Many visitors to Belgium head straight for Bruges or Ghent, but Belgium’s second city, known worldwide for its diamond trade, has a great deal to offer. In this video I spend a few days exploring it, to help you decide whether Antwerp is worth seeing on your own trip. This is not an ultimate guide to Antwerp, nor a guide of the ten best places to see in Antwerp. Instead it is a taster, a glimpse into what a 1 or 2 day visit might look like.
I start at KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, which reopened in 2022 after 11 years of renovation, with works by Rubens, Jean Fouquet and Maerten de Vos alongside contemporary pieces. From there it’s the Grote Markt and its guild houses, the River Scheldt, Het Steen, the Cathedral of Our Lady with its four Rubens paintings, and Antwerp Central Station, often called the Railway Cathedral.
I also visit DIVA, the museum for diamonds, jewellery and silver, tour the De Koninck brewery, and finish in Zurenborg, where Cogels-Osylei has some of the finest Art Nouveau and Belle Époque houses in Belgium.
So, should you go to Antwerp? Watch to the end for my verdict.
For more information on my trip to Antwerp see Which is the Best City in Belgium to Vist? And Why is the Answer Antwerp?
For details of the hotel I stay at in Antwerp see Hotel FRANQ Antwerp – An honest review
Everything in this video was paid for myself. No stays, tickets or meals were gifted.
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