2 months long holidays with a toddler or young child can be super tedious, more so for expats who may not have enrolled their children in the summer camps that happen here mainly in the local languages of French & Dutch and cannot travel back to their home country because of various reasons! So here's my Ultimate Summer Survival Guide to help you (and myself) wade through this 2-month-long vacation, with a nominal budget and depending on public transport. 

I've listed 3 places to visit every week - 

1. Within Brussels - a couple of hours to half-day of activity

2. Around Brussels or very easily reachable from Brussels (direct train/bus) - at least half-day activity

3. A bit farther away (connecting bus/train) or a bit difficult (like hiking trails) - full-day activity

All these places are neither too touristy (like Brugge or Antwerp), nor too offbeat and are all accessible by public transport (though some in 3rd positions may not have frequent services). 

Also, I've chosen these places keeping in mind that they should be interesting for children. If you're looking for more ideas and more off-beat places to visit, check out my other article on places to visit in Belgium. 

TIP: Be proactive and book all the tickets. In the summer holidays, tickets tend to sell out weeks earlier!

So, first things first - your investments - you have to buy 2 things initially to control your overall costs!

1. MUSEUMPASSMUSÉES  - This is an annual pass that gives entry to 200+ museums all over Belgium. Most of the museums & attractions listed below (marked *) come under Museumpassmusées. Currently, it is priced at €59 (per adult). It is a bit pointless to buy it for kids below 6 years of age, as most museums provide free entry to them (not all, some have child tickets from 3 yrs of age which have been marked **). As an annual pass, you can use this for 10 more months after this summer holiday! Plus it also comes with 5 discount codes for 50% off of SNCB train tickets. 

2. SNCB STANDARD MULTI TICKETS - This is a 10-journey ticket of SNCB priced currently at €93 (via app & €96 at the ticket counters). So every ticket effectively costs €9.30. Sometimes tickets are cheaper otherwise (Brussels <-> Leuven/Mechelen or when you travel long distances on a weekend with 50% off or with a Duo Ticket). It is wise to purchase a ticket for those trips and to use this pass when it is more expensive, like Brussels <-> Rochefort/De Panne, etc. 10 journeys would mean 5 trips. The pass is valid for 1 year, so don't worry about having to use it within the holidays.

Click on the links below for all information about location, tickets, how to reach, things to do, etc.

1. Train World

2. Waterloo - Wellington Museum* & Lion's Mound

3. Les Drainsines de la Molignee (can be converted to a weekend trip with Dinant)

1. Natural Sciences Museum

2. Prehistomuseum**^#

3. Sandsculpture Festival & Middelkerke beach

1. Autoworld* &/or War Heritage Museum* (for its incredible Aviation section) at Cinquantenaire Park

2. Rozentuin (Rose Garden) of Coloma Castle^%

3. A Belgian in-land beach like Mechelen Nekkerspoel or Hofstade or Diest Halve-Maan

1. Meise Plantentuin*

2. Tournai - Natural History Museum*, Puppetry museum, Belfry, Cathedral & more

3. Walk the De Schorre Troll hike^% 

1. Comic Strip Museum*, Museum of Original Figurines* and/or Comic Strip walk^%

2. Bokrijk**

3. Euro Space Center^#  (Best to visit during school vacation if you depend on public transport)

1. Africa Museum (and maybe walk in the Tervueren Forest)  

2. Farm Planois^% or Farm Sint-Alpaca-Rode

3. Ypres^#% (esp. if you're an Indian, please go to pay respects to the graves of the forgotten, martyred  Indian soldiers of the First World War on our Indian Independence Day)!

1. Museum hopping in Brussels - Coundenberg Palace*, Garderobe Mannekin Pis*, Sewer Museum* etc

2. Mechelen Toys Museum** &/or Technopolis

3. Durbuy Adventure^# (can be converted to a weekend trip to explore Durbuy itself)

1. Brussels Planetarium** and/or Mini Europe

2. Liege Aquarium Museum**^#

3. Domaine des Grottes de Han^# (can be converted to a weekend trip with Marche-en-Famenne)

* - Included in Museumpassmusées. But you have to book a timeslot to enter, via the respective websites. 

** - Included in Museumpassmusées, but child ticket should be bought for children above 3 years of age + timeslot should be booked.

^% - Always free to enter. No tickets are needed.

^# - use SNCB Standart Multi tickets. It works cheaper than 50% off weekend tickets. Don't forget to buy the attraction's ticket unless it is also marked with * or %.

If you still have energy left (or would like to let out your kid's energy) or prefer being within Brussels instead of heading out, here's a map of playgrounds & farms from all over Brussels capital region, from the Environment.Brussels website (opens/downloads as PDF). Page 2 of this map, gives the details about each place and the last 2+4 are animal farms where you can see sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens, etc. 

When you go by yourself (not through the child's school) Parc Animalier & Ferme Pedogogique in Brussels, function similarly and don't allow cuddling/feeding of animals (which Ferme Pedogogique normally allows for school trips). Some of these farms may NOT be open to the general public during holidays if they are organizing summer camps. So check the individual websites/FB pages before your plan your visit.

There are also other museums to visit in Brussels with kids incl the Natural Sciences Museum, Museum of Medicine etc. Also, you can visit the many, many Brussels museums under Museumpassmusées, one by one, incl. Art & History Museum (if you're an Indian reading this, you can introduce Indus Valley Civilization, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Gandhara Art, Chola Bronzes, etc to your kids in the Indian section here!), BOZAR, Horta Museum etc. 

Last but not least, here's a photo version of this list, which you can print out (& stick on your fridge?) for easier reference. It has the QR Code to directly come back to this page whenever you need more information!

Best wishes parents! Wish me luck too!!! Let's survive this summer together...