A Citytrip To Antwerp

Hi everyone!

Last weekend I had a great valentine’s city trip to Antwerp with my boyfriend. The Netherlands isn’t that far from Belgium so we only had a three hour train trip to get there. We stayed in a nice four star hotel close to the train station ánd the shopping centre, the Leopold Hotel.

On the first day we immediately started a walking tour through Antwerp. We went to the MAS. That is a huge museum with on the 9th floor a panorama view. It’s a must see! The museum itself costs for about 5 euros, the panorama view is for free. Even when you don’t visit the museum.
Another thing I would recommend are the love locks. There is no such of thing as a love locks bridge but it is a heart shaped fence. It seems to be that it is especially designed to be a fence for love locks. It is easier to buy the lock before you go to Antwerp. You won’t have the time to do it when you’re there. I bought my boyfriend one with our names engraved on it.

If you like shopping more than cultural aspects of the city, Antwerp is the place to be too. The biggest shopping street is the ‘Meir’. Stores like New Look, Forever 21 and River Island are all represented. A thing you have to remember, almost all the stores are closed on Sundays. 
Due to sore feet after a lot of walking, we didn’t shop a lot. Tip! You can get a ‘bike card’ for 3 euros a day. With this card you can rent bikes at stations all over the city. With the term that you bring it back, or at another station, in thirty minutes. It’s very effective and it saves your poor feet.

At night we had dinner in a cute restaurant in the southern part of Antwerp. At first it seemed to be a café, but when we got lobster an caviar as a valentines menu the idea of a café was gone. It was called ‘Den Artist’ and it was very small. Because it was valentine’s day, the restaurant gave me a Belgian chocolate rose. It was delicious! Later on we went to the cinema.

We started the second day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We even had the possibility to have champagne as starter. After that we went to the ‘vogeltjesmarkt’ (bird market). A huge market with a lot of animals. I truly understand the animal protection, there were small cages with more than 10 ducks in it. Very sad. But on the other hand, the animal shops were also open. We went to a puppy kennel were I saw the cutest puppy ever and I got the chance to hold him. Later I even spoke to parrot.

The last thing we did on our trip was visiting the city’s cathedral. I’m grown up in a catholic family so these kind of things are special to me. The cathedral was stunning and so big, also a recommendation. It costs 6 euros per person to get in.

In short, I had an amazing weekend in an amazing city. Antwerp is definitely worth repeating!

Lots of Love,

Daphne