What can you do in Leuven with kids? We visited the city last weekend and we must note that it is not a city where there is super much to do for kids, but with some effort you can have quite a weekend with the family. Especially in the summer months, this is good to do. Following our visit to this Belgian city, we list the best activities in Leuven with kids.
Leuven with kids #1: Provinciedomein Kessel-Lo
We really enjoyed visiting this city park located in the northeast of the city and this is perhaps the most fun activity you can do in Leuven with kids. Provinciedomein Kessel-Lo is a fairly large city park, where you can take a great walk and where there are playgrounds in several areas of the park.
There are several large parking lots around the park, where you can park your car for free. Upon entering the park, we don’t have to walk far to encounter the first natural play equipment. A lot of playground equipment is wood and you also have some great slides in the park.
In addition to the various playgrounds in the park, there is also an outdoor pool in the park with a slide. When we were there in February, this pool was not open because it was still too cold for this, but we can imagine that it is really enjoyable here in the summer. Besides this pool, you also have a water playground at another place in the park, where kids can get to work with water and thus cool down.
There is also a large lake in the city park, where families can take a rowboat out on the water in the summer. There are also plenty of picnic benches throughout the park, making this a great place to have lunch with the family. In terms of catering establishments, you have little choice in the park, so bringing your own food and drink is recommended if you stay longer. Finally, there is also a fairly large traffic plaza in the park where kids can play.
Leuven with kids #2: Exploring the city
Leuven is a beautiful city, so taking a tour of the city is highly recommended. We ourselves took a big lap around town and by the end of the day the counter stood at over 25,000 steps. The central square in the city, as in many Belgian cities, is the Grand Place, where you will find plenty of nice restaurants and cafes for a bite to eat and a drink.
You can see the old St. Peter’s Church here for free, and the historic city hall and old buildings in the center are also worth seeing. After visiting the Grand Place, we walk south of the city to the Great Beguinage. This is a restored historic district that looks really beautiful.
For our daughter, we have her electric scooter with her, so she doesn’t have to walk all stretches. For kids this area may not be super interesting, but near this area we found a nice playground, where she had a great time for quite a while. Thus, as we walk around town, we try to keep it interesting for her as well. The playground where she played is on Leon Colins Avenue, which is a five-minute walk north of the Great Beguinage.
Leuven with kids #3: Sportoase Leuven
You can also go to a pool in Leuven with kids. When we visited Leuven, the forecast was for bad weather on Sunday. The forecast was for storms and, more importantly, lots of rain. Therefore, we planned in advance that we would do mostly outdoor activities on Saturday and mostly indoor activities on Sunday.
You have from the company Sportoase several swimming pools in the Netherlands and Belgium and since we had visited the nice pool in Breda a few weeks earlier, we wanted to visit this pool here as well. The first thing we noticed about the pool is that it is quite small. There were far too many people for the space in the pool.
There are two slides in the pool, starting at a central point. You go through one slide first and then you can choose which of the two slides you will eventually enter the pool through. Our daughter really liked these slides, so we slid down them dozens of times.
The pool, on the other hand, was quite small and on Sunday mornings it was very crowded with families. There was actually no room to throw a ball about or play for kids. There is a small rapid, but it is also very small. There are also steam baths, a sauna and hot tubs. They also have another small children’s area for the youngest kids.
There was also a 50-meter pool, but it was only used on Sunday mornings for swimming laps. This was very unfortunate, as part of this pool could have been best opened up for the kids. For information on opening hours, entrance fees and the various slides, take a look at Sportoase Leuven’s website.
Leuven with kids #4: University library
One of the most famous attractions in the city of Leuven is the city’s University Library. Leuven is really a student town and because of this, there is also a relaxed atmosphere in the city. In several places in the city we came across buildings of the university and many catering establishments advertise on signs that students get discounts at the respective catering establishment.
The university’s library is also located right in the center and is very popular among tourists. We noticed this when we stood at the box office on Saturday afternoon and found that tickets for the entire day were sold out. Fortunately, we were still able to buy tickets for the library and the tower for the following day. In fact, you can see the city of Leuven with kids from a great height here!
The library looks beautiful with all the carvings and is fun to visit for a while. Our daughter also enjoyed walking through the impressive building and admiring all those books and art inside. Yet it was not the main reason we visited this library. In fact, we were eager to visit the tower and enjoy the beautiful view.
To do this, you have to climb hundreds of steps in the tower and along the way there are several rest stops where you can learn more about the city of Leuven and its history. Eventually you get to the top of the tower and have a beautiful 360-degree view of the city and its surroundings.
The university library is located on a large plaza and across from the library you also have a water playground, where kids can play and cool off in the summer months. For more information about the library, the tower and to purchase tickets, check out the library’s website.
Leuven with kids: other activities
You can do a number of things with the family in Leuven with kids in addition to the activities described above. We list them briefly below.
#5 Herb Garden: located in the east of the city is this botanical garden. You can visit this garden for free and at the entrance of the garden there is a map for kids, where they can go on an expedition in the garden. Kids are given different tasks such as finding the turtles and after this they have to draw them. There are also different assignments for the kids for each season. The botanical garden is quite central and you can walk to it and check out the garden for a while. Expect to spend half an hour to an hour in here.
#6 M-Museum: If you and your kids like to visit a museum in a city, this could be an option. Located in the middle of downtown Leuven, the museum has hundreds of works of art in its collection. It may not be the most interesting museum for kids, but you can get a folder with a family trail at the museum entrance.
For example, the folder contains a quiz and a number of sheets with different assignments. The assignments require kids to sketch details of a sculpture, draw a crown and evaluate works of art in the museum. In this way, the museum hopes that it will also be attractive for kids to visit the museum. This family course is suitable for kids ages six to 12. We ourselves chose not to visit this museum, as we did not find the museum very interesting ourselves.
#7 Zoology Museum: this is another museum to visit in Leuven with kids. This museum you can visit for free and has a whole collection of stuffed animals. Don’t expect a super interactive museum where kids can do a lot, but since it’s free and you can admire different animals up close here it might be an option for your family. We wanted to visit this museum, but then found out that the museum is only open on weekdays and is closed on weekends.
#8 Kinepolis Leuven: you can also go to the cinema in Leuven with kids. Kinepolis Leuven has several theaters in the city center with multiple movies and this is a great option if, for example, the weather is less and you still want to do something with your kids in the city.
Leuven with kids: food and drink
You can eat and drink in Leuven with kids just fine. Around the Grand Place you have dozens of restaurants sitting around, offering great food and drinks. What we noticed is that there is a really great selection of international eateries. Thus, we spotted several Asian eateries in the city center. We ourselves love Indian food and on Saturday night we also ate at the Indian restaurant Masalatop in the center.
We also ate delicious tapas for lunch downtown at Bar Louis and ate burgers and Belgian fries at Ellis. What you notice is that Leuven, like most Flemish cities, is a burgundian city and the pubs and restaurants are generally quite full.
We did not have reservations anywhere, but we had the last spot in the restaurant at Masalatop (the rest were already reserved) and at Bar Louis also the last spot in the corner of the restaurant. So if you want to be sure you can eat at a particular restaurant in Leuven with kids, making a reservation is not a bad option.
Where to stay in Leuven with kids?
Martin’s Convent
If you want to book a luxury overnight stay in Leuven with kids, the hotel Martin’s Klooster is a good option. The hotel is located right in the center and has beautiful rooms for families of three that you can book. The room is very spacious and is equipped with all amenities, such as a whirlpool bath with lights. Breakfast at this hotel is also very extensive and delicious. We wrote about this hotel the blog Martin’s Monastery with kids, in which we give an extensive review about this hotel.
Novotel Leuven Center
For our weekend trip to Leuven, as in the city of Mechelen, we slept in a Novotel hotel. Last time this was also very much to our liking, and it was again this time. The hotel has a modern look, is located in the center, has nice rooms and a delicious breakfast. As far as that is concerned, everything we need at a hotel when we go on a city trip. We wrote about the hotel the blog Novotel Leuven Centrum with kids.
