How to Spend a Day in Antwerp's Historic Centre, Antwerp, Belgium

I really enjoyed my day walking around Antwerp’s historic centre. There’s so much to see that I could have spent far more than a day here. However, if you have only a day, here’s my short tour of the beautiful historic centre, with 10 stop-off points. The walk is around 5 km in length so you can do it in a couple of hours. However, if you spend time in the places I visited, you will need to set aside a full day.

The Grote Markt (main market square) is our starting point. If you arrive in Antwerp by train, you can walk from the Antwerp Central Station to the Grote Markt in about 20-25 minutes.

Alternatively, you could take the metro from Diamant to Groenplaats which involves an 11-minute ride and then a 5-minute walk.

The Grote Markt dates back to the 13th century. But its prime was in the 15th and 16th centuries, when Antwerp was the most important city in the Low Countries. You can imagine it as a bustling centre of commerce with Flemish merchants doing business with traders from all over Europe. It’s surrounded by richly decorated Guild houses and the Stadhuis (town hall), which was completed in 1564. The Grote Markt is particularly attractive in December each year, with its winter market and ice-rink. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).