26 Best Things to Do in Antwerp, Belgium in Two Days

The best things to do in Antwerp fit into two days, and they cluster in three places: the old centre around the Grote Markt, the Eilandje docks to the north, and the museum quarter of ‘t Zuid to the south. Antwerp is Belgium’s second city and its port, and it built its wealth on trade, printing, diamonds and Rubens, all four of which you can still see for the price of a museum ticket. This list runs from the station you arrive in to the church most visitors walk past.

Antwerp sits on the Scheldt about 20 km (12.4 mi) south of the Dutch border, and the river connects it to the North Sea. Four hundred years ago that made it one of the wealthiest cities in Europe and, by most counts, the largest north of the Alps after Paris. The city that money built is the city you walk around today.

If you have one day, do numbers 1, 12, 7, 15 and 9 in that order and you will have seen the shape of Antwerp. If you have two, work down the whole list.

A walking tour covers the old centre in a morning, and a cycling tour reaches the docks and ‘t Zuid in the same time.

1. Gawp at Antwerp Central Station

Antwerp Central Station is the most impressive building in the city and you arrive in it, which is a piece of luck. It went up between 1895 and 1905 to replace a wooden terminus, designed by Louis Delacenserie, and it is stone, glass and marble on a scale that stations rarely get any more.

Belgium opened the first passenger railway on the European mainland in 1835, and Antwerp was on it from early on. The façade is Neo-Renaissance with Art Nouveau details, the entrance hall has a monumental staircase and an ornate clock, and the platform hall is covered by a steel roof 43 m (141 ft) high, engineered by Clement van Bogaert and built that tall to let steam clear.

Look up in the train shed and you can still see where wartime bombing bent the structure. Restorations and extensions since have given the station four levels, two of them underground, and it now handles high-speed trains as well as local ones. Go in even if you are not catching anything.

2. See the instruments at Museum Vleeshuis

Museum Vleeshuis is Antwerp’s music museum, and it is inside the Butchers’ Hall, which is worth the entry on its own. The building went up in the early 16th century as the covered meat market, with room for 62 butchers, and its banded red brick and white sandstone is known locally as “bacon layers”.

Inside, the collection covers six centuries of instruments made and played in the city, from harpsichords to bagpipes, alongside the printed music that Antwerp’s presses turned out for the rest of Europe. Interactive displays let you play a virtual carillon, which is more fun than it sounds, and the bell-casting section explains an industry the city was known for.

3. Pay a visit to ZOO Antwerpen

ZOO Antwerpen opened in 1843, which makes it one of the oldest zoos in the world and the oldest in Belgium, and it sits directly beside Central Station. When it was built it stood outside the city walls; the city has grown around it since, and the 10-hectare (25-acre) site is now firmly in the centre. It was listed as a monument in 1983.

The architecture is half the appeal. There is an Egyptian temple for the elephants and giraffes, a Moorish temple for the okapis, a thatched cottage for the koalas, an aquaforum for the sea lions and an Art Deco entrance. The zoo holds around 5,000 animals across some 950 species and is known for its breeding programmes.

In winter the grounds host China Light, a festival of illuminated sculptures telling Chinese folk tales, with music and dance alongside. It is one of the better reasons to be in Antwerp in December.

4. Grab a bite at the Saturday Exotic Market

The Exotic Market is Antwerp’s Saturday market and the cheapest good lunch in the city. It runs on Oudevaartplaats and Theaterplein and the streets around them, from 8 am to 4 pm every Saturday except public holidays, and it sells the ingredients that Antwerp’s Turkish, Moroccan and Mediterranean communities actually cook with.

Expect spices sold loose, dried chillies by the sackful, olives, breads, cheeses and produce you will not find in a supermarket, plus stalls cooking to order. Eat standing up, buy something to take home, and come early if you want it calm.

5. Look round Rubens House, with one caveat

Rubens House is the former home and studio of Peter Paul Rubens, and the artist’s residence itself has been closed since January 2023 for a major renovation that is not expected to finish before 2030. What has opened, in 2024, is the new Rubens Experience building, the library and the garden, so the site is visitable but you cannot walk the rooms he lived in.

Rubens bought the house in 1610 and rebuilt it as an Italianate palazzo with a studio, a gallery for his own collection and a portico onto the garden. After his death it passed through many hands, including a spell as a prison after the French Revolution, and the City of Antwerp bought it in 1937 and restored it.

Check the museum’s own site before you go, because the phases of the reopening are being announced one at a time. Full details are in our guide to the best museums in Antwerp.

6. Sit in the Botanical Garden

Den Botaniek is a walled botanical garden of just under a hectare on Leopoldstraat, five minutes from the Meir, and it is the quietest green space in central Antwerp. It was laid out in 1825 on what had been the kitchen garden of the old Saint Elisabeth hospital, and it holds a collection of around 2,000 plants, with cacti and other exotics in the small conservatory.

It is free, it has benches, and almost nobody visits it. If you have walked the shopping streets and want twenty minutes of quiet before the next museum, this is where to take them.

7. Trace 400 years of printing at the Plantin-Moretus Museum

The Plantin-Moretus Museum is the only museum in the world on the UNESCO World Heritage list for being a museum, and it is Antwerp’s single most remarkable building to walk through. It is the house, workshop and shop of the Plantin and Moretus printing dynasty, kept intact: the courtyard, the family rooms, the type foundry, the proofreaders’ room and the presses are all where they were.

Christophe Plantin founded the business in 1555 and it stayed in the family until 1876, when the city bought the lot. Two of the presses in the printing room are the oldest surviving anywhere in the world. The library holds more than 25,000 volumes, including illuminated manuscripts, early printed editions and the business archive, which is why book historians treat the place as a pilgrimage.

Allow two hours. It is quieter than the cathedral and it tells you more about how Antwerp made its money.

8. Visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts

KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, reopened on 24 September 2022 after eleven years of rebuilding, and it is now the strongest art museum in Flanders. The 19th-century building was hollowed out and a white, top-lit modern museum inserted into its courtyards, so you move between two completely different kinds of room.

The collection runs from the 14th to the 20th century. The Flemish Primitives include Jean Fouquet’s Madonna Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim and Van Eyck’s Saint Barbara; the Baroque rooms hold monumental Rubens altarpieces, Van Dyck and Jordaens; and the modern floors hold one of the largest James Ensor collections in the world, including The Intrigue.

KMSKA is in ‘t Zuid, a 20-minute walk south of the cathedral or a short tram ride. Note that Rubens’ The Descent from the Cross, the painting most people come to Antwerp for, is not here: it hangs in the cathedral, where it was painted to hang.

9. Take a photo from the roof of the MAS

The MAS, Museum aan de Stroom, has the best free view in Antwerp, and you do not need a ticket to get it. The red sandstone and glass tower on the old docks was designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects, and an escalator route spirals up through the building floor by floor to a rooftop panorama at the top, open to everyone.

From up there you get the cathedral spire and the guild houses of the old town on one side, the cranes and container terminals of the port on the other, and the Scheldt running out towards the sea. It is worth doing at dusk when the city lights come on. Hold on to anything loose: it is windy.

The museum itself, spread over ten floors, covers the port, world cultures and the city’s own history, and is one of the two or three best museums in the country.

10. Try the samples at Chocolate Nation

Chocolate Nation is at Koningin Astridplein 7, directly across from Central Station, and it bills itself as the largest Belgian chocolate museum in the world. It opened in March 2019 and the route runs through fourteen rooms, from a simulated cacao plantation through processing, tempering and moulding, with tastings along the way.

The tasting is the point: the visit includes samples of ten different chocolates, and it ends in a shop and café. It is aimed squarely at families and works well as an hour indoors when the weather turns, which in Antwerp it does.

11. Follow the migration trail through the Red Star Line Museum

The Red Star Line Museum tells the story of the roughly 2.5 million people who left Europe for North America through Antwerp between 1873 and 1934, and it is the most moving museum in the city. It is housed in the original Red Star Line sheds on the quay, where passengers were registered, disinfected and medically inspected before boarding.

You walk the route they walked. The exhibits cover why people left, from poverty to pogroms, what they carried, what they left behind, and what waited at Ellis Island, including the American entry quotas that turned people back. Albert Einstein and Irving Berlin both sailed from these sheds, and their stories sit alongside those of people nobody has heard of.

It is on the Eilandje, ten minutes’ walk from the MAS, so the two go together in one afternoon.

12. Visit the Cathedral of Our Lady

The Cathedral of Our Lady is the largest Gothic church in the Low Countries and the tallest building in the old city, and its north tower stands 123 m (404 ft). Building began in 1352 and finished in 1521, 169 years and several architects later; the second tower was never completed, which is why the front looks lopsided.

Inside there are seven aisles and, more to the point, four Rubens works still in the building they were painted for: The Raising of the Cross, The Descent from the Cross, The Resurrection of Christ and The Assumption of the Virgin. Seeing an altarpiece in its own church rather than a gallery is a different experience, and this is the best place in Europe to do it.

Buy the ticket. The outside is free and the inside is the reason to come.

13. Grab a drink on the Grote Markt

The Grote Markt is Antwerp’s main square, ringed by 16th and 17th-century guild houses, the Renaissance city hall and the Brabo Fountain, and every building on it has a terrace under it. It is the obvious place for a first drink and, like every main square in Europe, the most expensive.

Order a De Koninck, the Antwerp amber ale that everyone calls a bolleke after the round glass it comes in, or a jenever if you want the local spirit. In December the square holds part of the Christmas market and an ice rink.

For better prices and better beer, walk two streets in any direction. The cafés on Grote Pieter Potstraat and around Handschoenmarkt are a fraction cheaper and no worse.

14. Stand in front of the Brabo Fountain

The Brabo Fountain in the middle of the Grote Markt is where Antwerp’s name comes from, or at least where the story says it does. The legend has a giant, Antigoon, charging a toll to cross the Scheldt and cutting off the hand of anyone who refused, until the Roman soldier Silvius Brabo killed him, cut off his hand and threw it in the river. Hand werpen, throwing a hand, is the folk etymology of Antwerpen.

Jef Lambeaux sculpted the fountain in 1887, and it catches Brabo mid-throw with the hand raised. It is a two-minute stop and it explains the severed hands you will notice all over the city, in chocolate shops, biscuit tins and souvenir windows.

15. Look round Het Steen

Het Steen is the oldest building in Antwerp, a stone gatehouse and fortress on the Scheldt dating from the early 13th century, and it reopened on 22 October 2021 after a full renovation. It is now the city’s visitor centre, with a shop, a tasting room, a cruise terminal and an exhibition on the history of the city and its port.

The name simply means “the stone”, which is what it was in a city otherwise built of wood. It was once part of a much larger fortress controlling river traffic, and it spent part of its life as a prison. The statue of the giant Lange Wapper over the entrance is a 1963 addition.

One thing to know: the National Maritime Museum is no longer here. Its collection moved to the MAS when that opened, so if maritime history is what you came for, go north to the Eilandje. What Het Steen gives you now is the terrace and the river.

16. Take in Antwerp’s architecture

Antwerp’s architecture is the clearest record of its money, and three stops beyond the obvious ones show the range. The Cathedral, Rubens House, Central Station and the guild houses cover the Gothic and Baroque; these cover everything after.

Cogels-Osylei in Zurenborg is a street of Belle Époque mansions built between the 1890s and 1910s, where rival architects competed with Art Nouveau, Neo-Gothic, Neo-Classical and mock-Tudor houses on the same block. It is a 15-minute tram ride from the centre and it is free to walk.

The Port House is Zaha Hadid Architects’ glass extension on top of a protected former fire station on the docks, finished in 2016. The faceted glass volume floats above the old building and refracts the light, which is a deliberate reference to Antwerp’s diamonds. You cannot go in, but the exterior is the point.

The Vleeshuis on Vleeshouwersstraat, described above, closes the set: early 16th-century, church-like, and striped in red brick and white stone.

17. Go fashion shopping in Antwerp

Antwerp is called the city of fashion for a specific reason: the Royal Academy of Fine Arts produced the Antwerp Six in the 1980s and has kept producing designers since, and the Flanders Fashion Institute and MoMu, the fashion museum, are in the same block on Nationalestraat. MoMu reopened in 2021 after a long renovation.

The Meir is the main shopping street, pedestrianised, running between Central Station and the cathedral, and it holds the international chains and the Stadsfeestzaal, a 1908 festival hall rebuilt as a shopping arcade with a golden dome, mosaic floors and a marble staircase.

Kloosterstraat is the street for vintage, antiques and second-hand furniture. Schuttershofstraat, Kammenstraat, Lombardenvest and the lanes around Groenplaats are where the designer and independent shops are. Note that Belgian shops close on Sundays apart from designated shopping Sundays.

18. See the Diamond District

The Diamond District is a handful of streets directly behind Central Station, and it is where roughly 84 per cent of the world’s rough diamonds and about half of all polished stones change hands. Hoveniersstraat, Schupstraat and Rijfstraat hold the four diamond exchanges, including the oldest in the world, plus hundreds of traders, cutters and polishers.

It is a working district rather than an attraction, so you will not stroll into a workshop. What you can do is walk the streets, look in the windows on Pelikaanstraat where the retail jewellers are, and visit DIVA, the museum of diamonds, jewellery and silver in the old centre, which explains the four Cs, the cutting process and the trade’s history properly.

If you are buying, ask for the certification before the price. A stone bought here without paperwork is worth what you can prove about it.

19. Taste the local beer

De Koninck is Antwerp’s own beer, an amber ale brewed in the city since 1833 and ordered by asking for a bolleke, after the round glass it comes in. The Antwerp City Brewery on Mechelsesteenweg runs a self-guided interactive tour that ends in a tasting, and it shares its site with a cheesemonger, a chocolatier and a bakery, which makes it an easy afternoon.

Beyond that, Antwerp drinks the whole Belgian range: Trappist ales, lambics and gueuze from the Brussels side, abbey beers and a growing number of local craft brewers. Beerlovers Bar on Rotterdamstraat has the longest list in the city and staff who will steer you through it.

Two things to know before you order. Belgian beers are often 8 to 10 per cent, and they are served in 33 cl glasses for that reason. And each beer comes in its own glass, so a café that lacks the glass will not serve you the beer.

20. Go bargain-hunting at Antwerp’s markets

Antwerp holds a market almost every day of the week, and they are the most rewarding free thing to do in the city. The main ones are listed below.

• Vogelenmarkt: despite the name, not a bird market. Flowers, fabrics, antiques, jewellery, food and small animals. Sundays, 8 am to 1 pm, Oudevaartplaats and Theaterplein.
• Exotic Market: the Mediterranean and North African food market. Saturdays, 8 am to 4 pm, same squares.
• Friday Market: old furniture and small antiques sold by auction in front of a crowd. Fridays, 9 am to 1 pm, Vrijdagmarkt.
• Antiques markets: Saturdays on Lijnwaadmarkt and Sundays on Sint-Jansvliet, both 9 am to 5 pm, aimed at casual buyers rather than dealers.
• Organic market: certified organic produce only. Sundays, 8 am to 4 pm, Falconplein.
• Rubens Market: once a year on 15 August on the Grote Markt, with every trader in 17th-century costume.

21. See the activity at the Port of Antwerp

The Port of Antwerp is the second-largest port in Europe after Rotterdam, and it is a genuinely startling thing to see up close. It stretches north of the city along both banks of the Scheldt, and the scale only registers when you are next to it.

Three ways to see it work. Boat trips run from the Steenplein pontoon along the Scheldt and into the dock system, past the container terminals and dry docks. The MAS rooftop gives you the whole thing from above for nothing. And the drive or cycle north through the port area, past the Port House and the lock complexes, shows you the warehouses, rail yards and stacked containers that the boat trips only skirt.

22. Walk through St Anna’s Tunnel

The Sint-Annatunnel is a pedestrian tunnel under the Scheldt, opened in 1933, and it is one of the few things in Antwerp that everybody who lives there also uses. Before it was dug, crossing meant a ferry; the city rejected a bridge because it would have limited the ships going upriver, and tunnelled instead.

The tunnel itself is a long white-tiled tube, but the attraction is the original wooden escalators that carry you down more than 30 m (98 ft) to it. They survived heavy damage in the Second World War, were restored, and still run. Cyclists use them too, standing with their bikes.

Come up on the left bank at Sint-Anneke for the widest view of the Antwerp skyline, and a genuine sand beach on the riverside. Swimming is not allowed, because this is a working shipping channel.

23. Browse the Meir

The Meir is the busiest shopping street in Belgium and the axis of the city centre, running pedestrianised from Central Station down to the cathedral quarter. It carries the international chains rather than the interesting independents, but it is worth walking for the buildings: Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical façades above the shopfronts, including the Royal Palace on the Meir.

The Stadsfeestzaal, halfway along, is the one to go into: a 1908 festival hall gutted by fire in 2000 and rebuilt as a shopping arcade under a golden dome. The Bourla Theatre, an 1834 city theatre with its original stage machinery, is a couple of streets south.

24. Walk round Middelheim sculpture park

The Middelheim Museum is an open-air sculpture park in the southern suburbs, founded in 1950, and it is free every day of the year. It spreads across roughly 30 hectares of parkland with about 200 works on display at any time, from Rodin and Rik Wouters through to contemporary commissions, set among lawns, woods and ponds.

The park is split into sections, with the older and larger pieces in one part and smaller works in a pavilion, and it connects into the wider Nachtegalen park system, which is the biggest green space in the city. Take a picnic, allow half a day and go on a clear one; the whole thing is outdoors.

25. Tour the city by bike

Antwerp is flat, compact and built for bikes, and cycling is the fastest way to link the three parts of the city that are too far apart to walk between. ‘t Zuid to the Eilandje is under 4 km (2.5 mi), and the cycle lanes are continuous and properly separated for most of it.

Velo Antwerpen is the city bike-share scheme, with more than 300 stations and around 4,200 bikes across the city. You buy a day, week or year pass online, through the app or at the office, then unlock a bike with a code; each ride under 30 minutes is included, and you swap bikes at a station to reset the clock. The app shows which stations have bikes and which are full.

Guided bike tours are the other option, and they cover the docks, the Zuid and Zurenborg in the time a walking tour covers the old centre.

26. Pop into St Paul’s Church

St Paul’s is the church most visitors walk past, and it holds more Baroque painting per square metre than anywhere else in Antwerp. The late-Gothic church was built through the 16th century for the Dominican monastery and consecrated in 1571, and the Baroque tower and interior came later, after a fire.

Inside there are works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Frans Francken, a carved oak confessional row, and an outdoor Calvary garden in the courtyard that is unlike anything else in the city. Restoration work on the church began in 2025, so check what is accessible before you make a special trip.

What is the best time to visit Antwerp?

May to September is the best time to visit Antwerp, and late spring and early autumn are better still. Summer highs average around 20 to 23 °C (68 to 73 °F), the terraces are out and the daylight runs to 16 hours in June, but July and August bring the crowds and the highest hotel rates.

May, June, September and October give you the same weather with fewer people and better availability. December is worth its own trip for the Christmas market and China Light at the zoo. January and February are the coldest and greyest months, and the rain falls year-round in any case, so pack a jacket whenever you come.

What is the weather like in Antwerp?

Antwerp has a mild maritime climate, with cool summers, damp winters and rain spread evenly across the year. July is the warmest month, averaging highs near 23 °C (73 °F) and lows near 14 °C (57 °F). January is the coldest, with highs around 5 °C (41 °F) and lows near freezing.

Rain falls in every month, autumn is the wettest stretch and snow is occasional rather than reliable. Daylight runs from about 8 hours in December to 16.5 hours in June. The practical advice is the same all year: layers and something waterproof.

What are the best museums in Antwerp?

Five museums stand out in Antwerp, and three of them are among the best in Belgium. They are listed below.

• Plantin-Moretus Museum: the preserved 16th-century printing house, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• KMSKA: the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, reopened in 2022, with Rubens, Van Dyck, Fouquet and one of the largest James Ensor collections anywhere.
• MAS: ten floors on the port, the city and world cultures, with a free rooftop.
• Red Star Line Museum: transatlantic migration told through the sheds the migrants passed through.
• FOMU: the photography museum in ‘t Zuid, running several changing exhibitions at a time.

M HKA, the contemporary art museum, is also in ‘t Zuid and is the one to add if you have a third day. The full list is in our guide to the museums in Antwerp.

What is the Antwerp Christmas market?

The Antwerp Christmas market runs from late November into early January and spreads across several squares in the centre: Groenplaats, Handschoenmarkt, Grote Markt, Suikerrui and Steenplein. The chalets sell food, mulled wine, crafts, decorations and winter clothing, and an ice rink and a Ferris wheel are set up alongside.

The Ferris wheel at Steenplein is the one to ride, because it gives you the Scheldt, Het Steen and the cathedral in one turn. Weekday mornings are the calm time. Full details are in our guide to the Antwerp Christmas market.

What can you do in Antwerp for free?

Nine things on this list cost nothing at all, which makes Antwerp a cheap city to spend a day in. They are listed below.

• The MAS rooftop: the escalator route up through the building and the panorama at the top are free, ticket or no ticket.
• Den Botaniek: the walled botanical garden on Leopoldstraat, open daily.
• The Middelheim Museum: 30 hectares of open-air sculpture, free every day of the year.
• Cogels-Osylei: the Belle Époque street in Zurenborg, which is a public road.
• The markets: the Vogelenmarkt, the Exotic Market, the Friday auction and the antiques markets.
• Het Steen’s terrace and the riverside walk along the Scheldt.
• The Sint-Annatunnel and its wooden escalators, plus the beach at the far end.
• Central Station, inside and out.
• The Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain, provided you do not sit down for a drink.

Add the cathedral’s exterior, the Port House from the quayside and the whole of the Meir, and a day in Antwerp can cost you a tram ticket and lunch.

What can you do in Antwerp with children?

Antwerp is easy with children because the things they like are close together. ZOO Antwerpen sits beside Central Station, Chocolate Nation is directly across the square from it, and both fill a half day on their own.

After that, the MAS rewards children more than most museums, because the escalator route is a game in itself and the roof is a reward at the end. The wooden escalators in the Sint-Annatunnel and the beach at Sint-Anneke on the far side make a good afternoon, and the boat trips from Steenplein put you in front of the container ships. Middelheim is a sculpture park you can run around in.

The centre is flat and compact enough for a pushchair, and Velo bikes come with child seats on some models. Central Station itself, with its glass roof and its four levels of trains, keeps most children occupied longer than the guidebooks expect.

What can you do in Antwerp when it rains?

It rains in Antwerp in every month of the year, so plan an indoor list before you need one. The four biggest indoor days are the Plantin-Moretus Museum, KMSKA, the MAS and the Red Star Line Museum, and any one of them absorbs half a day.

Beyond the museums, Chocolate Nation, the Stadsfeestzaal arcade, the cathedral, St Paul’s Church and the De Koninck brewery tour are all under cover. The Meir is partly arcaded, and the Sint-Annatunnel is the only river crossing in the world where the weather does not matter.

Is one day enough in Antwerp?

One day in Antwerp shows you the old centre and nothing else, which is enough for a day trip from Brussels but not for the city. In a single day you can do Central Station, the cathedral, the Grote Markt, the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Het Steen and the MAS rooftop on foot, with a stop for fries.

Two days lets you add KMSKA and ‘t Zuid, the Red Star Line Museum, the zoo or the diamond district, and an evening that is not spent walking. Three days is the point at which you can also use Antwerp as a base for Ghent, Bruges or Mechelen, all under an hour and a half by train.

Where should you stay in Antwerp?

Stay in the old centre if this is your first visit, because everything from numbers 1 to 18 on this list is inside a 20-minute walk of the Grote Markt. The Central Station quarter is the practical alternative, with the widest choice of rooms and the zoo, the diamond district and Chocolate Nation on the doorstep. ‘T Zuid suits a second visit, with the museums and the better restaurants.

Compare rooms across all three areas on Booking.com’s Belgium pages, which is where we book, and see our guide to the best hotels to stay in Antwerp for individual picks.

Where should you eat and drink in Antwerp?

Antwerp eats better than a city of 565,000 has any right to, with two of Belgium’s most decorated kitchens and a strong cheap end. Zilte, chef Viki Geunes’ three-Michelin-star restaurant, is on the top floor of the MAS. The Jane, Nick Bril’s two-star, spent a decade in a former military chapel and moved in October 2025 to a new building on the Eilandje.

Below that, eat mussels, stoemp and fries, and look for the Moroccan and Turkish places near the Exotic Market. Our list of the best restaurants in Antwerp covers the everyday end, and our guide to the best coffee shops and bars in Antwerp covers where to drink after.

For the wider picture of Belgian food, see our guides to Belgian dishes and Belgian recipes.

Which castles can you visit in Belgium besides Het Steen?

Five Belgian castles are worth a detour from Antwerp, and one of them is under an hour away by train. They are listed below.

1. Gravensteen, Ghent: the 12th-century moated fortress in the middle of the city, with a walkway round the ramparts. It is the easiest of the five to reach and the most complete. Our guide to Gravensteen castle in Ghent covers the visit.
2. Bouillon Castle: a medieval fortress on a rock above a loop of the Semois in the Ardennes, with tunnels cut through the stone.
3. Modave Castle: a 17th-century château above the Hoyoux valley, known for its painted ceilings and its gardens.
4. Vêves Castle: the fairy-tale one, with round towers and pointed roofs, near Dinant.
5. Beloeil Castle: a moated estate in Hainaut with formal French gardens, sometimes called the Belgian Versailles.

The full set is in our guide to castles in Belgium, and if you are building a wider itinerary, the things to do in Belgium covers the rest of the country. For more on Antwerp itself, including history, transport and the city pass, see our full Antwerp travel guide.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

The 4 tips below come from re-checking where Antwerp’s collections, museums and restoration works actually stand in 2026, because three of the city’s most visited attractions have moved or closed.

1. Go to the cathedral for Rubens’ The Descent from the Cross, not to KMSKA. It is the painting most people come to Antwerp for and it still hangs in the church it was painted for, alongside three more Rubens altarpieces. This is the most common mix-up in Antwerp guides.
2. Head north to the MAS if you want the maritime collection. The National Maritime Museum left Het Steen years ago, and what the restored gatehouse offers now is the city visitor centre, an exhibition on Antwerp and the terrace over the Scheldt.
3. Check what is open at St Paul’s before you make a special trip. Restoration work on the church began in 2025, and its Rubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens paintings and the Calvary garden are the reason to walk over there in the first place.
4. Use Velo for the gaps between sights. The bike share runs more than 300 stations and about 4,200 bikes, every ride under 30 minutes is included in a day pass, and swapping bikes at a station resets the clock, which is how you cross a flat city for the price of one pass.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, who is Belgian and writes the site’s Belgium coverage from home ground. The team covers Antwerp for independent travellers, including the museums, walking and cycling tours, markets and hotels worth booking, and rechecks the attractions and their opening arrangements on this page before each update.