Bokrijk is one of Limburg's best-known days out, and for good reason: the Provincial Domain covers 550 hectares between Hasselt and Genk, including the largest open-air museum in Belgium, an extensive arboretum, a free playground and cycle routes straight through the water. Anyone expecting only the open-air museum is missing half of it.
What is there to do on the estate?
The Open-Air Museum is the best-known part: dozens of historic buildings from across Flanders, rebuilt on a single site, where you can watch bread being baked or pottery being thrown in the workshops.
The Arboretum is an 18-hectare experience woodland with one of the largest tree and plant collections in Belgium — holly, magnolia, rhododendron, oak and beech along a 2 km signposted walking route. It is free to enter every day, separately from the museum.
The Open-Air Playground is free and open all year round: mega slides, swings, a rope circus, a maze, a cable car and a separate toddler village for the youngest visitors.
And with Cycling Through Water you ride straight through the De Wijers pond area — one of Limburg's best-known cycling experiences.
When is it open?
The Open-Air Museum opens every year from early April to early November, daily from 10 to 18, except on Mondays — though it is in fact open on Mondays that fall in a school holiday or on a public holiday. The Arboretum and the Open-Air Playground are accessible all year round, also outside the museum season. Check the opening hours just before you set off on Bokrijk's official website, as they do change around public holidays.
Tickets
Booking a ticket online can be handy, but is not required. With a museumPASSmusées you can visit Bokrijk without limit all year, along with many other Belgian museums. Travelling by train? An NMBS/SNCB Day Trip then gives 40% off your train ticket with an online ticket for the open-air museum. Current rates can be found on Bokrijk's pricing page, as they vary by season.
“Bring comfortable shoes — the estate is bigger than it looks on the map, and the open-air museum is laid out on cobbles and unpaved paths.”
Practical: address, parking and accessibility
The address is Bokrijklaan 1, 3600 Genk. There are two spacious car parks (P1 and P2) with spaces for visitors with a disability and charging points for electric cars and bikes; the first half hour of parking is free. Bokrijk station is about a five-minute walk from the entrance. Large parts of the Arboretum and the playground are easily passable with a wheelchair or pram; the historic open-air museum has cobbles and loose ground, so expect a bit more effort on those paths.
From Het Demerhuys to Bokrijk
By car you are there in about 10 minutes. Prefer to cycle? Then follow the Demer valley and you will arrive within about 25 minutes, largely along quiet cycle paths.