Visiting Brussels with kids resulted to many attractions that were surprisingly family friendly and cheap. Below is a list of attractions we managed to visit during our day trip to Brussels.
Oh What a Grand Place! Brussels’ Grand Place was absolutely spectacular. This was a truly remarkable public square with beautiful architecture and so much history. Seeing these beautiful images are what prompted us to visit Brussels in Oct. 2009. The pictures of the buildings do not serve it justice and could not capture the intricate details etched into them. We spent quite some time exploring the areas around Grand Place by walking. They really must be seen and admired in person.
Most of the buildings surrounding the town square were elaborate houses built by merchant guilds or corporations. The guild houses had decorations that relate to its specific trade or occupation since they served as their headquarters.
For example, the house of sailors had an upper floor that looked like the back of a ship while the Fox had a statue of its patron saint, St. Nicholas on the roof. The buildings had names like the Rose, the Fox, the Horn, the She-Wolf, the Hermit, etc. since there were no street numbers at that time.
The City Hall was the gothic style building with a 376 foot tower. The top of the spire had a bronze statue of St. Michael crushing the devil with his feet. There was a tourist office right under the City Hall with friendly and helpful staff who spoke great English. They had plenty of brochures and maps for free.
The buildings seen here today were a result of reconstruction after a bomb destroyed the public square in 1695 and were rebuilt in stone by 1700. Many of the buildings now house restaurants, cafes, hotels and shops including the famed Godiva chocolatier. 
We got to the square around 9:00 AM and the vendors were just unloading their supplies. It was interesting to see all the activity going on. We sat on one of the steps and watched everything that went on around us as the city was just waking up and truly enjoyed the architecture without the crowds. It was wonderful to sit there and look up at the buildings and see what we could spot on each façade or rooftop.
I found the best way to engage my kids in the architecture and history of the buildings comprising Grand Place was through a scavenger type activity. I created a simple matrix for my son of looking for specific animals within the building such as the swan, dog, pigeon while my school age daughter had a bit more information and required some answers.
On one corner of the square along Charles Buls Street on the side of one of the buildings was an unobtrusive bronze statue of a man with his dog. This was the statue of Everhard ‘t Serclaes, a Brussels hero. Legend had it that if you rubbed his elbow, it would bring good luck.
We found different parts of the statue really shiny so it looked like people just rubbed him on different parts of his body so as not to take any chances. The dog by his feet was also pretty shiny from years of tourists rubbing it. Of course, we followed the masses and rubbed the statue at his elbow and at different places. Yes, we are such tourists. After all, one can’t have enough good luck.
The Grand Place was definitely the highlight of Brussels and a ‘do not miss’ attraction. By the time we returned after lunch, there were a lot of people roaming around the square as well as many vendors and wonderful artists selling their work.
Peeing kid statues?
While researching for Brussels attractions, I was pleasantly surprised to find much information regarding the Manneken Pis (Dutch for “little pee man”) – a bronze statue of a boy relieving himself into a bottomless pit. He’s been around since 1619. Who would have thought that this little peeing statue was the mascot of Brussels, the capital city of the European Union?
He stood at a mere 2 feet tall and was dressed in a different outfit everyday. The little guy was dressed as a cavalier during our visit. His outfits (at about 800 so far) were donated by different countries and organizations and were housed at the City Museum at the Grand Place.
After the Eiffel Tower, this is what my kids remember most from our 10 day European adventure. The kids were fascinated with him and stared in amazement at the perpetual emptying of the bladder.
My then 4-year old son curiously asked “Where is all his pee going? “ We lifted him up and showed the fountain bowl and made up something about it going under the ground. Luckily, that satisfied his curiosity.
Manneken Pis stood on the corner of Rue de l’Étuve and Rue du Chêne near the Grand Place and was on a side of building. There were plenty of signs guiding tourists. We almost missed him if we didn’t see some people taking pictures. It was very amusing to see tourists pose and hear the fits of giggles as soon as they spotted him. Of course, we did the exact same thing. You can’t help but smile when you see him.
There seemed to be varying stories of the origins of Manneken Pis but I’m inclined to believe the story about a father who lost his son for two days and the boy was later found urinating at this same spot. The wealthy father had the statue built to thank the Brussels citizens for helping with his search.
One only needed to walk through the streets of Brussels and its replica was displayed in souvenir stores to see how popular this little guy was. While I was tempted to buy a small replica of Manneken Pis, I settled for a magnet. Though, the most amusing (or maybe disturbing for some) had to be the giant chocolate replica at a Leonidas chocolate shop.
The female version, though not as popular, was Jeanneke Pis. The little naked girl in short pigtails was squatting and urinating endlessly into a rock spilling into a fountain. It was tucked on a little alley off Rue des Bouchers’ restaurant row on a side of the building enclosed behind a red gate. We sought it out mainly for curiosity’s sake.
In contrast to the popularity of Manneken Pis souvenirs, we didn’t see a single one with Jeanneke. It seemed a little unfair she wasn’t getting as much attention as the Manneken Pis and more importantly not even getting a single outfit compared to his wardrobe museum. Nonetheless, these two statues will eternally remind us of Brussels.
Fun at the Atomium
Another Belgian attraction was the Atomium which was built for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958. It was a 335 feet structure made of 9 connected steel spheres. The whole forms what was supposed to be the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. Tubes connecting the spheres were escalators to each sphere which holds exhibitions and one offers a great view of the Brussels.
It was about a 20 minute metro ride to the Heysel/Heizel station (Line 6) with one transfer from the metro station near the Grand Place. It was another 5-10 minute walk past the Brussels Convention Center and past the parking area of Mini Europe (Europe’s famous landmarks in miniatures). There was a gift shop and ticket area at the bottom of the structure where restrooms were also located and cost .50 to use. We didn’t go up to the spheres since it was almost closing time and was getting late.
There was a large grassy area for the kids to run around in front of the Atomium because a 4 year old could only take about 5-10 minutes of looking at giant silver balls. It was also a perfect spot for that tourist picture.
There were also several seating areas and outdoor open spaces underneath the structure. It was an ideal place to take fun pictures with the spheres and we fully took advantage of fun poses with the Atomium.
We have a fascination for unique monuments and we were glad we visited the Atomium even though we were pressed for time. We just wished we had more time to explore the exhibits and had the chance to explore inside. It would definitely be a good side trip if one was going to Mini-Europe, which was right next door.
Cartoons on walls
Who knew that Brussels had such a fascination and history with the world of cartoons? Those adorable tiny, blue creatures from my childhood, the Smurfs, originated here. There were multiple cartoon shops selling popular characters and obscure ones.
They even had a Comic strip museum we didn’t have a chance to visit. I also suddenly found myself wanting to know more about Tintin, one of the most popular European comics who also started here. History of Belgian comics 
Over the years, Belgian artists painted cartoon murals around the city buildings which made for a great walk to explore the city. We went to the visitor’s center at City Hall at Grand Place and got a map of where the murals were located. As we walked around the town center, the murals were prominently displayed or incorporated on the side or walls of the buildings.
It was pretty awesome to see some of the murals up close and it didn’t matter that we’ve never seen some of the cartoon characters before. We gave our kids a scavenger hunt of the murals and made it a fun adventure to explore the city. We all enjoyed looking at those cartoon murals and seeing the details which added to Brussels’ uniqueness.
St. Michael/St. Gudula Cathedral
In our quest to see some more European cathedrals in another city, we’re glad we made the trek up a hill to see this beautiful church named after Brussels’ two patron saints. This is the leading Catholic church in Belgium and was used for royal weddings and baptisms. It was located near the Grand Place and a few blocks from the Gare Centrale subway station.
Its architecture was reminiscent of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral. It was magnificent inside and worthy of a visit particularly for those who love architecture and old churches. The center aisle was flanked by columns with huge statues of the 12 apostles.
The interior had some of the best stained glass art windows we had seen. There were various side chapels within the church and one had an entrance fee to an exhibit.
The remarkable, wooden pulpit in between the apostle columns was not to be missed depicting Adam and Eve. The details on this piece of woodwork art was incredible. This cathedral was definitely a great side trip considering it wasn’t too far from the metro station. We loved walking through the church and admiring the beautiful workmanship.
—————————————————————————–
Visiting Brussels with kids Activities for next time:
- Royal Palace of Brussels – Though the Belgian royalty do not use this as a residence, this European palace is another example of grandeur worth exploring with kids. Unfortunately, it is only open between the 3rd week of July to late September from Tuesday to Sunday. We had missed it by a few weeks. The good news is it’s FREE admission.
- Mini Europe – This unique park required a few hours to explore the monuments of Europe at a much smaller scale that most likely would have entertain kids. There were some tickets to combine the Atomium and Mini Europe.
- Belgian Comic Strip Center – This was another place we would have loved to spend some time in if we were here longer. There were interactive exhibits and exhibitions all about the Belgian comic strip world.
- Overnight Brussels stay – Since we were only here for a day, it would have been great to see the Grand Place all lit up at night and also see the nighttime activity around Brussels.
Related Posts:
what a great city to take kids to! with the all the frites, waffles and bakeries, they would eat well. And what small kid would not be highly amused by the mannekin pis? :-) Thanks for the idea!
Brussels was awesome! I hope you get to visit soon.