Brussels after Xmas

[museummumblog]

Am planning an 8 day break to Brussels after Xmas, with 16, 6 and 4 year old. We want to visit the Winter Market and see the light show, but apart from that have few plans. Any suggestions? I'm mindful that it could be quite cold so don't know if outdoor things like Mini Europe would be a write off.
We have already done MIM, Courdenbourg (?) and the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, all of which we really enjoyed. We will have a car so can drive, but preferably no more than 45 mins.

Train to Bruges from Midi? Train to Antwerp? You could drive to Leuven, which is pretty. You could drive to Tervuren, or take the metro 1 to Montgomery, then change to the 44 tram to the end if the line, cross the road, and go to visit the refurbished and newly opened Africa Museum. Given the amount of time it's taken, it should be good. You can then walk around Tervuren Park, grab something to eat, and head back in to town, reversing the tram and metro.

Shopping on Rue Neuve, see the Galeries St Hubert.....Technopolis in Mechelen is worth a day, and is about 34 minutes by car from Brussels.

Thank you for the suggestions. Adding the Africa Museum to the list, looks great! We spent 10 days in Mechelen but didn't do Technopolis so will consider that too. We hated Bruges but loved Antwerp, although we might save that for a weekend of its own.

until I looked at the topic, I thought this was going to be about sprouts

I also thought sprouts!

With apologies to any Belgians, Brussels can be a bit boring. 8 days seems like a really long time. Especially with a teenager and a 4-year old. In Winter! And Bruges is off the list!

There aren't many 'attractions' as such, and you've done several of them already.
The Christmas markets aren't going to take much more than a day and evening.

Have you visited the Atomium?

So, yes to taking the car - Bruges (maybe give it another chance!) Antwerp, Ghent.

I think you'll have to go along the lines of entertaining yourselves as you would at home, but enjoying being somewhere else. Eating out, cinema, shopping, mooching about the pretty buildings. Why not see if there are any downloadable 'treasure hunts' you could do as a family - they are a great way of exploring and add a bit of fun.

@TanteRose and @FurryDice sorry to disappoint

@SmokeAndBone we haven't done Atomium and that and the Christmas markets are my main reason for returning. We are probably classed as slow travellers as we rarely do more than one attraction a day, and usually include a swim, soft play and multiple play ground visits in our holidays. Plus I get inordinate joy from visiting supermarkets abroad! I don't think Brussels will be boring but will report back...

Train World is good and indoors. Think there might be a Lego exhibition there until January. The Belvue Museum of Belgian history is good and has a nice shop and cafe . You can also visit the remains of the medieval Coudenberg Palace from there with an additional ticket.
For shopping the W shopping centre is at Roodebeek metro and is indoors if it's cold.

Bellevue and Train World on the list now, thank you! We did Coudenbourg a few years ago but might redo it if we end up nearby.

Agree that train world is surprisingly interesting.
I would add the comic strip walk (series of murals), the Horta house, the van buuren house. If you like Tintin you could consider the Hergé museum in Louvain la neuve.
Definitely Ghent if you like Antwerp.
There's an exhibition/show on suitable for all ages - the Van Gogh experience - which is getting good reviews from families.

There is the Museum of Cocoa & Chocolate, just on the edge of the Grand Place, demonstrations and tastings/samples etc.

Musee Victor Horta - an amazing art nouveau house? I should think the 16 yr old would enjoy it and the little ones would probably enjoy going up all the stairs and exploring the house (as long as it wasn't too stressful for you stopping them touching things they shouldn't).

Don't under estimate how much colder Belgium maybe than here then. Take plenty of layers. We loved Belgium at Christmas, but it was bitterly cold. The Hot Chocolate helped.

Thanks for the further tips!
I'm now buying thermals for the kids as it's horrible feeling cold.
I had written off Museum Horta as not suitable for my kids, but I know OH would love to go so will pop it on the list.
We loved Ghent on our day trip there so another visit would be lovely.
I didn't know if the Herge museum would work for the younger kids, is it in English?

I imagine the Hergé museum has English, can't remember. One museum that is completely in English is the European house of history - very interactive, plenty for all ages including young children Nice cafe too. Just across the park from the natural history /dinosaur museum .

Thanks all for your advice. Here's the blog post I wrote about our trip museummum.com/2019/03/08/brussels-with-kids-winter/

We had a brilliant 8 days, got out every day but also plenty of time for playing games and watching movies in our house swap home. Would definitely recommend.