Brussels With Kids
What Brussels with kids really looks like, from a family that plans these trips for a living.
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Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Brussels worth it with kids?
For families, absolutely, and it is underrated. It is small, walkable, unintimidating and packed with kid pleasing treats and sights, from the Atomium to endless waffles. A short, joyful city break that pairs perfectly with Bruges.
How many days?
Two days for the city, three if you add a day trip to Bruges.
What is the one thing we cannot miss?
The Grand Place and the comic murals, then the Atomium. And a Liège waffle, which settles most arguments.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro, trams and buses run on one cheap ticket and the center is very walkable. A train handles the airport and the day trips.
When should we go?
Late spring through early fall is mildest and best for wandering. December brings a lovely Christmas market. Pack a rain jacket any time, and remember the chocolate shops and comic museums are perfect rainy day cover.
Chocolate, Comics, and a Grand Square
People treat Brussels as a place you change trains, and skip it. With kids that is backwards, because Brussels is one of the most purely fun capitals in Europe for children. It runs on chocolate, waffles, comic book heroes and a giant silver molecule you can ride an escalator up inside. It is small, walkable and unpretentious.
The center is compact and easy. The stunning Grand Place sits at the heart, ringed by chocolate shops and waffle stands, with Manneken Pis a short walk away. The comic murals are scattered through the old streets, and a quick tram ride north brings you to the Atomium. Base near the Grand Place and you can walk to most of it.
Getting Around
Getting around is simple. The metro, trams and buses run on one cheap ticket, and the center is very walkable. From Brussels Airport a train reaches the central stations in about twenty minutes, easy with kids and bags, and the fast trains to Paris, Amsterdam and London leave from here too.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
The Grand Place & center
The old heart of the city around the Grand Place, one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, lined with gilded guild houses. Chocolate shops, waffle stands and comic murals are all within a few streets, and Manneken Pis is around the corner. Compact, walkable and full of treats, the ideal family base.
Sablon
The elegant uphill district of antique shops, chocolatiers and a pretty church square, with the Royal Museums and the park nearby. A calmer, refined neighborhood a short walk from the center, good for a slightly quieter base.
The European Quarter
The district of the EU institutions, more businesslike but home to the excellent, free Parc du Cinquantenaire with its grand arch and museums. Handy and green, though most families prefer to sleep closer to the Grand Place.
Hotel Amigo
A grand, art filled luxury hotel steps from the Grand Place, with warm service and a prime location. The blow the budget treat, right in the middle of the action.
A center city hotel
The center has plenty of comfortable, well priced hotels within walking distance of the Grand Place and the metro. Practical and easy with kids, with the whole city on your doorstep.
A city center apartment
The center and Sablon are full of roomy apartments, good value for a family and handy for a simple breakfast before the waffles start. Book near a metro stop and everything is close.
The Three I Build Every Brussels Trip Around
The Grand Place and Manneken Pis
Start in the Grand Place, jaw droppingly grand and completely free to stand in, then walk the few minutes to Manneken Pis, the famously tiny statue of a boy that kids find hilarious, often dressed in a costume of the day. Weave between them through the comic strip murals, hunting for Tintin and the Smurfs on the walls. It is a treasure hunt of a morning.
The Atomium and Mini-Europe
A tram ride north brings you to the Atomium, a giant model of an iron crystal blown up billions of times, with escalators and lifts inside the shining spheres and views across the city. Right beside it, Mini-Europe packs the landmarks of the continent into one walkable park. Together they make a brilliant, slightly surreal half day.
Comics, Chocolate and Waffles
Brussels is the world capital of comics, chocolate and waffles, and you should lean all the way in with kids. Follow the comic mural trail, tour a chocolate shop and taste as you go, and settle the great debate between a Brussels waffle and a Liège waffle by trying both. The Belgian Comic Strip Center is a treat for older kids and fans.
Family Time, Built In: Brussels With Kids
Brussels does the work for you with kids. The center is small and walkable, the treats are constant, and the sights are fun rather than worthy. Add the Atomium, Mini-Europe, the comic trail and a big city park, and the days fill themselves with the good stuff.
The harbor ferry to the beach
Sunday fish market
Paddle boats on the the park
Planten un Blomen
the Atomium plaza
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Parc du Cinquantenaire, a grand free park with a triumphal arch, wide lawns for running, and museums on the edges, or the leafy Bois de la Cambre for boats and playgrounds. A green break between the chocolate and the sightseeing.
Five Things To Eat In Brussels
Frites
Waffles
Moules-frites
Chocolate
SpeculoosNicole’s Perspective
A city kids taste and read their way through
I have spent years planning Europe for families, and Brussels is my go to for a short, high joy city break with kids. It is unintimidating and endlessly tasty, the sights are close together, and it sits at the crossroads of Europe, an hour from Bruges, Paris, Amsterdam and London by train.
I steer families to Brussels for a couple of easy, delicious days, usually with a day trip to Bruges tacked on. It is a soft, fun landing that leaves everyone happy and works beautifully as a hub for the rest of a European trip.
The Day Trip: Bruges
An hour by train sits Bruges, a perfectly preserved medieval town of canals, cobbles and stepped gable houses that looks like a storybook come to life. Take a canal boat, climb the belfry if the kids are game, eat frites in the square, and let the fairy tale setting do its thing. An easy day out that feels like a storybook.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Two days covers Brussels comfortably. One for the Grand Place, Manneken Pis and the comic trail, one for the Atomium and Mini-Europe. Add a third for a day trip to Bruges.
Day one for the Grand Place, Manneken Pis, the comic murals and a chocolate tasting. Day two for the Atomium and Mini-Europe, with a park in the afternoon. Slot in waffles at every opportunity.
Add a day trip to Bruges by train, then the Belgian Comic Strip Center or a hands on chocolate workshop.
Brussels is the perfect European hub. Fast trains reach Bruges, Paris, Amsterdam and London in an hour or two, so give Brussels a couple of days and build the rest of your trip around it.
Brussels With Kids, Answered
Is Brussels worth it with kids?
For families, absolutely, and it is underrated. It is small, walkable, unintimidating and packed with kid pleasing treats and sights, from the Atomium to endless waffles. A short, joyful city break that pairs perfectly with Bruges.
How many days?
Two days for the city, three if you add a day trip to Bruges.
What is the one thing we cannot miss?
The Grand Place and the comic murals, then the Atomium. And a Liège waffle, which settles most arguments.
Do we need a car?
No. The metro, trams and buses run on one cheap ticket and the center is very walkable. A train handles the airport and the day trips.
When should we go?
Late spring through early fall is mildest and best for wandering. December brings a lovely Christmas market. Pack a rain jacket any time, and remember the chocolate shops and comic museums are perfect rainy day cover.
Ready To Put Brussels On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will map the two days that cover it, sort a base by the Grand Place, and add a Bruges day and onward trains wherever you are headed next.
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