This post is part of my Traveling Tuesday Series.
After our first European adventure to Paris, we headed to Belgium next. Six months pregnant and exhausted, Paris had wiped me out so I knew to take it easier and plan ahead better for our trip to Belgium. Our daughter, Honeybun, was 22 months old during our visit to Belgium in 2010.
Here are the basics of traveling to Belgium with kids:
Getting Around
There are buses available which run from the Brussels airport into the city center as well as a good bus system for getting around town. However, if you stay in the right area, you can easily get everywhere you want to go around Brussels by foot.
A car is handy if you want to visit other areas outside Brussels and driving in Belgium is very easy.
Kid Accessibility
Most of the cities in Belgium are very old and the sidewalks are cobblestone and can be tricky for pushing a stroller/buggy. I highly recommend bringing a lightweight buggy which can be folded up and carried if needed and a carrier or some kind for little ones who can’t walk long distances.
Brussels is also very hilly and so walking around the city can be very tiring, especially for kids or when pushing a buggy.
Eating in Belgium with kids
Eating throughout Belgium with kids is pretty easy. There are a lot of familiar things and some favorites, such as french fries and waffles, can even be found on the street. We never had a problem with finding something for Honeybun to eat and most restaurants had English menus available or at least English-speaking staff which makes it much easier than other places where English is less prominent.
Preparing for a trip to Belgium with Kids:
I’m big on planning our trips ahead of time because traveling with kids makes things just a little bit more complicated as they aren’t always very patient when you don’t have a plan so I always did a lot of research and planning before our trips. Check out my tips and advice for:
- Finding the perfect hotel
- Pre-Planning as much as possible and finding the best Sights to See
- Packing for the kids
While I usually recommend pre-purchasing tickets to popular attractions when possible, we never had a problem with crowds during our time in Belgium. In fact, many places were almost devoid of people and it made it so nice and easy to see everything we were interested in.
What to see and do in Belgium with Kids:
We spent four days in total exploring most of Belgium from the World War II Battle of the Bulge site at La Roche-en-Ardenne to the EU and Belgian capital of Brussels to the historic cities of Bruges and Ghent.
We filled our four days as follows:
Day 1:
We arrived into Brussels early in the morning and rented a car to start our journey. We loaded all our baggage and installed Honeybun’s car seat before heading on our way. The drive from the airport to La Roche-en-Ardenne, our first stop, is about an hour and half through the Belgian countryside and the views coming in to the little village were breathtaking.
La Roche-en-Ardenne
We took a scenic drive through the small town before parking in the village center and enjoying lunch at a riverside restaurant before wandering through town to the Battle of the Bulge museum. My husband’s grandfather fought in the battle and it was amazing to see first hand what he saw, to see the history he helped make and to share that with our daughter even though she was young.
The village also has a medieval castle situated on the hill above which is definitely on my to-do list if we ever make it back since I won’t be pregnant or managing a toddler!
That evening we headed into Brussels and checked into our hotel in the European Quarter where the EU parliament and other government buildings are located. And while our hotel (a one-bedroom suite) was lovely, the location was less than ideal as it was not near any of the things we wanted to see and Brussels is a very hilly city which is not easy to tell when planning adventures on a map!
Day 2:
We had our rental car for another day so decided to drive to Bruges, near the coast, which is about an hour drive from Brussels.
Bruges
We spent the day wandering around the cute historic center of the city. We had lunch in the old square and wandered around the streets and canals. Honeybun loved exploring the little city as much as we did and enjoyed the horses and carriages, street organs and narrow streets and little bridges.
On the way back to Brussels, we did a drive through tour of Ghent, another historic town before returning to our hotel and crashing for the night after so much walking.
Day 3:
Museum of the City of Brussels and Manneken-Pis
Our third day of our visit to Belgium was the first day we explored Brussels itself. After breakfast at a cafe near our hotel, we boarded the bus to the olde town area of Brussels. We spent most of the day seeing the historic sites, including visiting the Museum of the City of Brussels which houses all the costumes for the famous Manneken-Pis fountain which depicts a small boy peeing and is surrounded by mystery and legend.
Museum of the National Bank of Belgium
This probably seems like a weird place to take kids but my husband works in the finance industry and I love anything and everything history plus it’s free so we figured if Honeybun just couldn’t handle it there wouldn’t be anything lost. It turns out, we all really enjoyed the museum which covers the history of currency and banking as well as the basics of how an economy works and there is plenty to see throughout.
Day 4:
Museum of Toys
One our favorite stops in Belgium was the Museum of Toys. The museum is jam-packed with toys from antiques to modern to items from my own childhood. We spent hours there with Honeybun as she explored and played with all the toys and we played and explored a little, too!
Museum of the Belgian Brewers
If you haven’t noticed yet, we aren’t the type of parents to spend our family trips doing only kid-centered things. We’ve always felt it’s important to share all aspects of the world with our kids from the history, which may not be so pretty, to the way other people live to exploring things we enjoy.
The Museum of the Belgian Brewers is in the basement of a building in the main Grand Place square in Brussels. The museum covers both historical brewing methods and modern methods including a multi-media presentation of how beer is brewed today. There is both antique and modern brewing equipment on display and a cafe where you can enjoy a cold beer.
Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate
Belgium is known for its chocolate, among other things, and if you’re looking for something more “kid appropriate,” just outside the Grand Place is The Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate where you can discover the history of chocolate from its origins in South America and it’s introduction to Europe to how it is produced and processed as well as how chocolate is used and made into some of our favorite treats. The visit it topped of by visiting the kitchen where you can watch a chocolatier at work and enjoy some sweet treats.
More ideas for enjoying Belgium with kids:
- Visit a castle: In addition to the medieval castle in La Roche-en-Ardenne, Belgium is home to many other castles of different time periods.
- Specialty museums: There are many specialty museums throughout Brussels and Belgium covering many topics including a Natural History, science, musical instruments, automobiles, art, trains and more!
- Go to the park: Brussels and Belgium is home to many wonderful outdoor spaces, why not explore some of the lovely parks and let the kids spend a little time on the playground with local children.
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