Antwerp
For budget tips & compact place-specific travel info... Download my FREE Budget Fact Sheets. You're welcome.
Download Steph's ANTWERP Quick Budget Fact Sheet | |
File Size: | 324 kb |
File Type: |
It doesn’t matter how much of a traveller you are, as a general rule of thumb people don’t visit the touristic treasures of their hometown. Antwerp, situated at about a 30-minute drive from my family house, is exactly far enough to not be considered mine (it’s not even in my country), whereas at the same time it’s so ridiculously close I lost count of the times I visited this truly alluring destination, without going blind for its eye-soothing sights and landmarks. Bored on a Saturday? Let’s go to Antwerp! Need new clothes? Antwerp! Up for a movie? Better watch it in Antwerp! (Benelux’s biggest cinema) Seeing your favourite band live? They’re playing in Antwerp! Simply craving for the world’s best beer, fries, or chocolate (life’s top-3 so to say)? Might as well quickly drive up and down to Antwerp!
In short, I know the place, appreciative with the curious eyes of a tourist, but simultaneously too familiar to leave patches unexplored… So take my hand and let me guide you: The best of Antwerp on a rock-bottom budget!
In short, I know the place, appreciative with the curious eyes of a tourist, but simultaneously too familiar to leave patches unexplored… So take my hand and let me guide you: The best of Antwerp on a rock-bottom budget!
Antwerp Shortlist: Daytrip on a Budget
I get it: Your travel time is limited and your Europe bucket list almost unrealistically long, forcing you to pump through the highlights on top speed. Of course you know a day isn’t enough to get a full grasp of any city, but no one can blame you for lack of trying. The good news is, a 1-day-stay will force you to make some choices, allowing you to save some serious money when focusing on free/cheap alternatives.
Sightseeing Stroll – The Essentials (free)
The first thing you want to concentrate on is getting an overall grasp of the city. How does history seep through architecture, how do public artworks reflect local culture and which vibe vibrates between the city walls? One of the most interesting highlights you’re likely to witness the second you set foot into town: Antwerp Central Station, a sublime piece of craftmanship considered Belgium’s finest, demanding your immediate love for the city. Continue over the Keyserlei towards the Meir, Antwerp’s commercial lifeline, while keeping an eye out for the Royal Residence (#50) and the rococo-style Osterrieth House (#85). When the Meir splits in the end, follow the Schoenmarkt on the left side towards the Groenplaats, where you can find a statue of local giants Peter Paul Rubens and Pieter Appelmans. The first, needless to say, the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque visual arts, mainly known for his more-than-voluptuous females depicting mythical allegories; The second one of the main architects of the Cathedral of Our Lady, which you will see in a few minutes.
I get it: Your travel time is limited and your Europe bucket list almost unrealistically long, forcing you to pump through the highlights on top speed. Of course you know a day isn’t enough to get a full grasp of any city, but no one can blame you for lack of trying. The good news is, a 1-day-stay will force you to make some choices, allowing you to save some serious money when focusing on free/cheap alternatives.
Sightseeing Stroll – The Essentials (free)
The first thing you want to concentrate on is getting an overall grasp of the city. How does history seep through architecture, how do public artworks reflect local culture and which vibe vibrates between the city walls? One of the most interesting highlights you’re likely to witness the second you set foot into town: Antwerp Central Station, a sublime piece of craftmanship considered Belgium’s finest, demanding your immediate love for the city. Continue over the Keyserlei towards the Meir, Antwerp’s commercial lifeline, while keeping an eye out for the Royal Residence (#50) and the rococo-style Osterrieth House (#85). When the Meir splits in the end, follow the Schoenmarkt on the left side towards the Groenplaats, where you can find a statue of local giants Peter Paul Rubens and Pieter Appelmans. The first, needless to say, the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque visual arts, mainly known for his more-than-voluptuous females depicting mythical allegories; The second one of the main architects of the Cathedral of Our Lady, which you will see in a few minutes.
Leave the Groenplaats via Reynderstraat and take a left into the Hoogstraat to check out De Zwarte Panter, located in the chapel of Sint-Julianusgasthuis (dating back to 1303), currently functioning as a cultural meeting space hosting free art exhibitions, book readings, concerts, and movie nights. Walk the same direction back into the Hoogstraat, bending right to reach Antwerp’s impressive Cathedral. Admire the gothic architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage from the outside, or visit for free during mass (as outside worship-hours Jesus’ love comes at a price). In the cathedral square you will immediately notice the Nello & Patrasche Statue, depicting the final dying scene of the Belgian-born children’s book characters who became extremely popular in Japan, Korea and The Philippines. Asian-Alert!
From here you’re only a stone’s throw away from the famous Grote Markt, Antwerp’s beating heart. Admire the extravagant 16th century City Hall and the colourful houses creeping together like stylish bonbon-boxes. Make sure to get your photo taken next to the peculiar-looking Brabo Fountain, paying tribute to the mythical Roman figure Sylvius Brabo. According to local legend, a giant called Druon Antigoon lived in a fortress along the Scheldt river, forcing passing boats and travellers to pay toll… chopping their hands off and tossing it into the water if they dared to refuse. Not the brave soldier Silvius of course, who challenged the giant to a duel, during which he not only chopped off Druon’s hands, but also his head, which he – as the fountain is displaying – subsequently tossed into the river. Some even argue that the city’s name refers to this exact tale, “Hand Werpen” being the Dutch expression for “throwing hands”. Besides that, it’s symbolizes the freeing of the Scheldt River, for which the Dutch northern neighbours have been charging toll until 1863 (without dismembering this time), severely hampering the growth of Antwerp.
From here you’re only a stone’s throw away from the famous Grote Markt, Antwerp’s beating heart. Admire the extravagant 16th century City Hall and the colourful houses creeping together like stylish bonbon-boxes. Make sure to get your photo taken next to the peculiar-looking Brabo Fountain, paying tribute to the mythical Roman figure Sylvius Brabo. According to local legend, a giant called Druon Antigoon lived in a fortress along the Scheldt river, forcing passing boats and travellers to pay toll… chopping their hands off and tossing it into the water if they dared to refuse. Not the brave soldier Silvius of course, who challenged the giant to a duel, during which he not only chopped off Druon’s hands, but also his head, which he – as the fountain is displaying – subsequently tossed into the river. Some even argue that the city’s name refers to this exact tale, “Hand Werpen” being the Dutch expression for “throwing hands”. Besides that, it’s symbolizes the freeing of the Scheldt River, for which the Dutch northern neighbours have been charging toll until 1863 (without dismembering this time), severely hampering the growth of Antwerp.
Leave the Grote Markt westwards to in fact check out the Harbour and Scheldt River, passing by Het Steen Castle. Loop back via the Sint Paul's Church (which is in fact entirely free to visit) back to where you started: Antwerp Central Station.
Visit a Museum (free)
To spice up your city walk a tad, you might want to opt adding some museums to the mix. An overview:
To save money you can simply head to the Middelheimmuseum (open air sculptures), which is always free of charge.
* Museums used to be free the last Wednesday of the month, but this is unfortunately not the case anymore. Most museums charge a 12 euros entry free anno 2022.
Visit a Museum (free)
To spice up your city walk a tad, you might want to opt adding some museums to the mix. An overview:
- Museum aan de Stroom: About history, art, culture, the shipping industry and the relationship between Antwerp and the world in those matters.
- Rubenshuis: Works of the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, housed in his former residence.
- Museum Mayer van den Bergh: The art and sculptures collection of a rich man.
- Museum Platin Moretus: Historical printing museum.
- Rockoxhuis: Paintings, sculptures, textiles, and engravings in a baroque mansion.
- Letterenhuis: Literature archives.
- Ruien: Underground sewage system to be explored with organized walks.
To save money you can simply head to the Middelheimmuseum (open air sculptures), which is always free of charge.
* Museums used to be free the last Wednesday of the month, but this is unfortunately not the case anymore. Most museums charge a 12 euros entry free anno 2022.
Sample Belgian Cuisine
You didn’t just come all the way to Belgium to not sample the delicacies they’re famous for. As you’re here one day and one day only, let me dictate your diet to you:
Disclaimer: You might add some pounds during your stay.
You didn’t just come all the way to Belgium to not sample the delicacies they’re famous for. As you’re here one day and one day only, let me dictate your diet to you:
- Breakfast: Bread with ‘filet américain’, also known as ‘martino’. The Belgians considered it a splendid idea to grab a cow and a horse, kill them both, grind their meat together and eat it raw. It hurts to admit as a current vegan, but however cruel: this dish fucking rocks and I spent nights and nights in the kitchen attempting to brew a plant-based version of it, failing miserably. On the side: Coffee with speculoos, god’s gift to humanity.
- Lunch: Belgian fries. Which are thick, greasy and crunchy here, having very little to do with anything you might find in McDonalds or elsewhere. You’ll eat it with mayonnaise, ‘appelmoes’ (apple sauce) or go all the way slamming some ‘stoofvlees’ on top (stew-meat). You can enrich the feast with some ‘frituur’, deep-fried snacks such as ‘bitterballen’ or ‘frikadellen’ (also rather famous in The Netherlands).
- Snack: In case you doubt if you ate enough calories already, definitely try ‘bonbons’: the mouth-watering Belgian chocolate. And it’s probably an excellent time to start sampling those world-famous Belgian beers. There are about 1600 different ones, so hurry up already.
- Dinner: Kick off with a ‘charcuterie’ (a plate stuffed with preserved meats) to pump up that cholesterol, followed up with ‘Mosselen met Friet’ (mussels with fries). Flush it all away with a beer or 5, and finish with a sugar waffle.
Disclaimer: You might add some pounds during your stay.
Antwerp 2.0: Weekend Visit
Sightseeing Stroll – Going Beyond (free)
So you reached the next level. You’re up a badge. You beat all those day-trippers to it and you’re actually staying in Antwerp for the entire weekend. Good on you. It’s time to dig deeper… so today you’re not going to walk, you actually grabbing a bike for further exploration. The shared bicycle system ‘Velo’ gives you every half hour free (so make sure you stall it in time in the next station), or covers extremely low rates with a max of only €4 a day.
Let’s say you start at Antwerp Central Station again: Grab your bike and head to Zurenborg, a unique area built in Art Nouveau style. Peddle on towards the Rivierenhof, with 32ha Antwerp’s biggest park with the river ‘de Grote Schijn’ cutting straight through it. After a tour around continue southwards towards the Boekenbergpark, a park housing the Natural History Museum as well as a public swimming pond (dive right in!). If you’re not park’ed out yet you can continue to the Middelheimpark, where you can visit the free-to-enter open air sculpture museum amidst the greenery. Return downtown towards the corner of the Schilderstraat and Plaatssnijderstraat, you can find a truly special façade… one with half a boat sticking out. Move along towards the Antwerp harbour and go down the Sint Anna Tunnel, slithering right under the Scheldt River. On the other side, directly on the right, you will find the Boeienweide, a maritime open air museum which is free to enter. Follow the river side towards Sint Anna Beach, a place where you’ll hardly find any tourists (watch out: swimming not allowed). Return to the historical city center by crossing the river by taking the little ferry, which is entirely free of charge.
Sightseeing Stroll – Going Beyond (free)
So you reached the next level. You’re up a badge. You beat all those day-trippers to it and you’re actually staying in Antwerp for the entire weekend. Good on you. It’s time to dig deeper… so today you’re not going to walk, you actually grabbing a bike for further exploration. The shared bicycle system ‘Velo’ gives you every half hour free (so make sure you stall it in time in the next station), or covers extremely low rates with a max of only €4 a day.
Let’s say you start at Antwerp Central Station again: Grab your bike and head to Zurenborg, a unique area built in Art Nouveau style. Peddle on towards the Rivierenhof, with 32ha Antwerp’s biggest park with the river ‘de Grote Schijn’ cutting straight through it. After a tour around continue southwards towards the Boekenbergpark, a park housing the Natural History Museum as well as a public swimming pond (dive right in!). If you’re not park’ed out yet you can continue to the Middelheimpark, where you can visit the free-to-enter open air sculpture museum amidst the greenery. Return downtown towards the corner of the Schilderstraat and Plaatssnijderstraat, you can find a truly special façade… one with half a boat sticking out. Move along towards the Antwerp harbour and go down the Sint Anna Tunnel, slithering right under the Scheldt River. On the other side, directly on the right, you will find the Boeienweide, a maritime open air museum which is free to enter. Follow the river side towards Sint Anna Beach, a place where you’ll hardly find any tourists (watch out: swimming not allowed). Return to the historical city center by crossing the river by taking the little ferry, which is entirely free of charge.
Self-guided Street Art Tour
Sure, you can visit some more museums. Either the sometimes-free-of-charge-ones you might have visited on Day 1, or paid ones such as the Foto Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art or Chocolate Nation (check a full overview in the Free Budget Fact Sheet, file above). Or: you can use your time for a self-guided graffiti tour. I’m a big fat enthusiast, so I might get too excited too soon… but I completely fell in love with Antwerp’s public artworks, and I’m pretty solid you will too. There is a fantastic app you can download for free, providing you with a route and interactive map.
Sure, you can visit some more museums. Either the sometimes-free-of-charge-ones you might have visited on Day 1, or paid ones such as the Foto Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art or Chocolate Nation (check a full overview in the Free Budget Fact Sheet, file above). Or: you can use your time for a self-guided graffiti tour. I’m a big fat enthusiast, so I might get too excited too soon… but I completely fell in love with Antwerp’s public artworks, and I’m pretty solid you will too. There is a fantastic app you can download for free, providing you with a route and interactive map.
Eat cheap
Extremely low budget food alternative: The reduce-wasting app Too Good To Go is immensely popular here. For around 4-6 bucks you can either ‘save’ a restaurant meal, or claim a bag full of not-yet-expired food which would be thrown away otherwise. For one day it might be a bit inconvenient to plan your day around the specific collection times, or walk around with a shopper bag stuffed with food… but to eat an entire weekend for that amount of money is an offer too hard to refuse! (especially if your accommodation has cooking facilities)
Done with Antwerp? Good, what about the rest of Flanders?! Make it a full-on Belgium trip with this itinerary!
Extremely low budget food alternative: The reduce-wasting app Too Good To Go is immensely popular here. For around 4-6 bucks you can either ‘save’ a restaurant meal, or claim a bag full of not-yet-expired food which would be thrown away otherwise. For one day it might be a bit inconvenient to plan your day around the specific collection times, or walk around with a shopper bag stuffed with food… but to eat an entire weekend for that amount of money is an offer too hard to refuse! (especially if your accommodation has cooking facilities)
Done with Antwerp? Good, what about the rest of Flanders?! Make it a full-on Belgium trip with this itinerary!
In order to support the travelers’ community, I spend many hours per week to adequately document all information and advices for prospective visitors, accompanied by a (hopefully) entertaining insight into my personal observations and experiences. This service is and will remain free. However, if you voluntarily want to make a contribution and support my travels and thus the creation of new stories and information supply, here is the button you’re looking for:
Related:
- Discover England: Bath, Brighton, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and London!
- Go Green, Go Scotland: Easdale, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glencoe / The Highlands and Isle of Skye
- Unravel the mysteries of Serbia
- Read about Bosnia & Herzegovina: Mostar, Blagaj, Trebinje, Sarajevo, Jajce, Banja Luka and Sutjeska National Park (incl. Maglic Peak - the country's highest!)
- Visit Europe's mini-countries: Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Kosovo & Wales!
- Europe's best skiing & hiking: Get your ass over to jaw-dropping Switzerland!
- The 3 golden rules to travel Sofia on a budget! & Why you shouldn’t miss out on Plovdiv! [Bulgaria]
- Citytripping in Denmark's capital: Copenhagen
- Where modern meets classic: Vilnius, Lithuania
- 8 ways to save money in Vienna, Austria
- Spanish citytrips: Barcelona, Malaga & Sevilla
- German Gems: Aachen, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Mulheim, Osnabruck, Baden-Baden... and of course Freiburg!
- The world's biggest metal festival: Wacken Open Air
- Graffiti hotspots in South America: Bogota [Colo
- Hiking Poland's longest mountain trail (550km) with a tent: Glowny Szlak Beskidzki - check the reports here!
- Walk like a pilgrim! 6 weeks on the Camino Frances towards Santiago de Compostela / Finisterre (900km) - check the reports here!
- Discover England: Bath, Brighton, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and London!
- Go Green, Go Scotland: Easdale, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glencoe / The Highlands and Isle of Skye
- Unravel the mysteries of Serbia
- Read about Bosnia & Herzegovina: Mostar, Blagaj, Trebinje, Sarajevo, Jajce, Banja Luka and Sutjeska National Park (incl. Maglic Peak - the country's highest!)
- Visit Europe's mini-countries: Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Kosovo & Wales!
- Europe's best skiing & hiking: Get your ass over to jaw-dropping Switzerland!
- The 3 golden rules to travel Sofia on a budget! & Why you shouldn’t miss out on Plovdiv! [Bulgaria]
- Citytripping in Denmark's capital: Copenhagen
- Where modern meets classic: Vilnius, Lithuania
- 8 ways to save money in Vienna, Austria
- Spanish citytrips: Barcelona, Malaga & Sevilla
- German Gems: Aachen, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Mulheim, Osnabruck, Baden-Baden... and of course Freiburg!
- The world's biggest metal festival: Wacken Open Air
- Graffiti hotspots in South America: Bogota [Colo
- Hiking Poland's longest mountain trail (550km) with a tent: Glowny Szlak Beskidzki - check the reports here!
- Walk like a pilgrim! 6 weeks on the Camino Frances towards Santiago de Compostela / Finisterre (900km) - check the reports here!