L'Arbre d'Or / Le Cygne / L'Etoile, Brussels

On the south side of Grand Place, beside the Town Hall, L'Arbre d'Or ("Golden Tree") is the only house still owned by a guild – the Brewers'. Look for the equestrian statue of 18th-century aristocrat, Charles of Lorraine on top, but also the gilded emblems of hops and wheat, and the tiny Belgian Brewers Museum (daily: 10am–5pm) on the ground floor.

The Cygne ("Swan") mansion next door takes its name from the swan on its facade and has originally housed the butchers' guild before becoming a tavern where political theorist Karl Marx and his collaborator Friedrich Engels regularly met during the former's exile in Belgium. Indeed, it was in Brussels, in February 1848, that the two penned "The Communist Manifesto", made up of theories and opinions about the ideal socialist world. Quite appropriately, the Belgian Workers' Party was founded here four decades later, though presently the building shelters one of the city's more exclusive restaurants.

Completing the vista is the Maison de l'Etoile ("The Star") – a 19th-century rebuilding of the city magistrate's medieval home. This house, the smallest on the square, and with the 2nd-narrowest facade, has an arcade gallery in which you'll find a statue of Everard t'Serclaes, depicted in the throes of death, after defending the city from powerful ducal enemies. Many tourists touch (or rather rub) the statue, particularly the arm, as legend has it that it will ensure one's return to Brussels.