Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - A surprising bonus: Antwerp

We returned last week from a month in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. When we looked back and talked about how reality exceeded our expectations, Antwerp headed the list. Yes, Brugge (or Bruges) was picturesque beyond our dreams. Canals, old houses, quiet corners, swans gliding by. But Antwerp bustles, it's exciting, it seemed somehow more in tune with today instead of the 1500s. Its museum of fine arts had the best audio mechanism we ever had seen, a box with a random-access CD that played which ever three-digit code you punched in that matched the three digits displayed on the card next to many paintings. Its transportation system--we used trams and buses--was very cheap and the drivers very helpful to us. Antwerp offers far, far more in the way of department stores and shops than does Brussels. Antwerp is a working city while Brussels seemed crowded with sightseers, officeworkers, and partygoers. We speak no Flemish--but it was never a problem. Helpful citizens tried their English and went out of their way to see that we got back on the right track. Antwerp's medieval old city is marvelous; be sure to take the walking tour sponsored by the chamber of commerce office on the main square. The area around the main railway station looks a little rough, but we found a hotel next door that offered a clean, modern room with splendid breakfast and English-speaking staff that could not have been better. Price: about $75 a night for a double, with breakfast and free Internet connection. Food? Antwerp offered anything you can imagine--from mussels in broth to Argentine steaks, from crepes to hot chestnuts. The towering sprire to the central church can be seen for miles, but it's what's inside that stuns--some of the finest paintings by Rubens anywhere. Take a cruise on the River Scheldt. We even saw a tall ship gliding by. Antwerp is a big city, far larger in population that Brussels, and we know we barely scratched its surface. It deserves a high place on your list of "must-visit" cities.