Kralingse forest with kids: all the information!
Last weekend we visited the Kralingse Bos during our city trip to Rotterdam. There is enough entertainment in the Kralingse Bos to keep you entertained for at least half a day if the weather is nice. We have added the Kralingse Bos as an activity to our blog Rotterdam with kids in which we describe dozens of activities in Rotterdam for families with kids. In this blog, we give you all the information about the family-friendly activities you can do at the Kralingse Bos with kids.
Kralingse bos with kids: beach + paddling pool
Especially when it is a warm day in Rotterdam, the Kralingse Plas is a popular outing for families from Rotterdam. Around the pond on the west side is a beach where you can sunbathe and swim in the water. When we were there it was around 22 degrees and quite crowded around the lake anyway. Entire families with party tents stood near the beach and here and there a BBQ was lit.
What was very noticeable is the amount of poop lying around the beach. Which animals these droppings belonged to was not exactly clear to us but you have to be careful where you walk if you don’t want to stand in the poop. In addition to the beach at the lake, you will also find a small paddling pool for the youngest kids with a small playground next to it. Around the paddling pool there are quite a few benches where you can sit as parents.
Near this beach, you also have an observation tower standing by the water, which you can climb for a nice view of the Kralingse plas.
Kralingse forest with kids: petting zoo
From the beach and frog pool, it is a few minutes’ walk to Petting Zoo de Kraal. This petting zoo is free to visit and you will find various animals such as goats, guinea pigs, donkeys, a piglet and rabbits. You can buy feed at this petting zoo to feed the animals.
You can also walk among and feed the goats. The animals can be a bit enthusiastic, and when our daughter walked to the goats with her bowl of food, she was knocked over immediately by a large goat, so do watch your kids a bit while feeding. In total, we spent about half an hour here.
We had hoped to have something to eat and drink here as well, but that is not the case. You only have a vending machine from which you can get some drinks. The petting zoo also has some play equipment for kids and a little pond where you can cross a stream.
Kralingse forest with kids: climbing park Fun Forest Rotterdam
From the petting zoo, it’s another few minutes’ walk to the climbing park at Kralingse Plas. This is quite a large climbing park with several courses for the kids. Kids as young as six can climb here, and depending on your height, you may complete certain courses. We hiked through the climbing forest and were impressed with the amount of courses you had in the forest.
The first time when we were in the Kralingse Bos, we wanted to climb here with our daughter, but it was already fully booked for that day. As a result, the first time our daughter only climbed the practice course that sits across from the restaurant. Still, we did plan to come back here to climb during our next city trip to Rotterdam.
And so when we once again headed to Rotterdam for a weekend trip with the family, we reserved tickets in advance for the climbing park. Our daughter was then seven years old and 1.25 meters tall, and based on this age and height, we were allowed to take the first two courses.
We always find this a tremendously fun activity to do with our daughter and also our daughter who finds this activity super fun to do. Because she has climbed in a climbing park many times now, she also has a nice skill in it and climbs through this kind of course faster and faster. Based on the morning we spent in the climbing park, we wrote the blog climbing park Fun Forest Rotterdam with kids, in which we report extensively on this climbing park. As far as we are concerned, though, this is highly recommended if you are visiting the Kralingse Bos with kids.
Kralingse forest with kids: playgrounds
In several places in the Kralingen forest you can play with kids in a playground. By the paddling pool there is a playground for smaller kids and also by the beach there are some play equipment mainly for older kids. You also have some playground equipment at the petting zoo.
Across from the petting zoo in the woods, we also came across a climbing wall and some kind of playground equipment attached to a large flounder. For a somewhat larger playground around Kralingse Plas, you have to walk about twenty minutes or so from the petting zoo to the northeast end of the lake. Here you have a playground with various playground equipment and wooden houses.
Kralingse forest with kids: The Heemtuin
What we found a bit disappointing is the Heemtuin of the Kralingse Bos. We had seen the pictures beforehand on google maps when we were exploring the area and then we thought it was very nice, but we didn’t think much of it ourselves. From the decking by the water you have a nice view of the lake and also a little bit of the skyline of Rotterdam, but other than that we didn’t think it really amounted to much. If you have limited time during your visit to the Kralingse bos with kids, you can skip this place just fine.
Kralingse forest with kids: food and drink!
You have several places to eat around the Kralingse Plassen. For example, we had lunch at Brasserie Woodz on the waterfront. Here you have a view of the water and the little harbor with the boats, and you can have a great meal or a drink here. We also had some drinks at the climbing forest and you can also have some food and drinks here, but we found that you were a lot less cozy sitting there.
Furthermore, near the lake are Beachhouse the Kralingse Bos and The Boathouse Kralingen where you can have something to eat and drink with the family.
All in all, we had a great time for half a day here at Kralingse Plas. Unfortunately, the weather was not super good, so we were able to take a splash in the water as well, but the rest of the activities offer enough entertainment to keep your kids busy for a few hours in Rotterdam.
Kralingse forest with kids: food and drink!
Of course, in addition to visiting the Kralingen forest with kids, you can also easily spend a whole weekend in Rotterdam. There is enough to do in the city to keep you entertained for at least a week. We ourselves have slept in the city several times in different accommodations and we list below some of our recommendations in the city for families with kids:
Hostel Room Rotterdam: very nice hostel, where there is a relaxed atmosphere. The hostel also has a family room for families.
SS Rotterdam: this hotel is a sight in itself. You sleep on an old cruise ship, and there is plenty to do on the ship itself. We really enjoyed spending a night here.
Hotel The James Rotterdam: this is a luxury hotel right in the center of Rotterdam. We found this hotel very welcoming and also rented bikes here at the hotel.
Urban Residences: one of the nicest apartments we ever slept in was from this organization. They have beautiful apartments right in the center, where there really is everything. We thought this was a super nice experience to spend a night here in all that luxury.
