11 Best Sights in South of the Center, Antwerp and the Northeast

Finally reopened in 2022 after more than a decade of extensive restoration work, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts collection is studded with masterworks from Bruegel to Ensor, and is a must for any student of Flemish art. Paintings recovered from the French after the fall of Napoléon form the nucleus of a collection of 2,500 artworks. There are rooms devoted to both Peter Paul Rubens and to Anthony van Dyck, and other focused almost entirely on Jacob Jordaens and Bruegel. The collection of Flemish Primitives includes works by Van Eyck, Memling, Roger van der Weyden, Joachim Patinir, and Quinten Metsys. On the ground floor, there’s a representative survey of Belgian art of the past 150 years—Emile Claus, Rik Wouters, Permeke, Magritte, Delvaux, and especially James Ensor.

The Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum is a selfie wonderland, albeit of the more classical variety, with some 200 sculptures from artists including Jean Arp, Henry Moore, Rodin, and Ossip Zadkine spread across an attractive park and castle complex. Look up into the trees for bronze figures by the Spanish artist Juan Muňoz and in the Braem pavilion for smaller, more fragile sculptures.

Take the 7 or 15 trams to this neighborhood southeast of Antwerp's city center, where 19th-century entrepreneur Baron Edouard Osy and his sister, Josephine Cogels, inherited an old castle, demolished it, and built some refreshingly eccentric houses reflecting the eclectic tastes of the era. There are houses in Renaissance, Greek classical, and Venetian styles, but most of all, there are Art Nouveau town houses, especially on Cogels Osylei, Transvaalstraat, and Waterloostraat, mainly built between 1890 and 1906. Berchem is the first stop on the railway line to Brussels; the local tourist board organizes some interesting walking tours of the area that start and end at the station.

The city's home of contemporary photography is a four-story, in-your-face epic, with each floor dedicated to a different theme or artist. Past exhibitions have featured Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, and Man Ray, with two or three exhibitions every four months. The building is also home to the art house movie theater, Cinema Lumière (www.lumiere-antwerpen.be).

The city's home of contemporary photography is a four-story, in-your-face epic, with each floor dedicated to a different theme or artist. Past exhibitions have featured Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, and Man Ray, with two or three exhibitions every four months. The building is also home to the arthouse movie theater Cinema Zuid.

This crowded former warehouse is dominated by a series of shiny vats used to brew the café's three house beers; the Antwerp Blond (5.1%) is a particularly dry, flavorsome pint. The building's conversion is slightly sterile (its vast, redbrick bar can seat around 350), but the ales and 60-minute tours can't be faulted. Prices are set for groups of 10, but phone ahead and you might be able to squeeze onto the end of another tour; a personal guide is €125.

In one of Belgium's most important contemporary art venues, you'll find paintings, installations, video art, and experimental architecture from a range of international artists. Among its collection are works by Antwerp-born Flemish polymath Jan Fabre, whose often bizarre sculptures and installations have established him as a leading figure in the Belgian art world. The museum, which also contains an art house cinema and library, is housed in a renovated grain silo. There's also a rooftop café.

In one of Belgium's most important contemporary art venues, you'll find paintings, installations, video art, and experimental architecture from a range of international artists. Among these works is a collection by the Antwerp-born Flemish theater director/choreographer/artist Jan Fabre, whose often bizarre sculptures and installations have established him as a leading figure in the Belgian art world. The museum, which also contains an arthouse cinema and library, is housed in a renovated grain silo. There's also a rooftop café.

Although the Port of Antwerp is 88 km (53 miles) from the sea, it is Europe's second-largest port (after Rotterdam) and the 10th largest in the world. Giant locks facilitate navigation up the River Scheldt; the Berendrecht measures 546 yards by 74 yards. Every year, 178.2 million tons of goods are shipped here, serving a vast area stretching across half of Europe. Surprisingly, in the midst of all this hustle and bustle is a traditional fishing village, Lillo, nestled in an old fort among the enormous refineries, tankers, and buildings of the chemical industries. It's worth exploring and has a museum that explains the history of the area.

Southeast of the city center, past Centraal Station, lies the most beautiful neighborhood in Antwerp: Zurenborg. It was one of few parts of the modern city that was actually planned—and not simply a result of industrial necessity—when it was transformed in the early 20th century with street after street of Belle Époque, neoclassical, and Art Nouveau town houses. The highlight is Cogels-Osylei, a street famed for its elaborate Art Nouveau "flower" houses, all named after different flora. Its urban palaces once housed the city's bourgeoisie, while the larger Dageraadplaats was designed for the middle classes but remains no less ambitious and has long since been adopted by Antwerp's "bobo" set, with plenty of hip bars and cafés nearby. Historical walking tours are a good way to explore the area and are easily booked at the tourist information.