Antwerp Belgium

Belgium, they say, is boring. Whoever ‘they’ are, they obviously haven’t been to Antwerp. Belgium’s second city is fashionable, fast-paced, art loving, and more fun at night than most cities have ever been. Put aside your stereotypes, and instead grab your mayo-coated oysters, dress up to the nines, and discover what Antwerp is really all about. It’s a small city, but packed to the rim with picturesque cobbled backstreets, and based around a delicate 16th century cathedral that’s so painfully picturesque you can’t help doing the tourist thing and snapping away from every angle. Around those backstreets, countless shops serve up sumptuous and relatively affordable cuisines out on the streets, while you’ll find yourself licking your lips around every corner, as the smell of the numerous high-class chocolate shops gets you salivating.

Make you way down to the waterfront, where striking modern architecture runs rampant, before taking a tour of the artistic side of the city. You’ll discover gothic, baroque and renaissance influences left, right and center, and you can dive into the galleries and even the home of Pieter Paul Reubens, the legendary baroque artist, whose studio is open for all to see.