Taking the bus from Brussels Airport to Brussels is the cheapest way to get from the airport to the city centre. Buses are direct and the system is easy to navigate, so this transport option also offers some of the best value for money.
Services depart from Brussels airport in the level below the arrivals hall (Level 0), and there are several different buses you can take to get to your final destination. The most convenient and cheapest of them are public MIVB/STIB buses. Their 12 and 21 line services run from platform C at the Brussels airport to the Brussels city centre.
These buses terminate at a stop called Luxembourg, where passengers can connect to other bus lines as well as to the tram and metro systems. They also stop at Schuman (for the European Parliament) en route, which is a convenient place to change to the metro.
The buses run from 5:41 to 23:00 and offer several departures every hour. Bus 12 runs until 20:00 on weekdays, and bus 21 from 20:00 on weekdays as well as on weekends and public holidays, covering most hours of the day between them. Bus 12 is an express bus, while bus 21 is a local bus.
The total journey time on this route is approximately 30 minutes, depending on where you alight and whether you take the express or the local bus.
A one-way ticket on MIVB/STIB buses from Brussels Airport to the Brussels city centre costs 3.50 euros if you purchase your ticket before boarding the bus, and 6.00 euros if you purchase it from the driver. There is a GO vending machine at the airport where you can buy tickets before boarding. It accepts coins and credit cards.