The train station in Antwerp city, Belgium 1393370540

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Antwerp

Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers in Dutch/French) is Belgium’s second city, biggest port and capital of cool. It has long been a powerful magnet for everyone from fashion moguls and club queens to art lovers and diamond dealers. In the mid-16th century it was one of Europe’s most important cities and home to baroque superstar painter Pieter Paul Rubens – as many a museum will regularly remind you. Despite many historical travails thereafter, and severe WWII bombing, Antwerp retains an intriguing medieval heart with plenty of café-filled cobbled lanes, a riverside fortress and a truly impressive cathedral. Today, however, Antwerp’s top drawcards are its vibrant fashion and entertainment scene, along with its startling architectural and cultural contrasts.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Museum Plantin-Moretus

    Museum Plantin-Moretus

    Antwerp

    The medieval building and 1622 courtyard garden alone would be worth a visit, but it's the world's oldest printing press, priceless manuscripts and…

  • Belgium, Antwerp, garden in Peter Paul Ruben's house

    Rubenshuis

    Antwerp

    This delightfully indulgent 1611 mansion was built as a home and studio for celebrated painter Pieter Paul Rubens. It was rescued from ruins in 1937 and…

  • Interiors of Notre dame d'Anvers cathedral, Anvers, Belgium

    Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal

    Antwerp

    Belgium’s finest Gothic cathedral was 169 years in the making (1352–1521). Wherever you wander in Antwerp, its gracious, 123m-high spire has a habit of…

  • Museum Mayer van den Bergh

    Museum Mayer van den Bergh

    Antwerp

    Styled as a 16th-century town house, this superb place was actually constructed in 1904 as one of the first museums in the world built around a single…

  • Snijder-Rockoxhuis

    Snijder-Rockoxhuis

    Antwerp

    Combining the impressive 17th-century houses of artist Frans Snijders and of Antwerp lawyer, mayor and Rubens-patron Nicolaas Rockox, this recently…

  • Brabo fountain and medieval houses in the Grote Martk in Antwerp. (Photo by: Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images)

    Grote Markt

    Antwerp

    As is the case with every great Flemish city, Antwerp’s medieval heart is a classic Grote Markt (market square). Here the triangular, pedestrianised space…

  • KMSKA

    KMSKA

    Antwerp

    In a monumental neoclassical building topped with winged charioteer statues, KMSKA holds a world-class collection of artistic masterpieces. However, the…

  • 500px Photo ID: 83525221 - The MAS ( museum ) in Antwerp, Belgium. It has an observation deck on the 10th floor witch you can visit every day for free until midnight in the summer and 10 in the winter. It gives you a great view over Antwerp city and its harbour.

    MAS

    Antwerp

    Opened in 2011, MAS is a 10-storey complex that redefines the idea of a museum-gallery. Floors are designed around big-idea themes using a barrage of…

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Articles

Latest stories from Antwerp

Festivals & Events

Antwerp's winter festival features a new fairytale forest

Dec 13, 2019 • 1 min read

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