Manneken Pis, Brussels

It is much smaller than you think, and tucked away on a fairly anonymous street corner.

Unique Suggestions: The souvenir shop next door though shows it remains popular, and some of the gifts are quite funny (not necessarily in the way they were intended). In particular there is a huge selection of packs of playing cards, each one having the Mannekin wearing a different costume. For diehard kitsch fans only :-)

Fun Alternatives: No point in suggesting an alternative, you know you're going to go and see it anyway.

My wife and I actually had a hard time finding the Mannekin Pis off the Grand Place--it was that small and obscure. Once we found it, of course, there was a crowd gathered there taking pictures of themselves standing beside it--as did my wife and I!

Manneken Pis : New York has the Statue of Liberty, Copenhagen has the mermaid and Brussels has the ...... Manneken Pis. This statue of a little boy in a somewhat compromising position has since several centuries been a major tourist attraction in the city. When most people see our 'manneken', the first reaction is always one of amazement: 'Look, how small he is ! Why does everybody want to see him ?' The people of Brussels, however, accept him the way he is. After all, it doesn't always have to be big to be beautiful. Imagine he would be the size of the Statue of Liberty : Brussels would be continuously flooded !

The wellknown ´Manneke Pis´. Everybody knows this typical crap. It is fun to see a little boy peeying, and I have to admit it is a bit hilarious, buses stuffed with Japanse tourists will visit this small statue every time.....However, it is the symbol of Brussels !

Though it's a must see in Brussels, don't be fooled to buy all the merchandise they try to sell:
'Manneken Pis'.
It's a cute statue to see, but do you really want to pay a lot of money to have a copy in your home of this little boy peeing?

The MANNEKEN PIS is certainly a little thing - and quite a disappointment. There is so much more to Belgium's capital than this! Try to see this statue on a special day when he's dressed up and sprinkling beer instead of water!

Location: On the corner of Stoofstraat/Rue de L'Etuve and the Eikstraat/Rue du Chêne (At the Grand-Place follow the street on the left side of the town hall)

In Brussels the biggest traps - but fun to visit are 'Mascon ***' (?) a stature in central Brussels of a boy child pissing (complete with running water). The local shop owner dresses the statue in a different outfit daily and then sells hundreds of the outfits to tourists. Makes you wonder how many people in the world have statues of pissing boys in their yard! The second trap is 'The Atom' where you can walk inside a several stories tall atom - Why not?

Everywhere you go in Brussels you will see this little boy´s figure. It is so small when you actually get to see the statue but I guess is something you have to see when you go to Brussels.