Antwerp 7 Day Itinerary (Belgium Base)
Seven days extends the 6-day version of this itinerary with a bonus Antwerp day rather than a sixth day trip: Antwerp on day 1, Ghent on day 2, Mechelen on day 3, Brussels on day 4, Bruges on day 5, the coast on day 6, and on day 7 a return to Antwerp itself for the Diamond District and MoMu before you fly home. That’s all 5 Belgium day trips this cluster recommends; the Antwerp Belgium day-trip guide explains why Lille, the 6th option, didn’t make the list.
Book these before you go:
- Hotel near Antwerpen-Centraal : book before weekend rates climb
- Ghent day tour on GetYourGuide : worth it if you’d rather skip the walk from Gent-Sint-Pieters station
- Bruges day trip on Viator : the Belfry queue sells out on summer weekends, book ahead
- Diamond district walking tour on GetYourGuide : a guide gets you further than window shopping alone
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Antwerp |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antwerp: Grote Markt, the Cathedral, De Koninck evening | none, you’re already here |
| 2 | Ghent day trip: Gravensteen, the Van Eyck altarpiece | 46 min-1h each way |
| 3 | Mechelen half-day, back to Antwerp by evening | 17-20 min each way |
| 4 | Brussels day trip: Grand-Place, the Atomium | 45-48 min each way |
| 5 | Bruges day trip: canals, the Belfry climb | 1h25-1h35 each way |
| 6 | Ostend and the coast, seasonal (May-September) | 1h34-1h45 each way |
| 7 | Back to Antwerp: Diamond District, MoMu, departure | none, you’re already here |
Day 1: Antwerp itself, before the day trips start
Fly into Brussels Airport (BRU); the direct train to Antwerpen-Centraal takes 25-40 minutes. Walk up the Meir to Grote Markt, then visit the Cathedral of Our Lady, EUR 12 adult. Check visitantwerpen.be for current hours, then close with a Bolleke of De Koninck.
Day 2: Ghent, the day trip that beats Bruges from here
Direct trains take 46 minutes to just over an hour, fare roughly EUR 9-14; check belgiantrain.be for current times. Ghent has the canals, the Gravensteen castle, and the Van Eyck brothers’ Ghent Altarpiece. See visit.gent.be for opening hours, spend the afternoon at Graslei and Korenlei, then head back to Antwerp by early evening.
Day 3: Mechelen, the underrated half-day win
Trains run every 8-15 minutes and take 17-20 minutes each way, the shortest and cheapest trip on this itinerary. St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon anchor a compact old town covered by early afternoon. Return to Antwerp by mid-afternoon and spend the rest of the day in the Zuid neighborhood.
Day 4: Brussels, the essential half-day add-on
Trains run roughly every 15 minutes and take 45-48 minutes, fare around EUR 9-11. The Grand-Place, the Atomium, and the Magritte Museum are all doable there-and-back in an afternoon; head back to Antwerpen-Centraal by early evening.
Day 5: Bruges, worth it once, but plan the whole day around it
The direct train takes 1h25-1h35, longer than the same trip from Brussels, and it’s the one day trip on this list that genuinely eats a full day. Take the earliest reasonable train out; check visitbruges.be for current Belfry hours. Restaurants ringing the Markt are priced and mediocre the same way Brussels’ Rue des Bouchers is; walk a few streets back for a better meal.
Day 6: Ostend and the coast, the seasonal day trip
Trains run roughly hourly and take 1h34-1h45 each way. This is a beach-and-promenade day, not a heritage-sightseeing one, and the Kusttram runs the length of the Belgian coast if you want to add a stop at a resort town like De Haan. It only makes sense roughly May through September.
Day 7: Back to Antwerp, for what the day trips left out
With the day trips done, the last day goes back to Antwerp itself rather than adding a sixth train ride. The Diamond District near Centraal Station handles roughly 84% of the world’s rough-diamond trade; walk it respectfully rather than ducking into a hard-sell “diamond experience” storefront. MoMu, the fashion museum, is running its Antwerp Six 40th-anniversary show through January 2027.
Why does day 7 return to Antwerp instead of adding Lille?
Because Lille costs more than it pays back here. The fastest train runs 1h30, the average closer to 2 hours with a change, and it’s a genuine border crossing needing a passport or EU ID. Antwerp’s own diamond and fashion depth, still unexplored after six days of day trips, is a better use of a last full day than a rushed trip to a sixth town. See our Antwerp city guide for the rest of what this week hasn’t covered.
Store luggage at Antwerpen-Centraal’s automated lockers if you need to check out before your departure time, and budget the return trip to Brussels Airport the same way you budgeted the trip in: 25-40 minutes, more at rush hour.
Before you go
Keep a few euros in coins on you for station lockers throughout the week; not every place near Centraal takes cards despite Belgium’s generally card-friendly culture.