Brussels with Kids
Places that work with children
The Atomium and Mini-Europe, the Comics Art Museum, the natural history museum and the large parks give children plenty to do. Zoos and castles outside the city are within reach as day trips. Check each place page for opening hours and prices.
34 places
All year When
The places
Museum · Mont des Arts and Royal Quarter Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) The musical instruments museum in the old Old England building on Montagne de la Cour, with a rooftop cafe that looks over the city.
Museum · Sainte-Catherine and De Brouckère Comics Art Museum Brussels' comic strip museum, in the former Waucquez warehouse on Rue des Sables. It follows Belgian comics, from Tintin to the Smurfs.
Museum · Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré Choco-Story Brussels A chocolate museum on Rue de l'Étuve, a few steps from Manneken-Pis, that follows cocoa from the Aztecs to Belgian pralines.
Museum · European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Museum of Natural Sciences The natural history museum on Rue Vautier in the European Quarter, known for its dinosaur hall with the Iguanodons found at Bernissart.
Museum · European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Autoworld A car museum in a hall of the Cinquantenaire Park, with vintage and classic vehicles.
Museum · Schaerbeek and Saint-Josse Train World A railway museum in the old Schaerbeek station, with historic locomotives and carriages.
Museum · Laeken and Heysel Design Museum Brussels A design museum on Place de Belgique at the foot of the Atomium, in the Heysel Plateau.
Museum · Laeken and Heysel Atomium The steel structure of nine spheres built for the 1958 World's Fair on the Heysel Plateau. Visitors can enter the spheres, which hold exhibitions and a view over the city.
Museum · Laeken and Heysel Mini-Europe A miniature park at Bruparck, below the Atomium, with scale models of European monuments.
Museum · Woluwe Musée de Tram (Tram Museum) A museum of Brussels' urban transport on Avenue de Tervueren, with historic trams and buses.
Landmark · Grand-Place and Îlot Sacré Manneken-Pis A small bronze fountain statue of a boy on Rue de l'Étuve, one of the best known sights of the city.
Landmark · Sainte-Catherine and De Brouckère Théâtre Royal de Toone A puppet theatre in an alley near the Grand-Place with a long tradition of Brussels marionette plays.
Landmark · Uccle and Forêt de Soignes Planetarium The planetarium of the Royal Observatory on the Heysel Plateau, with film shows about the sky.
Park · European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Cinquantenaire Park A formal park in the east of the city, framed by the Cinquantenaire Arcade and three museums.
Park · Louise and Châtelain Bois de la Cambre A large wooded park in the south of the city at the end of Avenue Louise, with a lake and an island.
Park · Mont des Arts and Royal Quarter Brussels Park The formal park between the Royal Palace and the Parliament, laid out in the 18th century.
Park · European Quarter and Cinquantenaire Parc Léopold A park in the European Quarter, next to the European Parliament buildings.
Park · Schaerbeek and Saint-Josse Parc Josaphat A large landscaped park in Schaerbeek.
Park · Saint-Gilles and Forest Parc de Forest A large public park in Forest, in the south-west of the city.
Park · Uccle and Forêt de Soignes Forêt de Soignes A large beech forest that begins at the southern edge of the city and runs into Flanders and Wallonia.
Park · Uccle and Forêt de Soignes Parc de Wolvendael A park in Uccle with ponds, lawns and an avenue of trees.
Park · Uccle and Forêt de Soignes Rouge-Cloître A former priory in the Forêt de Soignes in Auderghem, now a nature site with ponds.
Park · Woluwe Parc de Woluwe A large park in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre along the Avenue de Tervueren.
Day trip · Mechelen Toy Museum Mechelen A museum of toys in Mechelen.
Day trip · Mechelen Planckendael An animal park in Muizen near Mechelen.
Day trip · Waterloo Waterloo Battlefield Memorial 1815 The visitor centre at the site of the Battle of Waterloo, near the Lion's Mound.
Day trip · Bruges Choco-Story Bruges A chocolate museum in the centre of Bruges.
Day trip · Antwerp Antwerp Zoo A zoo beside Antwerp Central Station, one of the oldest in the world.
Day trip · Pairi Daiza Pairi Daiza A zoo and garden park in Brugelette, in Wallonia.
Day trip · Louvain-la-Neuve Musée Hergé The museum dedicated to Hergé, the creator of Tintin, in Louvain-la-Neuve.
Day trip · Mechelen Technopolis A hands-on science centre in Mechelen.
Park · Uccle and Forêt de Soignes Jardin Jean Massart A botanical garden in Auderghem created in 1922, run with the Université libre de Bruxelles, with nearly 2,000 plant species.
Park · Woluwe Étangs Mellaerts A pair of ponds in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre on the edge of the Parc de Woluwe.
Park · Anderlecht Parc de Neerpede A countryside park in Anderlecht on the edge of the Brussels region.
