I’ve visited Brussels with my husband, with friends and on my own. I wasn’t sure however that Brussels would appeal to older children. However, tempted by thoughts of fries and waffles, my then 9 and 10 year olds were keen for a Belgian adventure! To find the best things to do in Brussels with older kids, we hopped on the Eurostar from St Pancras in April 2023 for a short break to Brussels and Bruges.
We LOVED Brussels as a family! Here’s our list of best things to do in Brussels with older kids:
- Hunt for the urinating statues (yes, really there is more than one!)
- Visit Choco-Story Brussels and book on a chocolate making workshop.
- Check out the big balls at the Atomium.
- Explore the whole of Europe in miniature at Mini-Europe.
- Park Time.
- Enjoy moules-frites or just frites….
- Sample some fruity Belgian beer.
Hunt for the urinating statues
Most tourists to Brussels will be familiar with the Manneken Pis, the diminutive bronze statue of a naked boy urinating into a fountain’s basin. The Manneken Pis was designed in 1388 and is now a much beloved symbol of Brussels. A small museum nearby displays the various hats, coats and pants the small boy has worn over the years. We didn’t visit the museum but the kids enjoyed taking selfies in front of the fountain.
However, the weeing fun does not stop there. Older kids will find it hilarious to also find the Zinneke Pis (a bronze dog cocking its leg against a post) and the Jeanneke Pis (a little girl taking a sit down wee) All 3 are relatively close to the Grand Place and could form the basis of a walking route around the centre (Google Directions works well in Brussels).
Choco-Story Brussels
Who doesn’t love a museum dedicated to the history and making of chocolate, particularly with samples to taste! However, my kids really like to get hands on so instead of just visiting the museum, we booked on to its chocolate workshop.
The workshop takes around one hour and you get to make A LOT of chocolate to take home with you. We made chocolate tablets, lollipops and mendiants (and some random slabs of chocolate which were entirely our own creation, including a chocolate poo!)
I did think the workshop felt a little rushed and there wasn’t much instruction or demonstration from our host. However, with as many piping bags of melted chocolate as you needed and lots of decorations / toppings, it was still good fun.
The Atomium
The Atomium was originally built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair. Designed to represent an atomic structure with 9 steel spheres, it stands just over 100 metres tall.
One of the open spheres houses a permanent exhibition about the development of the building and the World Fair. However, this will probably be of limited interest to most tweens and teens. What my kids (and I) loved were the light installations and the very cool elevators!!
The Atomium isn’t in the City centre but can easily be reached by metro (the nearest stop is Heysel Metro Station). It is also next to Mini-Europe so you can explore both in the same trip.
