Bokrijk Open Air Museum
Openluchtmuseum

Delve into some Flemish history as you wander around this vast open-air museum, a highlight of Limburg’s historical offerings!

Located between Hasselt and Genk, in the estate Domein Bokrijk, is a large open-air museum - known in Dutch as "Bokrijk openluchtmuseum", showcasing the social history and culture of the Flemish provinces. The exhibition is known as the “World of Bruegel” and aims to keep Flemish heritage alive. A picturesque, green setting and roaming livestock give the museum a really authentic feel, helping you to travel back in time. The museum’s collection of historical buildings and over 40,000 objects, tell the stories, customs and material techniques of several hundred years of Belgian history.

The museum is modelled on Skansen in Sweden, the world’s oldest open-air museum which showcases old houses and farmsteads from all over the country. Bokrijik displays a variety of buildings from all over Flanders, dating from the 17th to 20th century. They include urban houses, farmhouses, outbuildings, industrial buildings, mills, shops and more. The buildings are grouped into little hamlets representing particular parts of Flanders making it easy to explore the museum. Its 120-building collection led to the museum being protected as a monument since 1996.

• The museum also features a more modern exhibition, ‘De sixties’, which takes you back to 60s Belgium.
• If you’re bringing the offspring, there is also a large playground.
• There are loads of options for food with some located in the museum and others around the estate.

It can take up to 3 hours to get through the museum if you’re really enthralled, but the Bokrijk estate is huge and has lots of outdoorsy things to do and see. You can walk around the beautiful Arboretum, trek through one of the forests or book a guided tour of Het Wik, a beautiful pond complex known for its bird watching and wildlife.

Don't forget to bring your bikes so you can enjoy Bokrijk's unique 'Cycling through water' experience, where you bike through the middle of a pond - its pretty cool.