Two days is the right length for Antwerp, because the historic centre is small and everything except Middelheim and Zurenborg sits inside a twenty-minute walk. Day one takes the medieval core: the Grote Markt and the Brabo fountain, the cathedral with its four Rubens altarpieces, the UNESCO-listed Plantin-Moretus printing house, Het Steen on the quay, and then the 1933 wooden escalators of the Sint-Annatunnel for the skyline view from the far bank. Day two runs north to the MAS, whose escalator boulevard and rooftop panorama are free, then south to the KMSKA for Ensor, Rubens and Van Eyck, ending at Antwerpen-Centraal, a station built like a cathedral. Two things shape the planning. Almost every museum here closes on Mondays, so a Monday should be built around the free outdoor sights, the station and the tunnel. And the Rubenshuis has been shut for renovation since early 2024, so check its status rather than assuming you can walk in. Base yourself in the historic centre. What you give up at this pace is Middelheim and the art nouveau streets of Zurenborg.
Duration
2 days
Base
Historic Centre
Mid budget
260 EUR
Best months
Apr · May · Jun
Picks sorted with our recommended base, Historic Centre, first. Book early: the good-value rooms go weeks ahead.
Couples€€Quiet townhouse boutique · Historic Centre
Two linked 16th-century houses on Korte Nieuwstraat with a courtyard, an honesty bar and a rooftop terrace that looks straight at the cathedral tower. There is no sign on the door beyond the house number, which tells you how much the owners care about keeping the place quiet.
from ~195 EUR/night
Check prices
Budget€Official Flemish youth hostel · Historic Centre
A purpose-built hostel on Bogaardeplein in the Sint-Andries quarter, two streets from the Plantin-Moretus printing museum and the fashion shops of Nationalestraat. Breakfast is included in the dorm rate, which is rare at this price in Belgium, and there is a bike shed for arrivals on two wheels.
from ~32 EUR/night
Check prices
Couples€€€Monastery turned five-star · Het Zuid
A walled complex of former convent and hospital buildings on Leopoldstraat, converted in 2022 into the city's only five-star hotel with its own herb garden and four restaurants. The botanical garden next door is public and free, and the cathedral is a twelve-minute walk north.
from ~320 EUR/night
Check prices
First visit€€Big reliable station hotel · Diamond Quarter and Centraal
Long known as the Radisson Blu Astrid, it stands on Koningin Astridplein facing the domed front of Antwerpen-Centraal, so you can be off a Brussels or Amsterdam train and in your room in five minutes. The indoor pool, sauna and gym come with the room and look out over the station roof, with the pool open 7am to 10pm.
from ~130 EUR/night
Check pricesReal hotel photos · prices are indicative from-rates, not live quotes · booking links support the site at no extra cost
Day 1
Morning
Start on the Grote Markt before the terraces fill, reading the stepped gables of the guild houses and the 1565 city hall, with Jef Lambeaux's 1887 Brabo fountain throwing the giant's hand toward the river in the middle. Both the square and the fountain are free at any hour, and the unmarked gate at Oude Koornmarkt 16 opens into the Vlaeykensgang alley two minutes away.
TipJef Lambeaux sculpted the fountain in the middle of the square in 1887, showing the Roman soldier Silvius Brabo hurling the severed hand of the giant Antigoon into the Scheldt, the legend behind the popular reading of the city name as hand werpen, to throw a hand. The square and the fountain are free at any hour, the Renaissance city hall behind them was finished in 1565 and reopened in 2021 after a full restoration with guided visits bookable through the tourist office, and the terraces facing the square charge for the view, so eat one street back. Two minutes away, an unmarked gate at Oude Koornmarkt 16 opens into the Vlaeykensgang, a sixteenth-century alley that is free to walk.
Walk one minute to the Cathedral of Our Lady on your pre-booked ticket, for the four Rubens altarpieces including The Descent from the Cross, painted for the arquebusiers' guild between 1612 and 1614. Visiting hours are tighter than you expect, with Saturdays closing early and Sunday access limited to the afternoon, so check before you plan around it.
TipThe single finished tower reaches 123 metres, the tallest church spire in the Low Countries, and the nave holds four Rubens altarpieces, among them The Descent from the Cross, painted between 1612 and 1614 for the arquebusiers' guild altar, and The Raising of the Cross, made for another Antwerp church and moved here later. Entry runs around 12 EUR and the visiting hours are shorter than most people expect: weekday mornings from 10am, Saturdays only until mid-afternoon and Sundays from the early afternoon, because services come first. Buy online to walk straight past the ticket desk on Handschoenmarkt.
Afternoon
Lunch a street back from the square, then give two hours to the Plantin-Moretus house on Vrijdagmarkt, the printing works UNESCO listed in 2005 and home to the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world. It is closed on Mondays, so shift it if your trip lands badly.
TipThe Plantin-Moretus house, printing works and bookshop went onto the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2005, the first museum inscribed as a site in its own right, and the press room holds the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world. It closes on Mondays, entry is around 12 EUR, and the Antwerp City Card pays for itself if you plan three museums or more. Allow two hours and do not walk past the library and the courtyard garden on your way to the presses, because they are the quietest rooms in the building.
Cut through to the quay for Het Steen, the stone river gate from around 1200 and the oldest building in the city, with Semini carved above the entrance. The visitor centre inside is free, the storytelling experience is ticketed, and the rooftop deck over the Scheldt costs nothing in daylight.
TipThe stone gate on the quay dates from around 1200 and is the oldest surviving building in Antwerp, with the carved figure of Semini above the entrance. Since 2021 it has housed the city visitor centre, which is free to walk into and useful for maps and tickets, while the storytelling experience inside is ticketed and the rooftop deck over the Scheldt is free in daylight hours. Come in the last hour of light, when the river and the left-bank skyline face you at their best.
Evening
Walk south along the quay to Sint-Jansvliet and take the wooden escalators down into the Sint-Annatunnel, open since 1933 and free around the clock, then cross the 572 metres to the left bank. Come up for the skyline view back at the city, which is the shot you cannot get from the Antwerp side, and walk back through rather than waiting for a bus.
TipThe pedestrian tunnel under the Scheldt opened in 1933, runs 572 metres at about 31 metres below the river and is free and open around the clock, with the original wooden-step escalators still carrying people down at each end. Enter at Sint-Jansvliet, walk across in roughly ten minutes and come up on the left bank for the classic view back at the Antwerp skyline, the one postcard shot you cannot take from the city side. Lifts run alongside the escalators when those are out of service.
Dinner in the lanes between Groenplaats and the Grote Markt, one street off the square where the prices halve: a Flemish stew, or frites from a walk-up frituur with mayonnaise. Finish with a bolleke, the local De Koninck amber ale, or a small glass of Elixir d'Anvers, the herbal liqueur distilled in the city since 1863.
Day 2
Morning
Walk 20 minutes north into Het Eilandje to the MAS and ride the escalator boulevard that spirals up the outside of the tower, which is free, as is the panorama terrace at the top. Stop on each landing, because they face different directions across the port, the Scheldt and the old town.
TipThe escalator boulevard that spirals up the outside of the red sandstone tower is free, and so is the panorama terrace at the top, which gives the best view of the port, the Scheldt and the old town without paying for a single gallery. The roof stays open into the evening, later in summer than in winter, so it doubles as a sunset stop, while the ticketed museum floors close on Mondays. Each landing on the way up faces a different direction, so ride it slowly rather than looking only from the top.
Stay in the Eilandje for coffee on the quays around Bonapartedok and Willemdok, the nineteenth-century docks that sat derelict for decades before the area was rebuilt. If you have an hour spare, the Red Star Line Museum in the old shipping sheds tells the story of the two million people who sailed from here to North America.
Afternoon
Tram south to Het Zuid for the KMSKA on Leopold de Waelplaats, reopened in September 2022 after eleven years shut, holding the largest James Ensor collection anywhere plus Rubens, Van Dyck and Jean Fouquet. Book a timed slot, budget around 20 EUR and allow three hours, and note the Monday closure.
TipThe KMSKA reopened in September 2022 after eleven years closed, with a bright white new museum built inside the old shell, and it holds the largest James Ensor collection anywhere alongside Rubens, Van Dyck, Memling and Jean Fouquet. Book a timed slot online, budget around 20 EUR and allow three hours, because the modern wing is easy to underestimate. It closes on Mondays and stands on Leopold de Waelplaats in Het Zuid, about 10 minutes by tram from the centre.
Head back toward the Meir and stop at the Museum Mayer van den Bergh on Lange Gasthuisstraat for Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Dulle Griet, restored in 2018 and dated 1563. The house is small and quiet, so an hour is enough.
TipThe reason to come is one painting: Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Dulle Griet, bought by Fritz Mayer van den Bergh in 1894 for almost nothing when nobody knew what it was, and restored in 2018, when cleaning brought back its colour and confirmed the date 1563. The house museum is small and rarely busy, an hour covers it, and it closes on Mondays like most collections here. It stands on Lange Gasthuisstraat, five minutes off the Meir, so it slots in without a detour.
Evening
The Rubenshuis on the Wapper is a two-minute detour off the Meir, but it has been closed for a long renovation since early 2024 with the reopening pushed back more than once, so check the site before you build an afternoon around it. If it is still shut, you have already seen the best Rubens in the city in the cathedral and the KMSKA.
TipRubens bought this house on the Wapper in 1610 and rebuilt it as an Italianate home and studio, working there until his death in 1640. It closed to visitors in early 2024 for a long renovation that includes a new entrance building on the Wapper, and the reopening date has moved more than once, so check the museum's own site for the current status instead of turning up and hoping. While it is shut, the Rubens you can reliably see in Antwerp are the four altarpieces in the cathedral, the Rubens rooms at the KMSKA and his burial chapel in Sint-Jacobskerk on Lange Nieuwstraat.
Keep walking east down the Meir to Antwerpen-Centraal, built between 1895 and 1905 and rebuilt in 2007 with four levels of platforms stacked under the 75-metre dome. It is free and open whenever trains run, so go up to the top level and look down through the openings.
TipLouis Delacenserie's terminus was built between 1895 and 1905, and the stone hall under its 75-metre dome is why the building is nicknamed the railway cathedral. A rebuild finished in 2007 threaded through tracks underneath, so four levels of platforms are now stacked inside; go to the top level and look down through the openings for the shot that actually works. It is free, open whenever trains run, and a flat 15-minute walk down the Meir from the cathedral.
Eat near the station or walk back into the centre, and if it is Friday or Saturday take a last drink on Vlaamse Kaai or Waalse Kaai in Het Zuid, where the bars run later than anywhere in the old town. For an early train tomorrow, remember the Brussels Airport service leaves from under the station and takes about 40 minutes.
For 2 days, base yourself in Historic Centre. The old core runs from the Grote Markt and its stepped-gable guild houses down past the cathedral and Groenplaats to the Scheldt quays, a few hundred metres of cobbles holding most of what people come for. Staying here puts the Rubens altarpieces, the Plantin-Moretus house and Het Steen within a five-minute walk, and the square softens once the day visitors head back to the station. It is the obvious base for a first, short trip. Compare all neighborhoods in the full where-to-stay guide.
Got longer?
Antwerp in 3 days →
Two days is the right length for Antwerp, because the historic centre is small and everything except Middelheim and Zurenborg sits inside a twenty-minute walk. Day one takes the medieval core: the Grote Markt and the Brabo fountain, the cathedral with its four Rubens altarpieces, the UNESCO-listed Plantin-Moretus printing house, Het Steen on the quay, and then the 1933 wooden escalators of the Sint-Annatunnel for the skyline view from the far bank. Day two runs north to the MAS, whose escalator boulevard and rooftop panorama are free, then south to the KMSKA for Ensor, Rubens and Van Eyck, ending at Antwerpen-Centraal, a station built like a cathedral.
Base yourself in Historic Centre for this itinerary. The old core runs from the Grote Markt and its stepped-gable guild houses down past the cathedral and Groenplaats to the Scheldt quays, a few hundred metres of cobbles holding most of what people come for. Staying here puts the Rubens altarpieces, the Plantin-Moretus house and Het Steen within a five-minute walk, and the square softens once the day visitors head back to the station. It is the obvious base for a first, short trip.
The plan works year round, but April, May, June give you the best weather-to-crowds ratio.