Family-friendly plans & budget accommodation in Amsterdam, Brussels & possibly Bruges

[ChilledProsecco]

I’ve just booked a last-minute trip to do a bit of inter-railing with my teenagers - DS17 & DD13.

Planning to fly into Amsterdam & out of Brussels, we have about a week.

If anyone has any recommendations for suitable accommodation, I’d be grateful.

https://www.meininger-hotels.com/en/

I second the Meininger - we stayed in the one near the station in Brussels. They are a sort of cross between a youth hostel and hotel. Book directly and you'll get a discount if travelling with kids.

If you have a continuous pass, you could stay somewhere nicer like Ghent which is something like an hour away - we did that and stayed here.
https://all.accor.com/booking/en/accor/hotel/B857?destination=ghent-belgium&compositions=1&dateIn=2026-07-17&dateOut=2026-07-18&nights=1&hideWDR=false&accessibleRoom=false

It's near the train station but a bit of a walk into town.

For Amsterdam you could stay in Delft or Utrecht - much cheaper if that's an issue, as well as prettier and less frenetic.

Would also second Gent as a place to stay - we also stayed in the same hotel as the poster above , by Dampoort station; about 15 min walk from the centre but there’s a very good bus service from nearby and the train station is across the road. It’s a lovely city, very vibrant and lots to see/do - the Citypass is worth it and includes local transport, bike hire and canal boat tour.

Thanks so much! I will check these out.

Leiden is another option for Amsterdam, great uni city.

Or if you want Amsterdam, try the north side for hotels (Amsterdam-Noord). There is a free ferry (short trip) from the back of Central Station.

Something like this - some dates are €140 for the three of you sharing.

Gent is amazing, much nicer than Bruges but you can do Bruges on a train day trip from Gent. I did a similar trip with Dd but we did the whole thing by train. Eurostar to Lille, stayed there, then train to Gent. You can take the Eurostar to Amsterdam now. We came back via Brussels.

we stayed in this hostel in Gent which was lovely, we asked for a room overlooking the bridge.

https://uk.hotels.com/ho554079/hostel-uppelink-ghent-belgium/?semcid=HCOM-UK.UB.GOOGLE.PT-DSA-c-EN.HOTEL&semdtl=a115372621784.b1129418245799.g1dsa-1315899714935.e1c.m1CjwKCAjwpefSBhBvEiwAzyEtZ7YfR-8wB8zviEwIA7HhLr4mmodEjA1e4HfaVLMtOwE4SYIj5zdCUxoCqFkQAvD_BwE.r1.c1.j11006886.k1.d1659982737649.h1.i1290263411724.l1.n1.o1.p1.q1.s1.t1.x1.f1.u1.v1.w1&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15372621784&gbraid=0AAAAACTxZ9bwSvyxHs6NZTNzCb_Q-C_7c&gclid=CjwKCAjwpefSBhBvEiwAzyEtZ7YfR-8wB8zviEwIA7HhLr4mmodEjA1e4HfaVLMtOwE4SYIj5zdCUxoCqFkQAvD_BwE

We stayed at the Stayokay hostel Vondelpark in Amsterdam. Really liked the location, there was a bus direct to the airport outside the hostel and it was a short tram trip to the city centre. Loads of nice bars, restaurants etc around. The hostel itself was nice with a decent breakfast and very family friendly which was important to us (quiet time from 10, no party atmosphere etc). It was hot when we were there so was nice to have the park outside to chill out in.

Only just realised the link did not save.

Amsterdam Noord, triple