We want advice about places that will interest our family, and lodging options. The center of the city, the Grand'Place, is a perfectly preserved seventeenth-century square rimmed with ornately decorated Baroque buildings. It's built on a small scale and so is accessible to children without being overwhelming. All the buildings in the square charm with their spires and carvings. You'll find lots of cafes where you can enjoy a meal or snack.
Street performers congregate in the square, so there's free entertainment to keep the kids amused.
Most kids find the millions of bobbins and the itsy-bitsy quality of lace making intriguing, and the tatters, as the lace makers are called, are very patient and gentle with young visitors. It's a fixture on every tour itinerary, and although most adults could bypass it, kids love it. The statue is dressed in elaborate costumes by museum staffers. You'll see one of them out there on a ladder, putting on the tiny clothes. A schedule is posted in front of the statue describing which costumes he will be wearing that month.