose passion is military history.

This is museum of the military history. It took around 20 mins to get here from the central station, the entrance is free. Inside exhibited quite a lot different thing. It could be very interesting if you like military stuff. The highlight of this museum for me was the collection aircrafts, so many of them and all of them were in a warehouse, how cool! There were so many different kind aircrafts from different timings and different Air Forces. There were also other military forces there, I also saw some collection of guns, uniforms, tanks and so on. It was pity that it only allowed to visitors to see the tanks from far distance. Thus, I did find something inside the museum were quite interesting. Although personally I don't like theme so much, it was still good to know them. The museum itself is huge, and how looks a bit old. I do think they could improve some part of it. During my visit, I didn't have enough time to check every collections out. But surely it's a cool place to visit, especially for military fans.

my husband and son loved this museum. my daughter was bored. i was surprised by all exhibits. lots to see. i liked the museum.

Great museum - tons of military portraits. Easy to walk and understand and gorgeous display of firearms. Dodgy toilets however.

Again another showcase to something we as humans have devoted much of our time on Earth toward, war. Outstanding collection of uniforms: Eisenhower to Donitz. The planes from the WWI era will awe the historian. Many many period high caliber armaments from WWI. The display of the WWI soldier's paraphanelia is old fashion yes but simply without adjectives; it reinforces the fact that this was a world war. Almost of the placards are also in English but not all. Another war museum to add to your bucket list. Before I forget, there are trophies from the Boxer Rebellion, the Congo, to the Arab Revolts. P.S. the restaurant serves some creamy lasagne.

The collection at this museum is just OK - it's sort of dominated by cabinets of 19th century Belgian military uniforms, also they were a little late to adopt camouflage. And everything looks like it could be gone over with a duster. The WW2 section is a bit more detailed and engaging, but it had some weird mannequins in the displays, and even those were mostly "in transition". Also the gift shop is hot and dusty and feels like it hasn't been updated since 1977. BUT ... the museum is FREE.

Excellent museum. Tons of stuff to see. All indoors, great on a cold/rainy day. The cafe was pretty good too.

Fantastic well curated exhibitions of military weapons and some spoils of war. They take you through the different periods of military in Belgium, from the early 1500's to the more recent world wars. Weapons from each time period are in abundance. The spoils from Belgium's brief foray into colonialism are ample especially from the Congo. Planes are supposed to be a great exhibit here as well but since I went on a free Wednesday I could not access this exhibit. The audio guide was fantastic, I especially liked the green labeled items in the museum because they matched with funny little stories in the audio guide.