During this last year we we had plenty of time to explore Belgium’s indoor and outdoor attractions. We decided to revisit some of our favorite museums and share our impressions with other desperate parents looking for a reason to leave the house while the phone is uncooperatively showing a rainy weather forecast, which almost never happens in Belgium (the rain, not the uncooperation)…..is what I would like to say, but I would be lying.

Here is our ultimate list of museums to visit with children in Brussels, Belgium:

Train World

Situated in the preserved building of Scharbeek railway station, this is one of the newest museums to be opened in Brussels in 2015 after a delay of one year. The collection consist of everything related to trains and rail transport. Locomotives, train cars, some of them iconic in Belgium’s railways history like the the oldest steam locomotive, the “Pays de Waes”, to the “type 12” streamlined steam locomotive whose speed in 1939 beat all records.

Besides the imposing train carts that almost take your breath away in terms of size, sound and presentation, another unique attraction was the possibility to visit a rail foreman’s cottage, rail post office and a restored royal cart. Pleny of stories accompany each exhibit. As the museum extends over two buildings and 8000 square meters, it is an immersive experince for both kids and adults.

Whether it was the impressive 22 locomotives on display or the interractive experience of driving a bullet train, our son still remembers the experience a year after. This was the only museum where we spent more than two hours just walking around, without getting bored or tired and we really recommend you visit it. If you have time for one museum in Brussels, go for this one.

Royal Museum of Natural Sciences

We are fans of Natural science and history museums . But after being amazed by the beautiful building and exhibits in Paris and the unique dinosaur skeletons on display in Berlin, our standards are quite high. Brussels’s museum does not disappoint, especially if dinosaur lifestyle is a subject that you happen to discuss often at the dinner table.

The Brussels RMNS is the home of the famous Bernissart Iguanodons, in what they claim is the largest Dinosaur Gallery in Europe. We have not visited them all yet (do not tell our son !) so cannot confirm this but would tend to take the Museum’s word for it, especially when comparing with the exhibits in Paris and Berlin. The museum has a part dedicated to learning about the human body and how it evolved in the Gallery of Humankind. Then the Gallery of the Living Planet represents more than 850 animal specimens displayed on 2,000m² (from the giraffe, to the koala ), 3D models and interactive, educational animations. Minerals have their own space too, with explanations on their formation and location around the World. Also, a whole section dealing with environmental disasters and pollution effect on biodiversity. For us, it was the complete immersive experince, with a good balance between specimens, explanations and interractive experiences. There is a whole lot to explore, beyond dinosaurs, and this is the reason why this museum should be on your short list!

Technopolis

Closing the top 3, for us it was Technopolis, a great and engaging museum about 20 min drive from Brussels, in the outskirts of the city of Mechelen. The Technopolis was founded in 2000 and consists of a permanent interactive (hands-on) exhibition for technology and related science exhibits.

There is something for everyone but it would not make too much sense for kids younger than 4 yo. We visited with our son just after turning 5 yo and we struggled to explain some of the science. For older children, you might have a better experience than ours. Knowledge of Flemish language would help if you plan to take part in the workshops . Workshops are recommended as of 8 yo.

The highlight for us was the flight simulator, where one can fly and land a plane by himself. Considering we have not stepped on a plane in almost a year now, this was not totally unexpected. We also spent time building with a crane, role playing supermarket and repairing a car in the garage. My favourite was withdrawing money from the ATM. Will not ruin the surprise but we still keep some souvenirs of that experience.

Mini-Europe

Mini-Europe is in the same expo area as the Atomium, one of Brussels’s landmarks. You can combine the two for a (long) day of explorations. Atomium is definelty worth a visit by itself too. While not aimed at families or children, the whole visit feels a bit like walking through a spaceship, an experience quite unique in Europe.

Mini-Europe is a park featuring the most famous buildings of Europe, in miniature. The 350 monuments have been reproduced at scale 1/25 and with amazing attention to detail. They are accompanied by thousands of lifelike figurines and animations like the eruption of the Vesuvius. The walk takes about two hours and takes you around the whole of continental Europe as well as United Kingdom without leaving Brussels. We like to visit this park on a beautiful day as it is the only one of our favourties that is outside. Being able to vicariously travel around Europe and recalling previous real time travel as a family also contributes to its popularity.

Africa Museum

To close the list, the newly renovated (in 2018) Africa Museum is definelty a good idea, especially if there is a previous interest in the continent’s culture to build upon. Some of the temporary exhibitions depicting the turmoil on the continent might be a bit more complex to explain to children, especially very young ones, as Belgium is trying to come to terms with its colonial past. But the permanenet exhibition has something for everyone and is a popular choice for families. The huge parc around the musem is also a big draw for some fresh air after the museum visit.

For 2 Euro, clidren as of 6 yo can get a booklet with activites and riddles to fill in while visiting the musem. For tech savy older kiddos, there is also the Faro Heritage App that is activated by a Bluetooth signal or by scanning an image or object to get more details of the exhibits on themes relating to history and cultural anthropology. The biological specimens ans the expos about music and dances from DR Congo were particulary interesting for our son.

What is your favourite museum to visit with the family ? We will add it to our list for once travel resumes.

Outisde Belgium , our all time favourtite is one that we have not written about yet, the Universeum in Gotheburg, Sweden that we visited durig our Scandinavia road trip. Stay tuned as we do plan to review it soon.

As always, thans for stopping by and reading out post! Stay safe!

CGK