Antwerp 2 Day Itinerary (No Tourist Traps)

Two days keeps Antwerp to its old-town core: day one covers the Grote Markt and the Cathedral of Our Lady’s Rubens altarpieces, day two adds the free MAS rooftop and the working Diamond District. Add a third day for Plantin-Moretus and MoMu if you have it, or see the full Antwerp guide for everything this trip leaves out.

Book these before you go:

Day Focus
1 Grote Markt, Cathedral of Our Lady, De Koninck evening
2 MAS rooftop, Eilandje, Diamond District and DIVA

Day 1: Grote Markt and the Cathedral of Our Lady

Fly into Brussels Airport (BRU) rather than expecting Antwerp to have a hub of its own; the direct train to Antwerpen-Centraal runs roughly every 20-30 minutes and takes 25-40 minutes, from around EUR 4-15 depending on how far ahead you book. Centraal Station itself is worth ten minutes before you leave the building: the vaulted “spoorwegkathedraal” hall dates to 1905 and sits directly above the modern through-tracks running beneath it.

Walk up the Meir toward Grote Markt, about 20-25 minutes, or take a tram. The square is ringed by guild houses and the 1564 Stadhuis, anchored by the Brabo Fountain and its giant-and-severed-hand founding legend, the same story behind the Antwerpse handjes biscuit sold all over town. From there, the Cathedral of Our Lady is a few steps away: EUR 12 adult, home to several Rubens altarpieces, including The Descent from the Cross, still hanging in the building he painted them for.

Is the Rubenshuis worth visiting in 2026?

Not as a normal house museum. It has been closed since January 2023 for a renovation that has slipped to a roughly 2030 reopening, and only the garden, library, and a substitute “Rubens Experience” are open this year. The cathedral’s altarpieces above are the better use of the same hour, and the ticket costs less than half what the Rubenshuis used to charge.

Close the day with a Bolleke of De Koninck at a cafe near the square; ordering it by name gets you the brewery’s amber Spéciale Belge without needing to specify the maker.

Day 2: The free MAS rooftop and the Diamond District

Head to Eilandje in the morning for MAS, the Museum aan de Stroom. The rooftop panorama is entirely free, no ticket required, reachable by escalator through the glass-and-sandstone tower; budget at least 20 minutes for the climb alone. The paid galleries inside run roughly EUR 10-12 and are worth adding only if a temporary exhibition is on.

From Eilandje it’s a short walk back toward Centraal Station and the Diamond District, a working trade quarter of roughly a square kilometer and some 380 workshops. Book the walking tour above if you want the trade explained street by street rather than guessing at storefronts, and skip anywhere that pitches you a “special deal” from the sidewalk.

Do diamonds actually get cut in Antwerp?

Mostly no. The district trades roughly 84% of the world’s rough diamonds by value, making it the dealing capital, but the physical cutting and polishing of most diamonds by volume happens in India today. Antwerp’s own remaining cutting trade skews toward the largest, highest-value stones rather than everyday volume. DIVA, the diamond and jewellery museum a few blocks over, tells that trading-hub story properly for around EUR 12.

Before you go

Keep a few euros in coins on you for station lockers and the odd fee-only restroom; not every place near Centraal takes cards despite Belgium’s generally card-friendly culture. If two days leaves you wanting more, the 3-day and 4-day versions of this itinerary add the UNESCO printing museum and the fashion district without changing anything you’ve already done.