The Citadelle de Namur with children
The best part of this place for children is the free part: open grass between old walls, gateways to run through, and a view worth pointing at. Children under six get into the ticketed attractions free, six to eighteen pay the reduced rate, and toddlers of three and under ride the cable car for nothing.
Start with the free hill
Park on the Esplanade or at Terra Nova, both free, and you are on top of the hill without a climb. That single decision removes the hardest part of the day with small legs. From there the ramparts, the paths and the grass are open, unticketed and never closed, which means a wet half hour is not a wasted ticket. The four free car parks are listed on how to get there.
The walk up from the town is a different proposition with children: cobbled ramps between high walls, slick in the rain, and a proper climb rather than a stroll. It is a good walk and it is not a pushchair route.
The train, and the ride up
The tourist train is a few euros for an adult and less for a child, and it does what you would expect: it moves everybody around the site without negotiation. It is part of both Citadelle Passes as well, so if you were buying a pass anyway you already have it.
The cable car is the other thing children remember, and it is a separate operator with a separate ticket that no pass covers. Toddlers of three and under ride free, four and five year olds pay a small fare and older children a youth fare, each of them well under the adult price. Riding up and walking down, or the reverse, works well here because a ticket stays valid for thirty days. Fares are on the cable car page.
Two free car parks sit on top of the hill, so you can drive up, let everyone run about on the grass, and take the cable car down and back up as the outing rather than as transport.
The souterrains with a child: ask before you buy
The underground visit is guided and ticketed, and it is the one part of this site I cannot tell you enough about to plan a child around. I have not found the operator publishing how long the visit runs, how cold the galleries are or which languages the guides work in, and those are precisely the three things that decide whether a seven-year-old enjoys an hour underground or endures it. Ask at the desk before you pay: they are the people who know, and the ticket is bought up here anyway. The rest of what the visit involves is on the souterrains page.
If the answer turns out to be no, nothing is lost. The free half of the hill is still the half children remember, and the tariff for everything else is on the tickets page.
If you want a guide with the family
The sixty-minute express walk with a local is the shortest guided option in Namur and stays in the town below the fortress. The photo shoot is priced per group rather than per person, which suits a family of four, and its itinerary climbs to the Citadel by cable car or on foot with the fare excluded in writing. Neither includes entry to anything ticketed, because nothing sold here does.
One hourNamur: Express Walk with a Local in 60 minutes
Photo shootNamur: Photo shoot with a professional photographer
How much of a day to allow is on how long to spend up here, and the rest of the town is on what else there is to do here.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Citadelle de Namur good with children?
The free part is: open grass, ramparts to walk, gateways, and two free car parks on top of the hill so nobody has to climb. The tourist train is the cheap paid extra most children ask for. What the whole hill costs is set out on what costs nothing here.
Do children pay at the Citadelle?
Under-sixes are admitted free to the ticketed visits and children of six to eighteen pay the reduced rate. On the cable car, toddlers of three and under go free, with child and youth fares above that. Every figure is in the tables on the tickets page.
Can we avoid the climb with small children?
Yes, in two ways. Drive up and park free on the Esplanade or at Terra Nova, which puts you on top of the hill straight away, or take the cable car and treat the ride as part of the outing. The cobbled ramps from the town are a real climb and not a pushchair route; the alternatives are on how to get there.