6 Days Using Antwerp as Your Belgium Base
Six days is where the day trips finally get a beach on them. One day in Antwerp, five days radiating out across Belgium, ending with the North Sea instead of another old town or cathedral. Want the full week? The 7-day version adds a genuine border crossing to Lille.
Book these before you go
- A Ghent canal and altarpiece walking tour: Viator
- A Bruges canal and Belfry walk: GetYourGuide
- A guided Brussels day walk: GetYourGuide
- A bed near Antwerpen-Centraal or the Grote Markt: Booking.com
| Day | Focus | Distance / train time from Antwerp |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antwerp itself | Home base |
| 2 | Ghent | 56 to 61 min direct |
| 3 | Mechelen | 17 to 19 min direct |
| 4 | Brussels | 45 to 48 min direct |
| 5 | Bruges | 85 to 91 min direct |
| 6 | Ostend and the coast | 94 to 105 min direct |
Day 1: Antwerp, Compressed
Grote Markt and the Brabo Fountain first, then the Cathedral of Our Lady for Rubens’ Descent from the Cross. The MAS rooftop is free; the Rubenshuis itself is closed until roughly 2030, so don’t plan around it. Walk the Diamond District, stop at DIVA, and have dinner in Het Zuid with a Bolleke of De Koninck. The full Antwerp city guide covers the rest.
Day 2: Ghent
Direct train, 56 to 61 minutes. A fraction of Bruges’ crowds, nearly the same canal charm, and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral holds the Van Eyck brothers’ Ghent Altarpiece. Wander the Graslei, climb Gravensteen if the line is short, eat near Vrijdagmarkt before the last train back.
Day 3: Mechelen
At 17 to 19 minutes, the cheapest, quickest hop of the set. St Rumbold’s Tower, then the Kazerne Dossin, a genuinely sobering deportation-camp memorial. Half a day covers it. More at visitmechelen.be .
Day 4: Brussels
About 45 to 48 minutes direct. Grand-Place, the Magritte Museum, dinner in Sainte-Catherine rather than the tourist-priced Grand-Place ring. Details at visit.brussels .
Day 5: Bruges
85 to 91 minutes direct, the longest near-in trip and genuinely farther than the same trip from Brussels. Go early for the calm version of the Markt and canals, climb the Belfry (366 steps, no lift), and eat a few streets back where prices make sense. More at visitbruges.be .
Day 6: Ostend and the Coast
Direct trains run 94 to 105 minutes, roughly hourly, and this is a beach day, not a heritage day, so reset expectations before you board. Ostend has real art history behind the promenade: James Ensor lived and painted here, and his house is preserved as a small museum. The Kusttram runs the entire length of the Belgian coast if the town itself doesn’t fill the day, De Haan’s belle-epoque streets a short ride further along. Good roughly May through September; a winter visit works only if a bracing off-season walk is genuinely the point, not an accident of scheduling.
Is Ostend Worth a Full Day, or Just an Afternoon?
A full day if the Kusttram and a second coastal town interest you, an afternoon if the beach and Ensor’s house are the actual goal. Either way, treat it as the one day on this itinerary that isn’t about castles or canals, and don’t schedule it back to back with Bruges; two long train days in a row wears thin.
Why Does a Beach Day Belong in a Belgium Itinerary?
Because the contrast is the point. Five days of cathedrals, canals and a deportation memorial make a genuine seaside afternoon feel earned rather than random, and Ostend is close enough from Antwerp, under two hours, that it costs a single day rather than a detour.
Where to Stay
Base near Antwerpen-Centraal or the Grote Markt for all six nights. Both put you a few minutes from the platforms you’ll use five separate times before you’re done.
Getting Around
De Lijn covers Antwerp’s trams, buses and premetro; a single ticket runs about EUR 3, and the Scheldt premetro tunnel is closed for renovation from May 2026 to roughly March 2027. For the day trips, SNCB’s October 2025 fare overhaul caps standard fares at EUR 20.90 and gives under-26 and 65-plus riders 40% off any time, everyone 30% off weekends. Check exact fares at belgiantrain.be the morning you travel.
One concrete tip: pack for the coast separately from the rest of the trip. Ostend’s sea breeze runs noticeably cooler than inland Antwerp even on a warm week, and a jacket that felt unnecessary on Day 4 in Brussels earns its space in the bag by Day 6.