The Guardian writes that Brussels University District is “the second coolest” place in Europe
There is praise indeed for the area of the Brussels municipality of Elsene that is situated between the Francophone university ULB’s Solbosch Campus and the Plein Campus that houses the Dutch-medium University VUB and some of the ULB’s faculties. According to The Guardian, the University District is the second coolest area of any European city. The journalist that wrote the article praised the district’s diversity and the fact that it hasn’t (yet) become a tourist trap.
The list of the top ten coolest places to be in European cities was published on the online version of The Guardian on Saturday evening.
The paper praises the excellent accessibility of the area as a major plus. Also mentioned is the lack of a flood of tourists changing the charachter of the area. However, could this change thanks to the good publicity the area has now got from The Guardian?
The journalist that wrote the appraisal of the University District said that one thing that was particularly attractive about it is that “you have as much chance of chatting to an African that has just arrived and is opening the shop of their dreams as you have of chatting to a 70-year-old that has been in the area for years”.
Only the Järntorget/Långgatorna area of the Swedish city of Gothenburg was considered cooler than Elsene’s University District. Third in the list is the El Cabanyal area of the Spanish city of Valencia.