Musée Magritte wheelchair accessibility

The Magritte Museum is the dedicated home of the Belgian surrealist René Magritte (1898-1967), opened on 2 June 2009 in a converted neoclassical building on Place Royale. The collection of around 200 works is the largest single Magritte holding anywhere and the biggest Magritte archive in the world.

The collection is laid out chronologically across six storeys, from Magritte's early career on the top floor down through the surrealist middle years to the late work at the bottom. Headline works include The Return, Scheherazade and The Empire of Light. The museum is part of the federal Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium campus on Place Royale.

The accessible entrance is the side door on the federal MRBAB campus, immediately next to the ceremonial main entrance on Place Royale. The standard convention on the federal campus is to ring the bell and staff open the door. Do not attempt the ceremonial main entrance: it has steps.

Once inside, the museum is fully lift-served from level -2 (accessible toilet, ticket desk on the same level) up to the top of the chronological circuit.

Standard adult admission is €13. Holders of a European Disability Card and one companion enter free. Children under 18 also enter free. The combined ticket with the adjacent Old Masters Museum is the standard recommendation, since both share the same tariff and the EDC works at both.

Bring the European Disability Card together with photo ID. The verbatim French phrasing on the tariff page lists card holders and their accompanying person as a free-admission category. No doctor's letter is required on top of the EDC. Visitors from outside the eight-state EDC pilot should bring a home-country disability ID plus a recent doctor's letter on letterhead.

Level -2 (ground floor): ticket desk, accessible toilet, the museum shop, and the loan wheelchair pool. Start the visit here and take the lift up to the top of the chronological circuit.

Top floor (level 3): Magritte's early career (1898-1929), including the formative work before the surrealist breakthrough. The lift opens onto the start of the chronological circuit; from here the visit moves downwards floor by floor.

Levels 2 and 1: the surrealist middle years (1930-1950) and the late work (1951-1967). Lifts serve every floor and the standard aisles between paintings are wide enough for a manual or electric wheelchair.

The Magritte Museum shares a café with the Old Masters Museum at the ground-floor level of the campus. The café is step-free from both museums and seats wheelchair users at standard tables. There is no separate restaurant inside the Magritte itself.

Place Royale outside the museum is paved and step-free; benches in the small landscaped area in the centre of the square offer a rest stop with a view of the Royal Palace opposite. The descent through Mont des Arts to the lower city is a comfortable onward route.

Metro: STIB-MIVB metro lines 1 and 5 stop at Parc, two minutes by chair from Place Royale on level pavement. Trône (lines 2 and 6) is the alternative. Both stations have lift access from street to platform.

Bus: STIB-MIVB buses 27, 38, 71 and 95 run along rue de la Régence and stop near Place Royale. The bus fleet is uniformly low-floor with a deployable ramp.

Accessible taxi: a pre-booked TPMR vehicle drops directly on Place Royale. The square is paved with no kerb stop and is the easier drop-off than rue de la Régence for a Magritte-only visit.

Combine with the Old Masters. The two museums share a campus and a tariff; both honour the European Disability Card with one companion free. Half a day at the two together is the standard plan.

Bring the European Disability Card. Without it you pay €13 standard adult; with it you and a companion enter free. It is the single biggest cost lever in the Royal Quarter.

Start at level -2 and ride the lift up. The chronological visit runs from top to bottom, so the practical wheelchair plan is to take the lift to the top floor first and roll downward by lift between floors.

Use the Magritte level -2 toilet on the way down. It is the dedicated accessible toilet block for the Magritte side of the campus.

Address: Place Royale 1, 1000 Brussels (accessible entrance via the federal MRBAB side door). Standard adult admission: €13. Disabled visitor with European Disability Card: free, plus one companion free. Children under 18: free. Loan wheelchair: free at the venue. Accessible toilet: level -2. Time to allow: 2 to 3 hours. Nearest accessible transport: STIB-MIVB metro lines 1 and 5 at Parc.