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My OH has to travel to Brussels for work at the beginning of September, and as it's right at the end of the school holidays (and junior's school starts with a couple of inset days) we've decided to make it our first family city break.
Don't know the city at all, but I guess we want to be fairly central (we'll be travelling by Eurostar, and her work will be near Brussels Nord station).
Happy to AirBnB or stay at a hotel. Junior is 6 so we'll want a shared room for the latter, and apparently breakfast [b]must[/b] be included.
Can anyone recommend somewhere relaxing, child friendly and not too expensive? And are there any must see/do places whilst we're there?
Thanks in advance!
Only stopped one night in a nice hotel called Hygge Hotel. Did Grand Place which was good to see and the little pissing statues. Did breakfast at a nice cafe in a local park called Parc d’Egmont (but not just breakfast, nice spot for food or a coffee). Drank quite a lot of beer. Probably not helpful but that is the sum total of my experience!
Only stopped one night in a nice hotel called Hygge Hotel
Hygge is quite nice and moderately central. Probably a 2k walk from there to the Grande Place and close to the metro line that would take you to Gare du Nord. Can't remember what the price is like though.
For your 6 year old the children's museum might be fun. It's about a 30min walk to the south of the hotel or the tram will get you closer
A Museum like no other - Musée des enfants (childrenmuseum.be)
Literally just had some friends over with kids around that age, so can recommend:
Park Royale, nice big park with a decent playground and an outdoor cafe/bar for the grown ups:
https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors/venue-details.Brussels-Park.237417
House of European History, really good interactive museum:
https://historia-europa.ep.eu/en/general-information
Matt
MCJnr was there with his girlfriend last month so I'm checking with him
He enjoyed it, said the EU Parliament was interesting to wander round, historic buildings, chips, chocolate and beer.
They had a daytime up to Antwerp which they were so impressed with, but if you go there speak English, not French
Edit - Yadoya Hotel. Bit cheap and cheerful apparently, but clean, and friendly staff.
Brussels is short of touristy things to do (but a very nice place to live and work), but ...
A walk in the Foret de Soigne is nice and free. Just riding the trams is cheap and cool.
As above, Grand Place, mannequin pis. The Atomium, mini-Europe is ok.
To stay, can't really help, long time since lived there, but wouldnt want to stay too central, Ixelles is a nice area and some of the outlying places are nice like Tervuren and WAtermael-Boitsford are connected via tram. Watermael being right next to the forest.
The Ibis Brussels Off Grand Place is a modern, clean, budget friendly hotel a few minutes stroll from Grand Place which is great for an evening walk and al-fresco meal.
It is a 3 minute walk to a direct tram that runs every 3 minutes and takes you direct to Brussels Nord station in 6 minutes (this bit is from Google maps. I knew it was easy, but my work colleague sorted this sort of stuff for me while I was there).
If you are feeling a bit more flush there is a Novotel next door to the Ibis and a Hilton just round the corner.
and al-fresco meal
Just avoid anything on the nearby Rue des Bouchers. Horrible horrible tourist trap. The exception in that area is Chez Léon which does a great moules frites cheaply and children under 12 eat for free (from the kids menu). Difficult to beat really
Work used to put me up in the Novotel at Sainte Catherine, which is an interesting area, and the Umamido ramen place nearby has a terrace and is excellent.
Thanks all, that’s really helpful advice. The Children Museum is definitely on the list!