When we spent a few days in Brussels with our 1-year-old on a whirlwind three week trip around Europe, we decided to take a day trip to the 9th century city of Bruges, famous for its canals and cobbled streets. At just 1 hour by train, Bruges makes for a perfect day trip from Brussels. Since one of the main attractions is its network of canals, taking a boat tour through Bruges is a popular activity that we knew we wanted to try, despite having a baby and a large backpack style baby carrier. We were worried it might be a little difficult, but it ended up not being an issue at all. Here’s a complete guide based on our experience!
Good to know: There is somewhere between 48-80+ trains a day between Brussels and Bruges. I’m not sure why the exact number is wildly different between every source you look at, but the real take away is that there’s plenty of trains to allow you to tailor your trip exactly the way you need to while traveling with small kiddos. Also keep in mind that on domestic journeys within Belgium, up to 4 children under the age of 12 travel free of charge if accompanied by someone paying the adult fare.
Beautiful walk from the train station to the canals and main area of Bruges
Upon arrival in Bruges, we walked the approximately 10-15 minutes from the train station to the historic center of the city. The walk took us along cobbled streets with beautiful buildings, making for a very pleasant walk. After exploring the main square and several churches, we spied a boarding area along one of the canals for a canal tour. While there are multiple canal tour operators, they seem to all charge the same price and take almost the exact same 30 minute route, so we’d recommend going wherever the line is shortest or whichever boarding area you come across first.
Good to know: There are five boarding areas for canal tours:
Huidenvettersplein 13
Rozenhoedkaai
Wollestraat 32
Katelijnestraat 4
Nieuwstraat 11
Despite not seeming like complete addresses, all of these come up right away when entered into Google maps. All of them are between a 13-20 minute walk from the train station in Bruges according to Google maps.
Good to know: If going to the closest boarding area is your highest priority, navigate to Katelijnestraat 4, which is just 13 minutes from the train station
Easy walk from the train station to the loading areas for the canal tours
Arrival at one of the loading areas for canal tours
Each loading area has a booth where you can purchase tickets. Adult tickets were 12 euros and child tickets were 7 euros in 2022, but I believe that price has gone up a bit. Children under 4 are free, making this an awesome activity to do with a toddler!
Good to know: Everything we read about the canal tours stated that they take cash only, so we stopped at an ATM (there are plenty around Bruges) to pull out some euros, only to find that they definitely had a credit card machine complete with tap and pay that we used to purchase our tickets. All the other articles seem to be outdated.
Canal tour tickets
There was a decently long line at the boarding area, but boats come around frequently and hold quite a few passengers, so we only ended up waiting about 15 minutes. Cruising the canals is pretty sedate so passengers aren’t given life jackets. If you have rowdy littles and are worried about that, this might not be the best activity for you. Also keep in mind that they really pack people onto the boats (see the photos in this article) if being pressed up against people is an issue for you or your littles.
Good to know: We were allowed to leave our baby carrier on the dock right where you climb on the boat. Two strollers were already there, so this appears to be common and no issue no matter what you’re pushing or carrying your baby in. The line cues above this area and doesn’t have unsupervised access to that part of the loading area so you don’t have to worry about your stroller or carrier getting stollen.
Leaving our stroller at the loading area for our Bruges canal tour
On the boat!
Sites along the canals
Our 30 minute tour cruised through a number of canals lined with beautiful brick buildings, weeping willows, views of cathedrals, and graceful arched bridges. It was just long enough to get some good photos and see a variety of things while also keeping our toddler’s attention. Based on the ease of purchasing tickets, the fact that little kiddos are free, you can store carriers and strollers at the dock while on your cruise, and the number of places to hop on a tour, we’d definitely recommend this as a fun, family friendly activity in Bruges!
Good to know: Canal tours generally run from 10am to 6pm with the last boat usually leaving at 5:30pm. They also run most of the year aside from January and February.
Have you done a canal tour in Bruges or another city with a toddler and/or baby? Leave us a comment with your thoughts and extra tips for our readers!