36 Hours in Antwerp, Belgium

Rubens (actually born in Germany, but later adopted by Antwerp as its artistic patron saint), died in 1640, but his presence is still felt. The artist’s former urban palazzo, the Rubenshuis (Rubens House), which he purchased when he was at the height of his artistic powers and esteem, once housed an early-17th-century painting atelier where he and his studio assistants produced Baroque paintings seemingly as quickly as Andy Warhol’s Factory cranked out Pop Art screen prints. While it is, unfortunately, closed for renovations until 2027, his backyard gardens are open (admission €8). Stroll the cobblestone paths under trellises to observe some 17,500 plants, surrounded by arched marble porticos decorated with neo-Classical reliefs, statues and busts, to get a sense of the home’s grandeur.

While living in Antwerp from 1609 to 1621, Rubens painted some of his most monumental masterpieces for the city’s churches. Stroll to St. Charles Borromeo Church (admission €5), whose facade and tower Rubens helped design. Its ceiling once featured 39 Rubens paintings, which were destroyed in a 1718 fire caused by a lightning strike. You can still see his touching biblical scene “Return of the Holy Family,” which returned to the church in 2017, after 240 years in other locations. Continue on to the Cathedral of Our Lady (admission €12) to see four of his major altarpieces. One is “The Descent From the Cross,” which the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte looted for his museum in Paris, later called the Louvre. After his defeat, Flemish masterpieces returned home to great fanfare, flanked by horses and soldiers.

The crowds at the Meir, Antwerp’s central pedestrian mall, — surrounded by Rococo mansions and chain stores — can be a bit of a headache, but its architectural gems set it apart. At its center is the monumental Stadsfeestzaal shopping center, with a large glass atrium and sculpted gold molding, built in 1908 as a festival hall (it was restored after being ravaged by fire in 2000). A smaller treasure is the Ganterie Boon, a family-owned shop since 1884 dedicated to handcrafted gloves of lambskin, deerskin and even ostrich leather, housed in built-in green drawers. The luxury fashion brand Essentiel Antwerp, founded in 1999 by Esfan Eghtessadi and Inge Onsea, has three shops, including an outlet store, in the center of town that sell contemporary pieces with patchwork color blocking, neon flower prints and playfully oversize hems and cuffs.

Whether you’re seated inside amid the chandeliers, maroon-leather booths and gilt-framed mirrors, or given a spot on the (heated) terrace on the Graanmarkt square, Café Restaurant Bourla feels both cozy and timeless​​. Among the offerings on its vast menu of European brasserie fare: The hearty bouillabaisse Bourla (€35.50), filled with large mussels, chunks of fish and other shellfish, and accompanied by toast fingers and saffron-tinged rouille, a French sauce, pairs perfectly with a sturdy Belgian beer like the Trappist Chimay Blue (€6.30) or a lighter Duvel ale (€5). Book ahead, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. (Note that kitchens at Antwerp’s better restaurants close surprisingly early, some at 8:45 p.m.)

Grab a coffee or a fresh-squeezed juice at Me & My Monkey, a small cafe decorated with antiques and vinyl records, before a morning excursion to the Left Bank, the area across the Scheldt River from the city center. From the square at St. Jansvliet, enter St. Anna’s Tunnel (free), which still has authentic wooden escalators built in 1933. They deliver you about 100 feet below the river, which bisects the city, to a pedestrian tunnel that offers a meditative walk through a 1,876-foot long stretch of white ceramic tiles. (Bikes are also allowed, and there’s an elevator on each side as well.) From the other side of the river, get a different vantage on the city skyline, including the medieval fortress Het Steen and the Cathedral of Our Lady’s glorious steeple.

There’s shopping for every budget on Antwerp’s charming Kloosterstraat, a street filled with design shops, galleries and vintage clothing stores. Find old globes and secondhand furniture at Blue Fonz; back issues of French and Dutch magazines and newspapers, and porcelain figurines at the knickknack shop Koetshuis Antiek; and contemporary Scandinavian homewares at Espoo. If you’re feeling spendy, check out the jewelry at the teeny design shop Mass Lee Jewellery, or the sun-drenched corner art gallery, De Beukelaer Fine Arts, which sells original paintings by Belgian Modernists such as Philippe Swyncop and Marcel Gillis for between €1,500 and €10,000.

Shellfish, a central feature of Belgian cuisine, is the star at Fiskebar in the Zuid neighborhood, a restaurant known for high-quality seafood platters (at at lunch, priced €41 to €171) heaped high with shrimp, whelks, periwinkles, crab legs and langoustines. It also offers a whole catch-of-the-day, which servers present to guests for approval before cooking. Book ahead: It’s a local favorite. Around the corner, find a lovely hole-in-the-wall bookshop and cafe, Cosimo Boekhandel. This literary haven is also home to an independent book publisher, Cosimo, which produces its own lithe volumes of forgotten classics by authors like Soseki Natsume, Luigi Pirandello and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in Dutch translation.

Reserve a table in the minimalist-modern Album in Zuid, run by the chef Joris Gielen and the host Toon Craen, for five courses of seasonal dishes plated with high-contrast visuals and meticulous precision. Among the options you may see on your dramatically spotlit marble table: tender scallops, submerged in peach-colored foam made with celeriac and vin jaune, a white wine with a slightly nutty flavor, or barbecued chicken with pureed sweet corn, bathed in a dark umber mole sauce. Dessert may be a cardamom-spiced mandarin ice cream topped with whipped cream and bits of Belgian white chocolate (€78 per person, plus €45 with wine pairing).

One of Antwerp’s architectural jewels is its former stock exchange, Handelsbeurs Antwerpen, originally built as a Gothic temple to commerce in 1532. It suffered fire damage in the 19th century, but was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style to hark back to its original grandeur. In 1997, exchange activity relocated to Brussels and the building fell derelict , but it was restored again in 2019 and now serves as a festive event location. On the weekends, visitors can wander through the open space (free) and marvel at the hand-painted 16th-century maps on the walls. (Through Jan. 26, visitors can also book a ticket to “Enlightenment,” a light show set to the music of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” €14.)

Antwerp is home to one of the oldest live-bird markets in Europe, the Vogelenmarkt, which, since the 16th century, has been a prime trading location for birds like carrier pigeons, hens and canaries. All that will come to an end in 2026, when live-animal markets are outlawed. Most of the bird stalls have been shuttered, but you can still glimpse a few. The market, which spans the Theaterplein, the main square of the theater district, and surrounding streets, is a lively spot for trinket and grocery shopping. You can also eat breakfast or brunch from the many food trucks. If you’re a culinary adventurer, you might want to try a truly Antwerp delicacy, karakollen, or whelks, sold at the market stall Karakol d’Anvers, served in steaming cups of broth and eaten with a toothpick (eight for €5).

If you’d prefer a sit-down brunch, Barnini is a spacious, 1970s-style cafe that serves bagel sandwiches (from €6), waffles and indulgent hot chocolate drinks (one is made with speculaas, a gingerbread-flavored spice mix, €4.50). Before you leave Antwerp, stock up on edible souvenirs at the Chocolate Line, a boutique chocolatier in the former kitchen of the 18th-century Palace on the Meir, once home to Napoleon and decorated with gilt mirrors, frescoes and chandeliers. The shop was founded by Dominique Persoone, who pioneered unusual ingredients in chocolate like wasabi, smoked eel and bacon, and now runs the business with his wife and his son. Find chocolate lipstick and other novelty edibles alongside more approachable pralines and truffles (boxes from €19).