Antwerp

Belgium's second city and port. Antwerpen-Centraal station is one of the grandest in Europe, and beside it the diamond district, where most of the world's rough diamonds are traded and Indian families, many of them Gujarati Jains, have been among the leading traders for decades. Most of them live in Wilrijk, in the south of the city, round the Shankheshwar Parshvanath Jain Temple, consecrated in 2010 and one of the largest Jain temples outside India; Gujarati vegetarian food is easier to find here than anywhere else in Belgium (estimate). In the old town: the Cathedral of Our Lady with four Rubens altarpieces, the Grote Markt and the Brabo fountain, the Plantin-Moretus printing museum (UNESCO), and the MAS museum, whose rooftop view is free. 45 minutes by train from Brussels, about 35 from Brussels Airport.

Highlights

• Antwerpen-Centraal station hall
• The diamond district
• Rubens altarpieces in the Cathedral of Our Lady
• Grote Markt guildhalls
• Plantin-Moretus printing museum
• Free MAS rooftop panorama
• Jain temple at Wilrijk
• Gujarati vegetarian food

Things to do

• Cathedral of Our Lady, the Grote Markt and Het SteenMorning · 2h 30m
• Central station and the diamond districtAfternoon · 2h
• Plantin-Moretus MuseumAfternoon · 2h
• MAS museum and its rooftop at sunsetEvening · 1h 30m
• Shankheshwar Parshvanath Jain Temple at WilrijkMorning · 2h
• KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts: Rubens to EnsorMorning · 2h 30m
• Red Star Line Museum, the emigrants' port to AmericaAfternoon · 2h
• Zurenborg's Art Nouveau houses on the Cogels-OsyleiAfternoon · 1h 30m
• Sint-Anna pedestrian tunnel under the Scheldt and the skyline from the left bankAfternoon · 1h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: April – June, September – October

• Tomorrowland (Boom) — One of the world's biggest dance-music festivals, over two weekends in the second half of July at Boom, between Antwerp and Brussels. Hotels in Antwerp, Mechelen and Brussels fill and fares rise those weekends.