During our brief three-night stay in the city, we found plenty to do in Brussels with kids. While not everything was a winner, the kids still had fun.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Cheese and Chocolate in Western Europe
• United Club LAX: Better Than Your Average United Lounge
• A Great Stay Outside the City Center: The Thompson Chicago
• The Beautiful Air France Lounge ORD
• The Best Inflight Service: KLM 787-10 World Business Class ORD-AMS
• Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht: A Great Stay But Now Pricey
• Perfect Dutch Comfort Food at The Pantry Amsterdam
• Smelt It and Loved It: Restaurant Smelt Amsterdam
• Amsterdam with Kids: Plenty of History, Cheese, and Sweets
• Zaanse Schans: You Must See This Idyllic Spot Near Amsterdam
• NS Lounge Amsterdam Centraal: Sadly, Not Much Here
• Eurostar Premier: Better Than Economy But Still Pretty Basic
• Hilton Brussels Grand Place: A Great Location in Central Brussels
• Le Clan des Belges: One of Our Favorite Meals Ever
• Fin de Siècle: Great Food But Can Have Long Lines
• Mini‑Europe in Brussels: Top Highlights From Our Experience
• Belgian Beer World Experience: Surprisingly Fun for the Family
• Brussels With Kids: Best Activities, Museums, and Tips for Families (this post)
• Winter Wonders: The Wonderful Brussels Christmas Market
• Brussels Airlines The Loft Lounge: Plenty of Drinks and Smurfs
• A Bit Too Simple: Brussels Airlines A319 Business Class (Intra-Europe)
• Great for Whisky Lovers: SWISS Senator Lounge E ZRH
• SWISS 777-300ER Business Class: A Comfy Seat and Good Service

This is a family guide, intended to provide assistance for you as you plan your own visit to Brussels, Belgium. For context, during our visit, our children were ages 6 and 9. We paid for all attractions out of our own money and do not have any relationship (financial or otherwise) with the operators of the services described below. That allows us to give our honest feedback about what we did and did not like.

Is Brussels good for kids?

Yes! Brussels offers interactive museums, chocolate workshops, and easy public transit, making it a great city for families. The compact layout, mix of history, and fun activities work well for kids of all ages.

Top Things to Do in Brussels With Kids

Choco-Story Brussels

Link to official site: https://www.choco-story-brussels.be/eng/home
Good for ages: 3 to 9
Nearest rail station: Bourse (7 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: Yes

One thing Belgium is known for is chocolate. So, it would only make sense to go on a chocolate tour, right? If you’re near the center of the city and want to take a tour, your main option is Choco-Story Brussels. I think the setup is more reminiscent of a museum than a true chocolate tour.

This is a self-guided tour through the history of chocolate from its origins in South America. After checking in with the front desk, you’ll get one piece of chocolate right at the start to whet your appetite. Sadly, you won’t get more chocolate to eat until the end of the experience.

There are plenty of artifacts and informative displays, like these ornate cups used for serving hot chocolate. The exhibits here aren’t too interactive, sadly. But there are some games for children sprinkled throughout.

Sometimes all you need is love and chocolate, you know?

They have a short film you can watch about halfway through the experience. Though it was only a few minutes long, it felt a bit drawn out. It was less about making chocolate and more about the emotions you might experience tangential to chocolate.

Finally, towards the end, you can sample all the chocolate you want. There are large canisters of chocolates and you can stay here as long as you’d like.

Following the display is a demonstration where an employee will show how to make chocolate with a filling. In our case, there was a Korean tour group also here, so their translator needed to take time out to explain.

And, naturally, there are samples afterwards. Did you think you would watch a demonstration and not get free chocolate?

All in all, it was an average chocolate tour. We’ve had better experiences, like Chocoversum in Hamburg, Germany. We feel it would have been better if wasn’t self-guided. The level of interactivity also was a bit lacking, which made it a little bit of a drag through the middle of the experience. But the chocolate itself is tasty.

Frietmuseum (Fries Museum)

Link to official site: https://www.frietmuseum-brussels.be/eng/home
Good for ages: 2 to 16
Nearest rail station: Bourse (7 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: Yes

Ok, before we start. You do know that fries aren’t from France, right? While you might know them as French fries, the origins of the phrase come from the aftermath of WWI, where US soldiers went to a French-speaking restaurant in Belgium. This was the first time hearing about “fries” and the name stuck. Clearly the soldiers didn’t know people in Belgium speak French…

Anyways, with that out of the way, the Frietmuseum is actually right across the street from Choco-Story. In fact, it’s operated by the same group, so everything inside will feel very familiar if you visit both places. But is this one as mid?

Once again, this is a self-guided experience. You’ll use personal listening devices to learn more about the history of fries and potatoes.

Already you can see Alex as though he’s calling someone while driving. This is going to be a problem when he gets older, huh?

The good news is the number of interactive exhibits is much higher here. We can provide a few examples. First is this video game where you must defend your potato crops from giant bugs.

Second is this pinball machine involving fries. You can’t play this indefinitely because only one continue is allowed per listening device.

Third is a multiplayer game where you need to work the production line with up to five others.

As with Choco-Story Brussels, there’s a movie you can watch at the Frietmuseum. This one seemed more informative and entertaining.

At the end of the experience, kids can even play make believe and imagine themselves as a short-order chef cooking up some fries.

When you turn in your listening device, you get a free serving of freshly-made Belgian fries. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the fries because they were too hot and I was concerned with trying not to burn my hands. The fries are tasty and there are plenty of sauces you can choose from.

Here, you can also get some water dispensed by a replica of a peeing boy. Char seemed amused by method of getting a drink.

Fontainaspark

Address: Rue d’Anderlecht 11, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Good for ages: 1 to 10
Nearest rail station: Anneessens Premetro Station (2 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: Yes

If you need a break from paid activities while in central Brussels, make your way over to Fontainaspark. This compact park has two nice areas where kids can let off some steam.

First up is a rather large rope structure where kids could climb all the way to the top if they’re feeling brave enough.

Or, they can live out their acrobatic fantasies by balancing on the ropes nearby.

The other part of the park they enjoyed was a simple playground. This playground had a seesaw and several other bouncy animal-themed seats. Char liked the frog-shaped trash can.

There’s a wooden play structure with a small slide. It’s interesting that this part of the park is intended for young children but it sure seems tough for little ones to make it across the rings. Maybe kids in Brussels have more upper body strength?

Manneken Pis

Address: Rue des Grands Carmes 26, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
Good for ages: N/A
Nearest rail station: Bourse (7 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: Yes

If you’re in the mood to see a statue of a boy peeing into a fountain, you’re in luck! This city has several. Perhaps the most famous is the replica of Manneken Pis, located just down the street from Choco-Story and the Frietmuseum. The city needed to place the replica here because the original kept getting defaced or stolen. If you want to see the original, you’ll need to go to the Brussels City Museum.

One popular thing to do besides just taking your picture with it is to make it look like it’s peeing into your mouth. And so that’s what Alex naturally did after looking at others doing it.

But that’s it–that’s all there is to do here. Some people call this spot overrated as a result. We’d say that you can visit if you’re already in the area, but we couldn’t imagine coming out of our way to see it. This was totally unplanned on our part and we spent a total of 1 minute here as we went along our merry way.

Mini-Europe

Link to official site: https://www.minieurope.com/en/
Good for ages: 2 to 9
Nearest rail station: Heizel (9 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: Yes

We’ve talked about this separately, so go there to see our detailed thoughts on our time. And note the annual closure after the New Year holiday and until mid-March.

Mini-Europe is a popular activity to do with kids and you might even see some children here on field trips. Mini-Europe celebrates dozens of European countries and cities by showcasing their motifs, heritage, and customs. It’s a great place to both get an idea of where else you’d like to visit and also a recap of where you’ve been. There are plenty of interactive exhibits to keep things fresh for the kids.

Atomium

Link to official site: https://www.atomium.be/Home/Index
Good for ages: 2 to 9
Nearest rail station: Heizel (9 minute walk)
Stroller-friendly: No

While you’re at Mini-Europe, you might as well also check out the Atomium, a landmark created for the 1958 World’s Fair. In fact, if you want to come visit both, you can get a combination ticket to save a few euros.

When you’re in the area, you’ll easily see it off in the distance.

Once you’re inside, everyone gets to take the elevator straight up to the top. This is probably the longest line you’ll have to stand in during your time here.

The roof of the elevator is glass so you can see the lights as you go up to the top.

There’s really only two things you can do at the top. If you’re hungry, you can dine at the sit-down restaurant up here. But since we just ate at Mini-Europe, we didn’t need to eat again. This is the only true sit-down restaurant on the property, and once you leave the top, it’ll be tough getting back up.

The other thing to do is just admire the view. There are windows all around to give you a view of the surrounding area. I’m sure it was neat to see all the vendors and people visiting the World’s Fair back in the day. But depending on the day, the clouds might make it tough to see far into the distance. You can get a view of the downtown Brussels area, but it will look far in the distance.

You can also see Mini-Europe from above, which almost looks like a mini-golf course.

After you’re done with the top area, you’ll take the same elevator back down to the base and then walk up the stairs to the next section. From there, it’s a combination of escalators that will take you to other viewing areas and information. This includes looking at memorabilia from the World’s Fair and mini maps of the area.

We’d describe the main theme of the Atomium’s other rooms is sitting back and enjoying the lights shows.

Each room has its own pattern of lights and music/sounds to go with it. I’m sure there is some artistic theme to the rooms, but it was nice to get a moment to rest after all the walking we did all day.

Some rooms were more colorful than others. Some might wonder if that’s all you do here… and, yeah, that’s pretty much it. Perhaps it was more cutting edge back in the 1950’s, but it’s still neat to take a walk through history. There aren’t any interactive exhibits here in case you’re curious.

Once you’re done, you’ll head out through the gift shop (of course). Smurfette will welcome you, and if you want you can take home some T-shirts that have both the Atomium and a Smurf on it. That’s what we did!

Sample Brussels itinerary with kids

If you only have one day in Brussels with your family, what should you do? Our recommendation would be the following:

• Morning: Mini-Europe or Atomium
• Midday: Frietmuseum
• Afternoon: Fontainaspark
• Evening: Walk by City Hall and Grand Place

We don’t advocate doing more than two major attractions per day as it can feel rather cramped. That’s why we only recommend admission to two attractions in this itinerary. You can decide to either do both Mini-Europe and Atomium (which is great because they’re right next to each other) or only one of them and the Frietmuseum. Aside from that, we recommend letting off whatever remaining pent up energy the kids have at Fontainaspark (walkable from the Frietmuseum). You can also stop by Manneken Pis along the way.

While we don’t specifically address it in this post, the City Hall area (walkable from the Frietmuseum) is a nice place to end the evening. There are plenty of dessert and chocolate shops around the Grand Place that make a perfect end to the day.

For ideas on what to eat, consider the following restaurants where we ate:

• Waffle Factory
• Le Clan des Belges
• Fin de Siècle

Short FAQ on visiting Brussels with kids:

What will you do in Brussels with kids?

Suggested reading:

• The Complete Guide to Foreign Transaction Fees
• Pro Tip: Exchange Currency at Your Destination
• The Travel Gadgets That Make Our Travel Easy