Top 10 Best Playgrounds in Brussels, Belgium | My Travelogue

FREE THINGS TO DO IN BRUSSELS WITH KIDS!

Being Atyudarini’s mother means, that hunting playgrounds is something I do very
much! There are several places where there’s a space with a slide, a swing
set, a see-saw, etc., or an extensive, complex playground set (like a Jungle
Gym) with a series of activities. I’ve been to quite a few, but here are my
favorites. All of these are managed by the Bruxelles Environnement and the
respective communes. So they all are free of cost and are all open from
Sunrise to Sunset.

 

1. THE CASTLE – LE CHÂTEAU (PORTE DE HAL/GARE DU MIDI)

Hands down, this is the best-ever playground in Brussels. The whole playground
is shaped like a castle! Located just beside Porte de Hal (Halle Gate), the
playground takes its architectural inspiration from the Porte de Hal itself.
It is not just ‘one extensive complex playground set’ but the whole thing
extends through a length that you’ll have to run behind your kid from one end
of the playground set to the other. 

It begins with a basket swing which itself needs a special mention – it
reminded me of the physics models I made in school days – the swing is on one
side of a lever and is held very strongly on the other side of the level, and
the whole thing is in balance!!!

Then you enter ‘the castle’ which is more or less like an inner courtyard of a
castle – so there’s a wall all around you with a tower in one corner. How to
scale the wall, is your wish – on a rope, or a ladder, or a rock-climbing
wall!!! You can walk from across from one side of the wall or the other, over
ropes! There’s a slide here but you can also scale atop the tower or go ‘into
the castle’. There’s a passage above and another passage underneath – yes, it
is easily possible to lose track of where your child is. This is not the playground
to go to if you, the parent (guardian) want to sit down and relax; you have to climb it and run
behind them or at least go as a group, so the kids can stick with each
other! 

On the other end of the passage is a ‘fallen war-horse’ in the sand. Halfway
through the lower passage is a pulley and bucket to play with sand! Honestly,
it is too much fun!!! Truly, the best playground in Brussels. 

How to reach The Castle – Le Château (Porte de Hal) playground in Brussels? The nearest metro
stop to Le Château (Porte de Hal) playground is Porte de Hal
and Hôtel des Monnaies (Munthof), both connected by STIB-MIVB Metro Lines 2
& 6. This stop is just prior to Bruxelles Midi. The playground is hardly a 2-minute walk from either of the metro stops.

3. THE MAST – LE MÂT (MALOU)

While going along the Promenade Verte, this playground, Le Mât was on our way.
Instantly, it became our 2nd favorite playground in Brussels and we’ve been
here quite a few times now, esp., when Atyudarini attended the Action Sport
Stages at WSP, this became our everyday jaunt.

As the name suggests, there’s a tall mast here which is a rope climber.
Halfway through the mast, after climbing the rope net or rope ladders, the
kids reach 2 basket swings, suspended at about 20ft! A rope ladder from these
2 basket swings takes the kids to the 2 more basket swings, hanging high up
above the ground probably at 25ft! For those little adventurous kids, this is
super fun! Do you see Atyudarini in the basket swing up above?!

Even if your little one is not much of a rope climbing enthusiast, this is
still a must-visit because of all the other activities here. There are 2 log
swings for one/multiple kids to go together. Then there are 2 baby swings, 1
basket swing, a few hammocks, and then there’s a Multimovepad (Speelbos). Now,
what is this ‘multimovepad’ – it is a series of activities that get the kids
to move in multiple ways – a rope tunnel, a rope swing, a multi vine, a
swinging bridge, a Burma bridge, stepping logs, and more. It is awesome!
Atyudarini did it like 10 times back to back and still didn’t get enough of
it! 

There are quite a few picnic benches here to sit down, have lunch, and for the
parents to rest a bit. The whole playground is open and has good visibility
(unlike the passages in Castle playground above), so a parent can sit down and
still keep track of their child.

How to reach The Mast – Le Mât playground? The nearest Tram stops
are Bronnenpark (STIB-MIVB Route T8) which is about 550m (6 mins walk)
and Musée du Tram (STIB-MIVB Routes T39 & T44) which is about 750m
(9 mins walk).

4. THE ENCHANTED TERRACE – LA TERRASSE ENCHANTÉE (MALOU)

Malou Playground is perhaps the most popular for its highlight activity – the
kids’ zipline! It is also on the Promenade Verte route. The whole playground
is in (kinda) 3 sections – sand section, grass section, and woodchips
section. 

The sand section is the major area where the complex playground is. Earlier,
this used to be a ‘sunken ship’ shaped playground but after renovation, it
doesn’t resemble that concept, but the ‘mast/observation deck of the ship’ is
still intact and is a rope-net climbing area. The rest of the activities are
in the ‘ship’ including wall climbing, sliding, ladder, rope walking, etc., which
itself is in 2 sections There are a few swings & basket swings in the sand
section as well.  The grass section is meant for much younger kids with
little see-saws, spring rockers, mini slides, etc. 

The woodchips section is where the ziplining is. Indeed it is super fun for
the kiddos. Atyudarini loved it. She kept doing it until another kid came over
and she had to give up her monopoly of the zipline!

Being in the middle of Malou Park which also had the Chateau Malou, 2
waterbodies, and a lot of greenery, you can spend at least half a day, easily,
here. 

5. THE PIRATE BOAT – LE BATEAU PIRATE (ROUGE CLOITRE):

The best part about going to Rouge Cloitre is not just for one playground, but
2; plus there are farm animals, birding, and hiking! Visiting Rouge Cloitre is
a day trip by itself, like Laerbeek forest (mentioned in no:2). 

Just like ‘The Castle’, this is also an extensive complex playground set with
a series of activities. There is a set of activities even on the first floor,
the deck of the ship which you can climb to using a rope net. Around the ‘hull
of the ship’ are the ‘Multimovepad’ activities including Burma Bridge,
Swinging Bridge, Balance beam, etc. There are 2 slides to come down from the
deck and you can also climb up the mast/observation deck with a rope
ladder. 

Btw, since it’s a pirate boat, it should be technically in a waterbody, which
also means, there might be a crocodile in the waters right? Don’t miss the
semi-sunken crocodile beside the ship. 

The 2nd playground is behind the Pirate Boat and is about a 3-minute walk away.
This is pretty similar to the Park Bonnevie (details below). This is a sand
park with a tower and a tube slide with 2 twists! There are, of course, many
more activities on this playground. A portion of it is also dedicated to the
much younger kiddos with spring rockers & similar stuff. However, the
pirate boat is so much fun that we hardly get to spend any time on the other
playground!

6. THE SPIDER – L’ARAIGNÉE (CINQUANTENAIRE PARK):

One of the playgrounds I visit very often. If you’re an Indian who has already
been here, we might have probably met! This is a sand park, meaning, you can
find very young kids here too, with their buckets and shovels. However this
isn’t just a sand park; there’s a swing set, a little slide, and the 2
highlights – a dragon & the ‘spider’! Both of these are rope climbers and
the older the kid is, the more awesome they’d be in climbing all the way to
the top! Atyudarini loves to climb the topmost point and wave at me. The
‘Spider’ is a true rope climber while the ‘dragon’ is a mix of it all and some
kids even try to slope down from the dragon’s next through its body! 

Keep my mind, this is entirely sand, and on a hot day there’s hardly any shade
and the place can get super hot. There’s a parapet wall, all around which
serves as a seating area for parents. It has a very open visibility and parents
can sit and keep an eye on the kiddo.

Combine this with the 2 more playgrounds in the vicinity (more details below at Pt
5a and 5b) and the museums in the Cinquantenaire Park (Autoworld, War History
Museum, and Art & History Museum) and you’ve got a day trip worth of things
to do in Cinquantenaire Park!

6B. LA PAPILLON – THE BUTTERFLY (CINQUANTENAIRE PARK)

Though I wouldn’t normally list this under the Top 10 Best Playgrounds of
Brussels, I’m still including this because this is also inside
Cinquantenaire Park. This is a woodchip floored playground with a slide
shaped like a butterfly and another slide shaped like a boat. Both are meant
for younger kids without much of a thrill for older kids. But there’s also a
huge W-shaped 3-D bouldering (wall climbing) activity for much older kids
(I’d say 12+). So if you have 2 children, one older than 12 and another
younger than 5, this might be a good place to go. Just beside it is the running track which is good to practice or perfect the bike or roller skates/blades!

How to reach La Papillon – The Butterfly (Cinquantenaire Park) playground? 400m (4 mins walk)
from l‘Araignée playground mentioned above. The nearest metro station is
Merode (STIB-MIVB Route M1 & M5) which is about 650m (8 mins walk)
away.

6C. PLAINE DE JEUX PÈRE DE DEKEN – DEKEN’S FATHER PLAYGROUND (MERODE
ING)

Again, I wouldn’t normally list this under the Top 10 Best Playgrounds of
Brussels, I’m still including this because this is hardly 1km from the
Butterfly playground above and 5mins from Merode metro which you might
probably take to/from your Cinquantenaire Park visit. This is a woodchip
floored, traditional playground, meaning, there is a slide, 2 seesaws, 2
baby swings, 2 regular swings, a baby-rocker, and one another combo activity which includes a bit of ladder climbing, balance beam, and slide. 

Where is Plaine de Jeux Père de Deken (Merode) playground in Brussels(on Google Maps)? Terrain de Jeu Père de Deken

How to reach Plaine de Jeux Père de Deken (Merode) playground in Brussels? The nearest metro station is Merode (STIB-MIVB Route M1 & M5) which
is about 450m (5 mins walk) away. 1.4km (17 mins walk) from La Papillon – The Butterfly (Cinquantenaire Park) playground mentioned above.

7. GULLIVER (GEORGES HENRI):

Even though its name is Gulliver, we call it Octopus Park! Well, Gulliver
is there, ‘lying on the floor’ but behind him is his huge globe with 3 big
tube slides, which, at first instance looked like an octopus, and the name
stuck!

It’s a sand park with a sculpture of a man (Gulliver!) lying down (washed
ashore?) and around him are 2 towers connected by a rope bridge, a Burma bridge, a ladder, a simple slide, etc, as well as a few swings. There are rope climbers inside the towers as well. But as I mentioned
earlier, the highlight of this playground is the 3 fantastic tube
slides. 

The first time that I took Atyudarini here was quite some time ago when she
was much younger and my hand had also not healed yet. So I couldn’t lift her up and climb into the sphere which is the entrace of the tube slides. She was scared to enter
the tube slide, but, thanks to the other kids in the playground, she did. And
then, she went again and again and again! After that, till now, we’ve been here quite a few times and Atyudarini has slid down these tube slides in a regular way, on the belly forward, on the belly backward………

Just beside the sand playground is a tarmac/rubber-mulch pump track perfect to
practice with bikes, rollerblades, or skateboards. I wouldn’t say this is as good as the Pump Track (near Tours & Taxi), but this is good.

8. THE WINDMILL – LE MOLIN A VENT (PARK BONNEVIE)

Over a rubber mulch flooring this monumental ‘Windmill’. The tower of the
playground looks like the body of a traditional windmill, probably why it is
called so. The 2 spectacular, huge, 2 tube slides will definitely catch your
attention as you walk toward the park. Closer to the entrance is a sand
playground meant for younger children. 

Unlike everywhere else, which is either in the middle of a park or greenery or
at least has its own outer walls, this is unusual – this is bang on the town
square; there are streets & shops & houses on all sides! You cannot
miss it, but also, it is a bit too open; so much so, that there were a group
of adults without children, with a beer can in hand, sitting at its edges, on
a Friday evening, which is something I’ve never experienced in any other
playground. It felt safe when there were at least 10 other families and a
bunch of other kids, but I may not have felt so if I were alone.

Where is The Windmill – Le Molin a vent (Park Bonnevie) playground in Brussels(on Google Maps)? Bonnevie Speelplein

How to reach The Windmill – Le Molin a vent (Park Bonnevie) playground in Brussels? The nearest metro station is Comte de Flandre (STIB-MIVB Route M1 &
M5) which is about 170m (2 mins walk) away.

9. CHALON CHALONS-Y (RENIER CHALON)

If your kid loves swings, this is the best place to be! There are 2 baby swings, 1 basket swing, and a whopping 10 regular swings! The waiting time for your kid to get onto a swing is much lesser compared to any other playground in Brussels. Chalon Chalon-y is probably the playground with the most number of swings in Brussels. The whole place is a sand park which means you can also get your sand toys!

The whole place is in 2 outdoor sections (one for babies and one for bigger kids) and 1 indoor section (with table tennis, basketball facilities). The indoor area also has a toilet! We mainly concentrated on the playground for the bigger kids. Apart from the swings, there’s a rope climber and a complex play area with a regular slide, tube slide, wall climbing, rope bridge, etc. 

How to reach Chalon Chalons-y (Renier Chalon) playground in Brussels? The nearest tram stations are Trinité (STIB-MIVB Route T81) which is about 1km (14mins walk) away; and Bascule (STIB-MIVB Route T7) which is about 850m (10 mins walk) away. The nearest bus stop is Lepoutre (STIB-MIVB Route B60) which is just about 300m (3 mins walk) away. 

9B. THE PEARL – LA PERLE (TENBOSCH PARK)

Like the ones near Cinquantenaire, I normally wouldn’t have listed ‘The Pearl’ in the Top 10. But I’m including this here for its location – it is just a 4-minute walk from Chalon Chalon-y playground mentioned above. 

Surrounded by the little Parc Tenbosch, this is such a green area and perhaps the one with the most shade and seating for the parents! As for the playing area itself, there are 2 baby swings, 2 regular swings, and one elaborate play area which includes a rope walk, a Burma bridge, a small slide, a small wall to climb, etc. This is the wood-clips floored playground. It is more suitable for a bit younger children. 

P.S.: If you’re an Indian reading this – Tensbosch Park is located just behind the Indian Embassy in Belgium. The playground is just a 2-minute walk from the embassy.  

Where is The Pearl – La Perle (Parc Tensbosch) playground in Brussels(on Google Maps)? Tenbosch Speeltuin

How to reach The Pearl – La Perle (Parc Tensbosch) playground in Brussels? The nearest tram stop is Vleurgat (STIB-MIVB Routes T93 and T8) which is about 600m (7mins walk) away. 

10. IT’S NOT AN ICECREAM – CECI N’EST PAS UNE GLACE (AV. DAMES BLANCHES, SLOCKEL)

First of all, why does it have this weird name? Dame Blanche, technically, is a Belgian dessert made of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. The street here is called Avenue des Dames Blanche, with an extra ‘s’ (now, this literally means Avenue of White Ladies, maybe because once upon a time, this was a community of white ladies?! I dunno!) So, this playground here is called, ‘It’s not an ice cream’ (Ceci n’est pas une glace)!!! 

This is one of those playgrounds that doesn’t look good in the first instance but is actually excellent! When I took Atyudarini there, she was not at all impressed, to begin with. But then after a few hours, she didn’t want to leave the place! This entire playground is in 3 sections – sand area, grass area, and wood-chips flooring area.

As soon as you enter, you’ll see the smaller kids’ area with a spider-shaped climber, a small slide, and a few bug-shaped spring rockers, all perched on the sand playground. 

Atyudarini tried the Multimovepad (speelbos) area first. It began with a twisted rope grid to walk across, followed by stepping logs, a Burma bridge, more stepping logs, walking on a rope, parallel bars, and finally a hammock bridge. This itself made her super thrilled by the time she reached the endpoint. There are also monkey bars next to it. This is entirely on a grass area.

Over to the wood-chips flooring area – there are 2 regular swings and 2 basket swings here; then there is a pole slide. Then there’s the highlight of the playground – a tower complex. You can climb this tower by a ladder or by bouldering (wall climbing). Once up, there’s a precarious rope walking (with ropes on either side to hold) and then a plank walking, and then monkey bars, and then a hammock bridge! This is quite fascinating for the young big-kids, esp., 5-9yr olds who aren’t too tall and the entire tree-top activities feel pretty high, compared to teens. 

Here are a few things that make this playground even more perfect – There’s a toilet, a hammock for the parents to rest, and 2 picnic tables ‘with a roof’! It’s perfect.

How to reach It’s not ice cream – Ceci n’est pas un glace (Av. Dames Blanche) playground in Brussels? The nearest metro station is Stockel (STIB-MIVB Route M1 & M5) which is about 1.8km (20 mins walk) away. The nearest bus stop is Sainte-alix (STIB-MIVB Route B36, which also goes via Stockel Metro stop) which is about 220m (2 mins walk) away. 

10A. AMITIÉ – FRIENDSHIP (STOCKEL)

Also, not technically in the Top 10, but, if you’re going to Stockel for Ce n’est pas un glace playground, you could go here too, coz it is 500m (7 mins walk) away from Stockel metro stop. This looks like treetop cabins! I’m yet to go here, so I’ll update it soon.

MAP OF THE BEST PLAYGROUNDS IN BRUSSELS

Here’s the brochure (downloads/opens as PDF) by Brussels Environment (Bruxelles Environnement) on a few more playgrounds.

The Top 10 Playgrounds listed above are mapped below.

Scroll up if you came down directly with the link to the Map

TOP 15 PLAYGROUNDS IN BRUSSELS

Since I decided to make the Top 10, I did have to cut off a few that were also really good, but I wouldn’t fit into the Top 10! So, here are the next 5. We’ve personally been to these too. The links here are Google Maps location links. The locations are grey in color in the above map.

11. Amitié – Friendship (as in 10B above)

14. Roodebeek Park Playground (inside Roodebeek Park close to Roodebeek Metro Station. The playground is ok, but with the animal park inside Roodebeek Park it is a perfect combo)

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