With kids · Brussels · Belgium
Brussels with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: LeJC, CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
Brussels works well for families: the Atomium and Mini-Europe, a dinosaur gallery, comic-strip museums and murals, parks and frites and waffles on every corner. Distances are short, though cobbles and metro stairs are hard work with pushchairs. Top picks: Atomium, Mini-Europe and Museum of Natural Sciences. Families usually base themselves in Sablon and Mont des Arts.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 7
- Best area for families
- Sablon and Mont des Arts
- Rainy-day options
- 3
Best things to do with kids
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Architecture · Heysel
1.Atomium
Built for the 1958 World's Fair, the Atomium represents an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times: nine steel-clad spheres connected by tubes, 102 metres tall. Escalators and stairs link several spheres with exhibitions on the 1950s, and a fast lift climbs to the top sphere's panoramic restaurant and viewing level.
Take metro line 6 to Heysel and combine it with Mini-Europe at the foot of the structure.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Iconic
- Views
- Kids
- Architecture
Theme park · Heysel
2.Mini-Europe
At the foot of the Atomium, this outdoor park displays scale models of famous European buildings, from Big Ben to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, with moving trains, boats and erupting Vesuvius. Combined tickets with the Atomium are available.
Visit on a dry day and allow about an hour and a half; combined tickets save money if you also go up the Atomium.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Outdoors
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Museum · European Quarter
3.Museum of Natural Sciences
Its Dinosaur Gallery, one of the largest in Europe, displays a herd of Iguanodon skeletons found in a Belgian coal mine at Bernissart in the 19th century. There are also galleries on evolution, minerals and urban wildlife, with plenty of hands-on displays.
Head straight to the Dinosaur Gallery on arrival, before school groups fill it.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Nature
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Museum · Lower Town
4.Belgian Comic Strip Center
Set in a former textile warehouse designed by Victor Horta, the museum traces Belgian comics from Tintin and the Smurfs to contemporary graphic novels, with original drawings and a reading library. Outside, the city's Comic Book Route marks dozens of large comic murals painted on building walls.
Pick up a map of the comic murals and spot several on your walk between the Grand-Place and Sainte-Catherine.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Art
- Architecture
Landmark · Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré
5.Manneken Pis
The tiny bronze boy on the corner of Rue de l'Étuve and Rue du Chêne, barely half a metre tall, is famous for his wardrobe: he is dressed in costumes on many days of the year, and more than a thousand outfits are displayed at the nearby GardeRobe MannekenPis museum.
Check whether he is in costume on the day of your visit; the GardeRobe museum a few steps away explains the tradition.
- Time needed
- 15 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Kids
Park · European Quarter
6.Cinquantenaire Park and museums
A triumphal arch built for Belgium's 50th anniversary of independence crowns this park, flanked by three museums: the Art & History Museum, Autoworld's collection of historic cars and the Royal Military Museum. The park lawns are a favourite picnic spot.
Go through the Royal Military Museum to reach the terrace on top of the arch for a view down Rue de la Loi.
- Time needed
- 1–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- History
- Kids
- Views
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Museum · Sablon and Mont des Arts
7.Musical Instruments Museum
Housed in Old England, a former Art Nouveau department store of iron and glass, the museum displays instruments from around the world and across the centuries. An audio guide plays the sound of many instruments as you approach, and the rooftop café has one of the best views over the city.
Even if you skip the collection, the rooftop café is worth a visit for the panorama of the Lower Town.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Rainy day
- Views
- Kids
- Architecture
Rainy-day ideas
- Musical Instruments Museum — Even if you skip the collection, the rooftop café is worth a visit for the panorama of the Lower Town.
- Belgian Comic Strip Center — Pick up a map of the comic murals and spot several on your walk between the Grand-Place and Sainte-Catherine.
- Museum of Natural Sciences — Head straight to the Dinosaur Gallery on arrival, before school groups fill it.
Where families should stay
$$$$ · Best for couples, luxury, culture and families
Sablon and Mont des Arts
The Upper Town spreads from the Place du Grand Sablon, with its Gothic church, antique shops and chocolatiers, to the Mont des Arts gardens, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Magritte Museum and the Royal Palace. Hotels are polished and the streets are calm in the evening, yet the Grand-Place is a 10-minute walk downhill.
- Good
- Major museums on the doorstep; Quiet, elegant streets; Excellent chocolate shops
- Watch out
- Expensive hotels and restaurants; Steep walk back up from the Lower Town
- Nearby
- Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Magritte Museum, Royal Palace, Brussels Park
Family travel tips
- Young children travel free on STIB when accompanied by a paying adult; check age limits before you travel.
- Combined Atomium and Mini-Europe tickets save money and fill a day at Heysel.
- Follow the comic murals around the centre as a free treasure hunt for children.
- The Bois de la Cambre has playgrounds, a lake and space to run, a short tram ride from the centre.
- Many museums offer free or reduced entry for children; check each museum's policy.
Day trips for families
- Mechelen (About 20 minutes by train) — A compact historic city with St Rumbold's Cathedral tower, which you can climb for wide views over Flanders, a canal-side boardwalk and the Kazerne Dossin memorial museum.
- Waterloo (About 40 minutes by bus or train) — The battlefield where Napoleon was defeated in 1815, with the Memorial 1815 museum, the Lion's Mound viewpoint, which you can climb for a view over the fields, and the restored Hougoumont farm.
- Dinant (About 1 hour 45 minutes by train) — A small town on the River Meuse beneath limestone cliffs, with an onion-domed collegiate church, a cliff-top citadel reached by cable car and kayak trips on the Lesse.
When to go with children
The best months overall are May–June and September. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Brussels good for kids?
Brussels works well for families: the Atomium and Mini-Europe, a dinosaur gallery, comic-strip museums and murals, parks and frites and waffles on every corner. Distances are short, though cobbles and metro stairs are hard work with pushchairs.
+What can kids do in Brussels?
Atomium, Mini-Europe, Museum of Natural Sciences, Belgian Comic Strip Center and Manneken Pis.
+Where should families stay in Brussels?
Sablon and Mont des Arts: Antique dealers, chocolatiers and the royal museums in the elegant Upper Town.