The Atomium: How This Brussels Icon Won Me Over
I've never been particularly good at collecting landmarks. I've skipped plenty of attractions that appear on every "Top 10 Things to Do" list, not because I think they're overrated, but because I've never felt any connection to that attraction and didn’t really want to spend my limited time in that space just because the internet told me to.
Maybe that's a Gen X thing. Many of us grew up before influencer culture telling us where the spot photo was. Maybe we are also a little cynical about things that everyone else is doing. (We remember The Cure before they connected with a Disney pop star) And travel was about discovering the places that meant something to you. Sometimes, yes, that was the famous attraction. Other times it was the tiny museum around the corner, the neighbourhood pub someone told you about, or a filming location that only made sense if you'd spent your youth watching late-night cable TV.
So, despite visiting Brussels before, I'd never made it to the Atomium. But this time we had a little more time in the city and I started to do a little research about this unusual icon.
The first thing that caught my attention was learning that it was built for Expo 58, the 1958 World's Fair. There aren't many surviving World's Fair icons that have become symbols of their cities. The Eiffel Tower is the obvious example. Seattle has the Space Needle. Brussels has the Atomium. Suddenly it wasn't just an unusual-looking building, it was a surviving piece of mid-century optimism, built when atomic science represented progress and the future seemed full of endless possibilities.
Then I remembered something else. Long before I ever visited Belgium, I'd already seen the Atomium.
If you're of a certain age and spent time listening to industrial or electronic music, you may remember Headhunterby Belgian electronic band Front 242. The Anton Corbijn video features the Atomium prominently, and somewhere in the back of my mind I'd apparently filed it away decades ago. It turns out that sometimes your travel bucket list is built from the oddest ingredients. So, with a little extra time in Brussels, we finally went.
Is the Atomium worth visiting?
I'd say yes, with one caveat. If you're expecting a museum that explains the history of Brussels or Belgian culture, this isn't it.
The Atomium is really three experiences rolled into one.
The building itself is the attraction. You know intellectually what it looks like, but walking up to it in person is a whole different experience. It gleams against the sky, reflecting the surrounding landscape from every angle. This odd, 102-metre-tall modernist structure, shaped like a magnified iron crystal, feels as though it has landed in the Brussels suburbs from another era's vision of the future.
Then there's the experience of moving through it. Travelling between the interconnected spheres is surprisingly fun, and unlike almost any other building you'll visit. Up, up, up you go, following the one-way route through stairs, escalators and the famous lift. At the top, you're rewarded with sweeping views over Brussels. You won't get the same historic skyline as from the city's towers, but you do get a completely different perspective, including a bird's-eye view of Mini-Europe next door.
The third part of the visit was the biggest surprise.
It turns out that more than half of the Atomium is dedicated to exhibitions, with a mix of permanent displays and changing temporary installations.
The permanent exhibitions explore the history of Expo 58, the construction of the Atomium, and its place as one of Belgium's most recognisable landmarks. My favourite displays were filled with wonderfully stylish mid-century merchandise that had both of us wishing it had been reproduced for the gift shop.
We also learned about the Expo 58 "fair hostesses". Around 300 young women, dressed in elegant uniforms with their distinctive red jackets and blue hats, served as ambassadors for both the World's Fair and Brussels. Many spoke four or five languages and completed four months of intensive training before taking up the role. I particularly loved one wonderfully dated description of what organisers were aiming for:
Then there are the art installations. They're woven throughout the building, filling the spheres, stairways and connecting tubes with light and sound. One installation, Look Up, can only be fully appreciated from inside the lift, where the transparent ceiling encourages you to do exactly what the title suggests. During our visit, the temporary exhibition Nimbus by Visual System had transformed several of the spaces. Created to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Atomium's renovation, it added another layer to a building that still feels futuristic.
A few practical tips
Allow yourself around two hours. We weren't rushing, but we also weren't lingering all day.
Buy tickets in advance if you're visiting during busy periods. The queues can build up.
Take the metro. It's an easy trip from central Brussels, and the Atomium is only a short walk from the station.
Don't just photograph it from outside. The exterior is spectacular, but the interior architecture is part of what makes the visit memorable.
Consider popping over to the design museum. It's about a 5 minute walk down the road and is included in the price of your ticket. (Plus you get some great shots of the Atomium from afar)
Accessibility. There are escalators and lifts to get you to the top.
If you know the Headhunter video, you’ll recognise those stairs.
Final thoughts
I still don't travel to collect landmarks, but more to collect stories. Sometimes those stories are hidden away in tiny museums or neighbourhood cafés. Sometimes they're waiting in places millions of people visit every year. The trick isn't avoiding famous places. It's finding the reason that makes you want to stand there. For me, the Atomium wasn't just a famous Brussels landmark. It was a surviving World's Fair icon, a monument to the optimism of the atomic age, and an unexpected callback to the soundtrack of my misspent youth. That's the sort of landmark I'll happily make time for.
