Antwerp, Belgium

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind to us while we were in Antwerp so we didn’t get to visit as much of the city as we had planned.

We stayed at the Aire in Braschaat which is free and in a great location. Especially if you are travelling with dogs as its right next to an open park. We did have to pay for water which was 50 cents for 100 litres and electric which was only 1 euro for 0.5 kw which nearly lasted 24 hours so we definitely wasn’t complaining.

We had a 10 minute walk into the centre of Braschaat to catch the bus into Antwerp. The buses are approximately every 15 minutes, so really regular during the day and right up until about 10.30pm at night.

Antwerp is the second largest city in Belgium and only 9 miles south of the Dutch border. Antwerp has been known as the trading capital in the world for diamonds since the 15th century but unfortunately they weren’t on the shopping list for this trip.

We visited Central Station which is apparently one of the beautiful train stations in the world. The station opened in 1835.

Across the road from Central Station is Chocolate Nation. You can take a tour, browse the shop or even attend a workshop. It is apparently the largest Belgian chocolate museum in the world!

The architecture throughout Antwerp is very grand and there is also two UNESCO sights. Unfortunately it too wet for us to continue sightseeing so we just gave up and decided to go try a few of the Belgian Beer delicacies instead.