Horta Museum · Saint-Gilles, Brussels
The house Horta built for himself by 1901, where iron curls up the stairwell to a glass skylight.
From €27 per adult
Your quarter-hour is held on the museum's calendar, at a price fixed before you pay.
Fares by the quarter-hour
Every fare covers the self-guided route through Horta's house and studio, about 75 minutes, in a slot the museum keeps to fifteen people.
Visitors aged 18 and over
€27per person
Students under 30 with a valid student card
€17per person
Young people aged 6 to 17, with proof of age
€12per person
How the visit runs
Nobody lectures and nothing plays in your ear. The house is left to you, a printed guide and the handful of people who started with you.
At the desk in No. 27 your e-ticket is scanned. Phone, camera, bag and coat then go into a free locker, because none of them may enter the historic rooms.
Each slot lets in fifteen visitors. Come at the time on your ticket, not before: the rooms are narrow and the group ahead is still inside.
A paper guide in English, French or Dutch leads you room by room through the house and the studio, with short texts in each room.
That is the museum's own average. Rooms start closing 30 minutes before the doors shut, the studio first, so the last slots feel shorter.
Room by room
In 1898 Victor Horta bought two neighbouring plots on rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles and built himself a house at No. 25 and a working studio at No. 23. Both were finished by 1901, at the height of Art Nouveau, the style he had helped start in Brussels with the Hôtel Tassel in 1893.
No. 25 · the stairwell
Every room in the house turns round this stairwell. Horta left parts of its iron frame on show, a bold choice at a time when iron was rarely used so openly in a European home.
Inside the house every room turns around one stairwell. Iron banisters curve up through it to a glazed lantern skylight, and the light it lets down falls on sgraffito walls, mosaic, stained glass, carved woods and the door handles, lamps and coat hooks Horta drew for this house alone.
No. 25 · ground floor
Visitors came in through an elegant hall and a parlour. The house states its terms at once: woods left natural, glass in colour, and door handles, lamps and coat hooks drawn for this house alone.
No. 25 · bel étage
The reception rooms open off the stairwell, one flowing into the next. Mosaic floors, built-in furniture and ornament taken from plants give them the calm of rooms made for looking.
No. 25 · upper floors
Higher up the house turns private: a boudoir, the family sitting room, and bedrooms for Horta, his wife, his daughter and friends who came to stay. The servants slept under the roof.
No. 23 · next door
The workplace next door has the smoking room where he met clients, his office over the garden, a bright drawing floor for his draughtsmen and a basement sculpture workshop.
Its own staircase takes in daylight by a device of its own. Today the studio explains Horta's work and the restoration, and it closes to visitors 30 minutes before the museum does.
Getting to Saint-Gilles
The museum sits on a quiet residential street in Saint-Gilles. You go in at the modern annex beside Horta's two houses.
The entrance27 rue Américaine, 1060 Saint-Gilles, Brussels
The iron balcony rail.
The front door, iron over glass.
Horta's house from across the street.Before you go in
Photography and filming are not allowed in the house or the studio. Photograph the façades from the street instead.
Phones, cameras, bags of any size, coats, umbrellas, food and drink. The lockers are free and lock with a key.
Three flights and narrow corridors. The house and studio are not wheelchair accessible; only the annex is step-free.
Come at your quarter-hour. Early arrivals wait in the hall, and a missed slot is no longer held for you.
Under-6s visit free on your booking and under-12s stay with an adult. Pushchairs wait in the reception hall when there is room.
Groups of seven or more book a guided visit directly with the museum, which is why our bookings stop at six.
Asked before booking
Entry to Victor Horta's house and studio at a booked date and quarter-hour, a self-guided visit of about 75 minutes, a paper room guide in English, French or Dutch, and use of the free lockers. We send your e-ticket by email.
About 1 hour 15 minutes, according to the museum. Leave a little longer if you want the temporary exhibition and the shop in the annex. Rooms start closing 30 minutes before the museum shuts, the studio first.
No. You go round on your own with a printed guide in English, French or Dutch, and the room texts come in the same three languages. There is no audio guide, because phones and audio devices are not allowed inside.
Fifteen. The museum lets visitors in every quarter-hour, with fifteen places in each slot. That cap keeps the narrow rooms and the staircase comfortable, and it is why popular afternoon slots run out.
Yes, if you want to be sure of going in. The museum says only advance booking guarantees entry; a few places are sold at the desk and the wait can be long. It suggests booking about a week ahead, more in school holidays.
Come at the time on your ticket. The rooms are tight, so the museum asks visitors not to arrive early. If you miss your quarter-hour, your place is no longer held and you join the general wait.
No. Photography and filming are not allowed anywhere in the house or studio, and phones and cameras go into a locker before you start. You can photograph the façade on rue Américaine from the street.
They go into a free locker in the reception hall, with your coat, umbrella and any food or drink. Bags of every size must be left, so travel light. Collect everything as soon as you finish.
No. The house and studio have three flights and 375 steps, with narrow corridors, and the museum advises against the visit for anyone with limited mobility or breathing difficulties. The modern annex, with the shop and exhibition space, is step-free.
Not into the house. There is no pushchair park, but you can leave one in the reception hall while you visit if there is space. A baby-changing table is in the accessible toilet off the hall.
Children under 6 visit free: tell us their ages and we add a free ticket for each to your booking at no charge. Ages 6 to 17 use the 6–17 fare with proof of age. Under-12s must stay with an adult.
Students under 30 with a valid student card. The museum checks it at the desk, and anyone without valid proof is charged the adult rate there, so bring the card with you.
No. The museum's rule is that groups of seven or more book a guided visit directly with the museum, at least seven days ahead. That is why our bookings stop at six people.
Tuesday to Friday 14:00–17:30, Saturday and Sunday 11:00–17:30, with last entry 45 minutes before closing. It is closed on Mondays and on 1 January, 1 May, Ascension Day, 21 July, 15 August, 1 and 11 November and 25 December.
On the first Sunday of each month the museum runs a free-entry day with its own separate booking. Because entry is free that day, we do not sell tickets for it, and our calendar greys it out.
Take tram 81, 92 or 97 to Janson, or bus 54 to Trinité; both stops are about three minutes' walk away. The entrance is at 27 rue Américaine in Saint-Gilles. There is no car park, only paid street parking.
Bookings are made for one date and one entry time, and the museum does not move individual tickets to another day. Check the date and quarter-hour carefully before you pay, and write to us at once if anything looks wrong.
Yes. There is an accessible toilet off the reception hall at No. 27, with a folding baby-changing table. Use it before you start: food and drink stay in the lockers.
Yes. The museum shop in the annex at No. 27 is open to anyone during opening hours; just go to the reception desk.
Yes. The short texts in each room are in English, French and Dutch, and the printed guide you pick up at the start comes in the same three languages.
No. To protect it, the garden of the house and studio is closed to visitors. The garden in front of the reception hall is open when the weather allows.
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