Antwerp
Things To Do
Visitors to Antwerp are spoilt for choice when it comes to museums and art galleries, all within easy walking distance of each other. In fact, Antwerp is a pleasant city for exploring on foot. You’ll discover lots of majestic residences, ancient churches and many other buildings of architectural interest as you wander around the labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets in the historic centre.
Although steeped in history, Antwerp is also a very modern city and as one of the most celebrated fashion centres of the world, it has a young and vibrant atmosphere. There are plenty of avant-garde boutiques, restaurants and bars. At the heart of Antwerp’s design scene is the MoMu (ModeMuseum), home to extensive collections of modern and historic clothing as well as various fashion institutes and academies.
The rich and varied artistic heritage of Flanders from past to present is magnificently displayed in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, or Royal Museum of Fine Art. It contains sections on 15th century Flemish paintings right up to modern Flemish surrealism and contemporary art and it’s easy to spend a whole day strolling around exploring all the different collections.
Famous for its diamond industry, there are countless diamond workshops and jewellery stores, the biggest of which is called Diamondland. Here you can watch demonstrations of the precious stones being cut and polished into fine jewels. To find out more about the history of the industry and how diamonds are produced, visit the Provinciaal Diamantmuseum near the Zoo.
Although steeped in history, Antwerp is also a very modern city and as one of the most celebrated fashion centres of the world, it has a young and vibrant atmosphere. There are plenty of avant-garde boutiques, restaurants and bars. At the heart of Antwerp’s design scene is the MoMu (ModeMuseum), home to extensive collections of modern and historic clothing as well as various fashion institutes and academies.
The rich and varied artistic heritage of Flanders from past to present is magnificently displayed in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, or Royal Museum of Fine Art. It contains sections on 15th century Flemish paintings right up to modern Flemish surrealism and contemporary art and it’s easy to spend a whole day strolling around exploring all the different collections.
Famous for its diamond industry, there are countless diamond workshops and jewellery stores, the biggest of which is called Diamondland. Here you can watch demonstrations of the precious stones being cut and polished into fine jewels. To find out more about the history of the industry and how diamonds are produced, visit the Provinciaal Diamantmuseum near the Zoo.