Thrilled to be going to Brussels!
 

Bon Jour Everyone! I am traveling to Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Amsterdam, and hopefully an overnight stay in Luxembourg, during my son's Spring Break. I thought that maybe I could get some good ideas about where to take him for special dinners in the evenings- (I personally am looking forward to the mussels in Brussels!) ... any ideas are gladly welcomed! I would also love any thoughts and ideas shared on what might entertain a 13 yr old boy (mine loves museums, music of any kind, plays, art and history ? he is the best travel companion!!!!) ? and I read that they have bicycle tours with Quasimodo (that sounds funny!) ? and if anyone has gone on a tour with them, did you like/dislike, any comments? We are staying at the Brussels Hotel Welcome, reservations in place (I have read a lot of raves!!)! But, I would like to get some ideas about somewhere to stay in Luxembourg, etc. (Anything under $300 USD per night) Also, is it a wise thing to purchase beforehand a rail pass for so many days with access to Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg? Also, after experiencing the strictness of nobody underage in the Pubs in London, unless at a section for meals, what is it like for traveling in Belgium, etc., do the same rules apply or more lenient?


Thanks in advance for any suggestions, advice, and ideas!


Steph

I believe Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg count as one Eurail country (Benelux). But of course check out eurail.com for info.

For your son, there is a chocolate museum in Brussels, also the Atomium and park there. There is also a mini-europe park soemwehere around there too that is pleasing to all ages.

I wouldn't expect as much strictness regarding age at any pubs/cafes, but again I don't know since I don;t travel with young'uns. I'm aimaginingthat with the numerous bike rental opportunities allt hrough these regions that your son should be pretty well occupied.

OK, I haven't answered much but I hope what little I've said is helpful.

My guess is he would enjoy a trip to the battlefield at Waterloo.

I'm not personally crazy about Brussels & a full day should be all that is needed. I would spend more of my time in Amsterdam & Lux. In Lux. there is a Best Western right across from the train station & w/in easy walking distance of everything you need to see. Namur & Maastricht (Neth.) are certainly worthy side-trips from Lux. as well.

Allovereurope, StCirq, and SAnParis: Thank you for your ideas - they are well noted.... I will look up the Best Western in Lux. as well...

Steph :)

I thought the food in Brussels overpriced and sometimes marginal. But if you are looking for mussels, then it would be hard to beat Leons. (But I can't imagine a 13 year old eating mussels.) I am also of the same mind that you would enjoy Amsterdam more than any other place in Benelux.

Steph,
Don't worry about taking your son to pubs in Belgium. As long as he's accompanied by an adult he won't have any problem.
Another suggestion for an excursion might be the Comic Strip Museum in Brussels.
Re bicycle tours: you can rent bicycles almost in every Belgian/Dutch railway station. A nice little trip (8 km one-way) is from Brugge to Damme along the Damse Vaart canal. An easy ride as it's very flat.
Have you checked out the www.trabel.com website? It's very informative about things to do/see in Belgium.
I'll get back to you if I think of something special for your son.

What would thrill your 13 year old? Stay in your hotel room and watch TV. Anything goes in Brussels....

A kid who likes museums and all kinds of music should like the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels. It's interactive, only a few years old, and in a great art deco building.

Hi Stephanie,
If you are the same Stephanie that was Thrilled to go to London, I seem to remember your little boy had quite sophisticated taste. Didn't he love Indian food?

I am sure some people imagine young kids as only eating McD's and watching tv. But if yours has already been to Europe, I am sure he will love Brussels also!

I meant art nouveau, not art deco. Sorry.

Thanks Bird for the restaurant, Leons...I do look forward to visiting Amsterdam!!

Myriam: I appreciate your mention of that website - I will have to take more time in the evening to look at it... the bike ride you mentioned sounds terrific! And, glad to hear that they are more relaxed with children/pubs! Makes things easier for a single mom traveling alone with child, to also stop and have a beer for the fun of it!

Steph

I'm not sure what made me open this thread, since I know almost nothing about Brussels and have no plans to go there (actually, maybe that's WHY I was curious). But, Bird, your post caught my eye and startled me. WHY IN THE WORLD would you find it so hard to imagine a 13-year-old who'd eat mussels?! It appears that StephanieJax is from the US, since she refers to prices in US$. Lots and lots of families in the US eat mussels, especially residents of areas fairly near the ocean and accustomed to seafood and people having ancestry in countries where mussels and other molluscs are commonly eaten. Contrary to some derogatory stereotypes, Americans don't all subsist on frozen dinners and casseroles made of canned food. In these families that eat all sorts of real food, the children, especially children as old as 13, eat the normal food of the family, including mussels if that's what the family likes to eat. It sounds like StephanieJax's son is a boy with interests and curiosity, and if he hasn't yet tasted mussels, there's no reason to think he won't try them.

KT: Yes he would like that one; He plays the guitar...interactive makes things better, even for us grown up kids...

Scarlett: Why Yes M'dear...I wrote Thrilled to go to London and the Thrilled Again version too - on our second trip over... My son does love Indian food, music and the Bollywood films!

In case you didn't catch what I meant about watching TV....be careful with the TV! Anything goes in Brussels - that includes porn channels - a lot of them! When we first checked into our hotel, my children (10 and 12 at the time), sat on the bed and started to flip through the channels. Then I heard them go - ewwwwwwwwwwwww - turned and looked - and was very surprised by what we saw! So be careful....

India, eh? There's an anthropological museum in Amsterdam called the Tropenmuseum (Tropical Museum). I've never been there (it's a bit out of the way), but I've heard it's very interesting -- stuff about life and culture from tropical and subtropical regions. Maybe somebody else on this forum has been there.

It focuses more on areas where the Dutch formerly traded/colonized, and I'm not sure how much is there related to India, but if he's that sort of kid, he might also be interested in things like Indonesian music and shadow puppet theatre or Caribbean music. Just a suggestion.

Also, since he likes history, I like the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, which covers the city's history, is housed in a former orphanage, and is often overlooked by visitors.

Really, you're spoiled for choice museum-wise. Get some guidebooks and see what grabs you!

Another museum that I'm sure your son will appreciate is the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels. It has a large collection of dinosaur skeletons. Really impressive.
The Ethnographic Museum in Antwerp should also be worthwhile. Although I live nearby I haven't been there myself. Shame on me ...
Do you think your son would be 'too old' to appreciate a zoo? The Antwerp Zoo is beautiful. It's a lovely park with buildings from the 19th century, in the city centre. It has about 950 species of animals (5000 animals total).

DonnaBee: Now I understand!! Thanks for clarifying - hahaha! and warning me... ;)

KT: The museums sound great, I did read about the Historich in Amsterdam..the building alone sounds very interesting. Yes, guidebooks are going to be a must!

Myriam: He is not too old for the zoo :) and he definitely will like the Natural Science - he liked London's Science Museum as well as he LOVES the Natural History Museum in NYC...

CMT: You are correct, we live in an area where seafood is abundant...and the kidlet loves seafood, including mussels - especially at the local Bistro, our family favorite!

Steph

Waterloo was perhaps the only disappointment my battlefield-loving, histoy-obsessed spouse has experienced in nearly 30 years of touring. It's a long ride to see a movie, a depressing and increasingly decrepit cyclorama -- think dead horses -- and a massive monument to an inadequate military leader.

And of course the gift shop is filled with busts of Napoleon who, if memory serves correctly, is the one who lost the battle.

We loved Brussels. Wander down the Rue des Bouchers and read the menus even if you elect not to eat there. Try to find the little church of St. Nicholas. It has a fascinating, year round, nativity scene complete with Til Eugenspiegel. Visit mini-Europe. Not as nifty as Madurodam in Holland but interesting never-the-less. One of the museums off the Gran Place has a collection of costumes for the Mannequin Pis. It's a lot of fun.

cmt is correct! My children grew up loving mussels in marinara sauce :)
Guess it depends on where you live and what you are exposed to.

I think any child or adult will love mussels with french fries!
Followed by some Belgian Chocolate :)

Stephanie, your son would probably love to see that famous statue of the little boy peeing--the manneken pis. My son is nearly seventeen now, but I do remember that at thirteen, any kind of "biological" joke was a hit!

It's been years since I've been to Brussels, but I do remember their french fries were delicious. Beer was too, but your young man is too young yet. And he should like the mussels. (My son has always loved them, especially done the Irish way with parsley, butter, and cream.) You'll have a great time in Brussels. It's such a manageable city with a lot more going for it than people credit.

My 13-year-old son not only loves mussels but also octopus, calamari, oysters, sea urchin, sushi, carpaccio de saumon or other fish, and every imaginable type of seafood. He never misses a chance to order moules frîtes! I don't understand why Bird would say that a 13-year-old wouldn't like mussels. Whyever not? A lot of 13-year-old Americans live on the seacoast where eating mollusks is part of everyday life. You don't have to be a world traveler to like mussels.

I also think Brussels is perhaps the gastronomic capital of Europe - more great restaurants per square foot than anywhere else. I've never found it "marginal" or "overpriced," but rather incredibly good value for the money and an amazing range of restaurants to choose from.

CMT - no reason to be startled for my mostly tongue-in-cheek comment. I'm happy if my kids will eat their vegetables, let alone mussels. (Although my older kids now eat raw oysters and sushi with me, thank goodness.)

Interesting things for Brussels would be:
- the comic strip museum, (Centre belge de la bande dessinée)
- national science museum
- airforce/airplane museum ( a lovely spot; a huge glass roof with all different kind of 'objects' that have stayed up in the air, more or less, pieces of zeppelin's and so on, lovely to get lost in for an hour or two.
- afrika museum in tervuren ( speaks to the imagination of everyone from 7 - 77)

Bruges next: just wander around in Bruges, a tour on the canals, climbing up the Belfry 366 steps with a lovely view, have mussels in the 'Breydel and Deconinck' in the Breydelstraat between Burg and market place, a 'Flemish primitives' museum for painting,...

Antwerp is also very interesting to visit. MyriamC could fill you in.

Amsterdam... has a reputation partly made on the very tolerant position on soft drugs ('coffeehouses' where you can have a joint and all that) and on prostitution... you're 13 year old boy may be very openminded and curious, but... right? It has off course the richness of a standard european capital of its scale with its museums, architecture and so on.

StephanieJax, there is a fantastic science museum in Mechelen (half way between Brussels and Antwerp) called Technopolis; my children love it there. It's very new, with all hands-on exhibits. www.technopolis.be. Not sure about how to get there without a car, but it is definitely worth while.
In Antwerp I too love the Zoo (it's right next to central station). There is a new Aquarium nearby called Aquatopia; haven't been yet but it's supposed to be good. A nice place to eat in Antwerp is the Dock's Cafe, near the river. It's a brasserie, they serve Belgian food.
Don't worry about drugs and prostitution in Amsterdam; if you are not looking for this, you will not be bothered by it. Do take a canal tour, and visit the Anne Frank museum there.
Luxembourg I can't help you with; I have always found it a rather boring place.

Tulips,
I too find Luxembourg boring!
I do like the Belgian Ardennes, especially in the winter when there's enough snow for cross-country skiing and having a lovely meal and a comfy bed at night in one of the small cities. Spa for instance, is one of my favourites.

dln- I agree, the statue of the boy will be a great hit! I am not going to tell him about it until we are there and he sees it

StCirq - Hopefully all the bike riding and walking will override being in such a gastronomically pleasing place!!!

Baldrick - Great suggestion and itinerary for a trip! I appreciate it...if we don't have enough time do all that is suggested, I am imagine we will have to make a second trip!

Tulips - Technopolis sounds like something very interesting. I know we will enjoy an aquarium and zoo. I definitely have Anne Frank's on my list of things for myself to see, no matter how long the queue to get in...I don't want to miss it ...

Myriam and Tulips - I have spoken to people here that have visited Luxembourg, and they have said the same thing, that there was not much that interested them...I will do more research, and might just end up using that time to visit the seaside, etc. Going to a seaside town/city/village sounds really interesting, though I imagine it will be shut down for the winter even in March??

Steph

The seaside in Belgium is always busy during weekends and school holidays. Our spring break is the week of Feb. 21; not when you are visiting. I have mentioned Knokke-le Zoute before (as has Myriam); it's the smartest of the seaside towns, has a lot of upmarket shopping, good restaurants (lots of mussels!) and everything is open on Sundays. There is a butterfly garden, and a nature reserve (Zwin). Great cycling there too (and your son can rent a go-cart; they come in all shapes and sizes). I love going there, but it is definitely not "quaint"; no lovely old villages or anything like that. It's a nice thing to do on a Sunday. But you may have a very full week already planned!

We love Knokke-Le Zoute. Whenever we need some fresh air after a week of work, we drive up there. A walk on the beach, people-watching on the 'Place m'as-tu-vu', a little shopping, ... It's only a 20 min. train ride from Brugge, so you could easily combine both. There are some fine hotels in Knokke.
I would definitely go to the seaside instead of Luxembourg.

If going to the seaside Oostende is maybe a half an hour beyond Bruges. That's the best place to get your mussels. I think we got a bucket there (actually more than one) for maybe $10 euros or so. That w/a side of frites & dinner is served.

Belgium is the last remaining nation where artisanal beers are regularly enjoyed.

Do not miss this experience.

Stephanie: Unlike some, I think that Luxembourg is one of the hidden jewels of Europe. It is steeped in history and the landscape and Luxembourg City are just beautiful. I highly recommend the Hotel de France in Luxembourg City. It is located right on the main square in the center of town. Sorry, I don't remember the name of the square but if you look at a map it is right in the center and shares the square with the town hall (Hotel de Ville.) It is small hotel that sits above a restaurant but the staff was friendly, the rooms were modern and very clean and the rates were very reasonable. I paid about $65.00/night for a double bed last year. I think that the hotel has a website if you want to do a search. Also, don't miss the old fortifications and city museum while you are there.

Stephanie, we just returned last month from a whirlwind trip to Belgium. It was a last minute trip and I'm so happy we were able to re-arrange our schedules to make it happen.

I agree with KT about the Musical Instrument Museum in Brussels. Gorgeous building. We stopped for lunch on their rooftop, a very chic place. The Atomium was ok. I wasn't impressed. Ditto for the Chinese Pavillion. I would have rather spent more time in the actual city and not rushed thru it as we did.

We stayed in Antwerp. If you're there on a Sunday, do take in the market days in the old district. It was a great way for us to start our week. They sell anything from chickens, to fresh sausage to underwear(no kidding!)and everything in-between. The market itself closes at 2pm but the rest of afternoon can be spent walking up and down those little cobblestone alleys along the square around Cathedral of our Lady. Cafes everywhere.

Right next door to the painter Ruben's house (also in that same area) is a restaurant simply called The Bistro. Several people in our party had the mussels in marinara.

Somewhere in that very same area is a restaurant called Pelgram or something like that. It's an old prison from 12th or 13th or 14th century. We ate wayyyyyyy downstairs, downunder which was the former dungeon area. Curved adobe ceilings and I believe the only lights in the actual dining area were candles in wrought iron holders. Charming. Possibly my favorite place.

Someplace along the river is a nice little restaurant called Simple Rouge. Okay, everything in the place is red...walls, table cloths, waiter's shirts, etc. We had a one waitress to take care of our table of 20 or so. She was not only delightful but efficient as well. There was also a live band playing American music that night. Imagine our surprise when our waitress got up to the mike and belted out several songs.

We were a large group but no children as it was a working trip for the men, so I don't know about how lenient they are with teenagers and beer. However, it flows freely. It's as common as asking for a coke (and you get lemon coke unless you ask differently).

We spent an afternoon in Bruges. Considering it was Sept and a rainy day, it was crowded. I guess it was named the 2002 cultural center of Europe and that in itself has attracted tourists, not that it didn't attract any before then, just more now. One lady with us had been there 19 straight yrs in Sept and couldn't believe the increase in tourism. Just outside Bruges is a paddle boat, the Lamme Goedzak. It's a 1/2 hr trip from Bruges to Damme. Damme is a another small quaint city with many restaurants. There's also a single-lane tree-lined road that goes from Bruges to Damme that must be absolutely gorgeous on a sunny day. Even in the rain we saw many cyclists along that road as we were sailing by. There are windmills upon arrival in Damme.

We stayed an extra day and half and took Thalys train to Paris. One day's notice was all we needed. We returned to Antwerp from Paris and bought our tickets for next morning to get us to airport in Brussels. It was 6 Euros Antwerp to Brussels. No complaints there. Surprisingly, there's absolutely no security check for the trains.

I hope this helps

Thank you for your posts with such great advice!

RLimb, I saw the hotel you were talking about on the Luxembourg tourist site, and it was very reasonable...thank you for the suggestion.

WGS - Thanks, that was great information! I cannot wait to go - only 4.5 months left! Of course, the kid says COOOOL about the music museum!
The dungeon restaurant sounds really COOOL too!

Steph

Is there anyway we can private message a person on Fodor's? I'd love to pass more info on to StephanieJax, including pictures.

I and two friends are also going to Belgium in March and I'm copying all this good info down . . . please don't take this discussion away.

Thanks to StephanieJax for asking for it and for everyone who's responded.

Sandy

WGS: Sadly there is no private messaging with the Fodors Board...

Sandy B: From all the information given, definitely sounds like we picked a great place to go on vacation in March!

Steph

If you want to send personal messages one of you needs to get a free e-mail account at hotmail.com or someplace like that. Then you can post that address here as an entry or with your user name like my "indytravel" address. Indytravel is a legit address, but it's not my primary one. If it gets spammed too much, I'll shut it down.

Then you can send an e-mail to the new address and exchange information and "real" e-mail addresses.

Indytravel - thank you for your advice, you are correct :)

I can be contacted at [email protected] ...

Thank you, Steph

Stephanie, in Amsterdam you might enjoy The Touture Museum on Leidsestraat, between Herengracht and Keizergracht. It's at Singel 449. Sort of an adolesent thing, but interesting for adults as well.

Do you have a cat? If so, you'd love the Kattenkabinet at 497 Herengracht. The canal house itself is worth seeing, with it's understated elegance. It is filled with art work, all with the theme of cats.

Good inexpensive lunch spot is the 6th floor cafe of Metz & Co dept store for good view of the canals. Also good views at the restaurant on top of the Kalvertoren shopping mall near the Munttoren.

You'll love the pancakes, cheese and pie. I took my daughter to Amsterdam when she was 11. Believe it or not, it's a great place for kids!

Good luck on your trip. It really sounds wonderful. I've yet to go to other places in Benelux, so be sure to get back here and write up a report!