Antwerp, daughter of the River Scheldt and second largest city of Belgium.. The 500.000 inhabitants call it the 'Metropolis' (Antwerpians are known in Belgium for not being too modest). This city has so many different facets that it takes a while before one gets to know it thoroughly.

Antwerp is the diamond center of the World. If diamonds really are a girl's best friend, than a lot of ladies will not leave out a visit to the diamond district around the Railway Station. This area is also the Jewish part of the city. The presence of many 'Chassidic' Jewish people gives the city a flair that cannot be found in other Belgian cities.

It is the second largest harbor of Europe (after Rotterdam). Moreover, Antwerp is a splendid city with numerous architectural highlights, most of which date from the 16th (the golden era of Antwerp) and the 17th century. The destructions of the Second World War, unfortunately, has scarred somehow the fair face of the old town. Still there are enough monuments left for those who like monument-hopping to spend a few days admiring them. The past is also represented by the numerous paintings of Peter Paul Rubens who lived in the Antwerp of the early 17th century.

Antwerp, however, does not only live from the past. Nowadays, Antwerp has earned a place among the fashion cities of the world thanks to the efforts of numerous young Flemish fashion designers ( e.g.: Walter Van Beirendonck, Nadine Wynants, Ann De Meulemeester, Dirk Bikkembergs, Kaat Tilley and others). Visit the fashion area of Antwerp near the Meir shopping street.

Handschoenmarkt
Tel: 32 3213 9951
www.dekathedraal.be

Antwerp's Cathedral of Our Lady is one of the most impressive Gothic churches in all of the Low Countries—and it is the largest. With construction spanning the years 1352 to 1521, a 403-and-a-half-foot spire liberally iced with Gothic frills, and a forestlike interior of seven aisles, the cathedral is a sight to behold. Sadly, religious turmoil over the years has stripped the interior of its original elements, and today it is larded with late (and uninteresting) baroque embellishments. However, there are four altarpieces by—wait for it—Rubens.

Tourism Antwerp
15 Grote Markt
Tel: 32 3232 0103
www.antwerpen.be

For a real insider's view, Tourism Antwerp offers terrific two-hour walking excursions of historic Antwerp on Saturday and Sunday (starting at 11 a.m.). If you prefer to do it at your own pace, buy one of their maps for self-guided neighbourhood walks geared to specific interests such as architecture, antiques, fashion, diamond district, or maritime history.

Leopold de Waelplaats
Antwerp
Tel: 32 3238 7809
museum.antwerpen.be/kmska/

Discover exactly what art historians mean by "Flemish Old Masters" at the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts. This is the native city of Rubens, and the collection not only contains the largest number of works under one roof by that master of voluptuous goddesses, but the museum's very entrance halls were frescoed by the man himself (or at least by his army of assistants). Other famed Low Country names abound too: Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Frans Hals, and Brueghel. The works on display span five centuries, all the way up to the 20th, but the Renaissance masters are why you visit.

Closed on mondays.

9–11 Wapper
Tel: 32 3201 1555
museum.antwerpen.be/rubenshuis

Peter Paul Rubens liked his women fleshy and his home palatial, so when he bought this building in 1610, he set out to turn it into a Renaissance palazzo that befitted a painter who would one day occupy the top echelons of Old Masters. Out of the Rubens family hands for nearly 300 years following the painter's death, the house was finally acquired by the city in 1937, and it set about restoring the place with as much bona fide Rubens memorabilia as possible, filling in the gaps with period pieces. The ten Rubens paintings on display include a self-portrait, as well as a portrait of another young lad who showed some skill with a paintbrush: Anthony van Dyck.

For more information on tourist attractions, restaurants, nightlife and other things to do in Antwerp please find below a selection of useful websites:

 

 

Antwerp is pleasant all year round, but best in spring, summer, and autumn, when the weather is warm and the city at its most beautiful.

Antwerp's airport is at Deurne, in the southwestern outskirts of the city, and has international flights to major cities throughout Europe, the U.K., and the United States (Luchthavenlei; 32-3285-6500; www.antwerpairport.be).