Antwerp: Photo Spots Around Belgium
With Antwerp as a base, a photographer can shoot several of Belgium’s set-piece cities on frequent trains and be back the same evening. Each day trip has its own signature frame; the trick is timing arrival for the light and beating the coach crowds. Here are five, closest first, all reachable car-free.
Mechelen, the closest frame
At 17 to 20 minutes out, Mechelen is the easy add: St Rumbold’s Cathedral tower over a compact Gothic centre, with the option of climbing the tower for a rooftop panorama. Quiet enough that you can shoot the squares without waiting out crowds, best in soft morning light.
Ghent, the canal quays
Ghent, 46 minutes to an hour out, gives the classic canal shot from the Graslei and Korenlei quays, with the Gravensteen castle and the towers of St Bavo’s and the Belfry stacked behind. Blue hour along the water, when the guild-house fronts light up, is the frame to plan for; it is calmer than Bruges at the same hour.
Bruges, the postcard
Bruges, 1h25 to 1h35 out, is the most photogenic and the most crowded, so shoot early or late. The canals, the Markt and the 366-step Belfry are the headline frames; the first train in buys you empty bridges before the day groups arrive.
Brussels, grand and modern
Brussels, 45 minutes out, splits into two very different shots: the gilded Grand-Place, best at blue hour when the facades are lit, and the space-age Atomium on the city’s edge for something wholly modern. The Magritte Museum rounds out an art-minded day.
The coast, big sky
Ostend and the coast, 1h34 to 1h45 out, are the wide-horizon day: beach, dunes and pier under North Sea light, with the Kusttram carrying you to quieter, more characterful stretches like De Haan. Best roughly May to September, when the light is worth the ride.
Planning the light
Every trip here leaves from Antwerpen-Centraal’s main-line platforms, unaffected by the in-city tram-tunnel closure. Chase the cheaper weekend or under-26 fares under the 2025 rail reform, and let the destination’s best hour, not the timetable, set your departure. In practice that means an early train to Bruges to beat the crowds on the bridges and a late one to Ghent to catch blue hour along the canals.
Read more: match frames to full days in our Antwerp Belgium 4-day itinerary , or the in-city Antwerp photo spots guide .