Since the 12th century, ships from all over the world have been arriving in Antwerp laden with cargo destined for distribution to the cities and towns of the Low Countries and beyond. Today, Belgium’s port stretches for a total of 65km along the banks of the river Scheldt and boasts 12 million sqm of warehouse space, making it second only to Rotterdam in Europe, and the fourth-largest container hub in the world.

As with most port cities, Antwerp’s half a million residents are an eclectic mix of different cultures and liberal attitudes. Frank Deijnckens, marketing and communications manager for Antwerp Tourism, says: “This has always been a commercial crossroads and we have always had trade and new ideas coming into town. We are still a big marketplace and we have 130 different cultures here.”

The city’s dual role as trading centre and cultural melting pot attracts tens of thousands of tourists and business travellers every year. Benelux’s inhabitants are the most frequent visitors, with the Dutch annually accounting for 27 per cent of the city’s 1.3 million room nights spent here and the UK making up another 9.5 per cent.

This consistent visitor traffic ensures that there are plenty of options on offer for the business traveller. At the top end, the Hilton occupies an unbeatable position on the city’s main square, the Groenplaats, and is usually the first choice for visiting celebrities, such as the tennis stars from the recent Diamond Games. General manager Robert Krygsmann says: “We have an occupancy rate of 80 per cent business travellers during the week, which changes to 90 per cent leisure travellers over the weekend.”

The Radisson SAS also serves the luxury market and, although not as central, has more leisure facilities, including a pool. (See below for more hotel options.)

Unsurprisingly for a transit hub, Antwerp is at the heart of a major road network, and is also easily accessible by air from London and Manchester (the airport is a 20-minute taxi ride from the city centre). Belgian carrier VLM, which links the Flanders capital with the UK, has recently increased its service in response to booming demand. VLM’s managing director Johan Vanneste says: “We started in Antwerp in 1993 and have recently, [in September last year], expanded our flights from London from four to seven a day.”

Alternatively, UK visitors can take a plane or the Eurostar to Brussels and connect onwards to Antwerp by train. Deijnckens says: “If Eurostar went one stop further, just ten more minutes, it would be great. You could be in London in two and a half hours.” In addition, a new line opening later this year will plumb the city into the European high-speed rail network.

Antwerp is a simple city to navigate: the compact medieval centre fans out from the riverside, its original cobbled streets wind around the houses, terrace cafes and restaurants with people sitting out, even in February, sipping a beer. My guide, Marissa, says that “ean terras doen” (doing a terrace) is a favourite Antwerp pastime.

Occasionally the narrow streets open out into a square, lined with elegant architecture which bears witness to the city’s rich heritage. Groenplaats is home to the huge and beautifully crafted 14th century Cathedral of our Lady, the largest Gothic church in the Low Countries. During the city’s golden age in the 16th century, when Antwerp was Europe’s second-largest urban centre north of the Alps, each of the 57 local artisans guilds had a separate altar in the cathedral, lavishly decorated with carvings depicting their trade. The cathedral is also home to four religious works by Rubens, a native of Antwerp who imported Baroque style from Italy to the north.

Over the centuries, the city’s cultural life has also been enriched by the input of artists as diverse as Pieter Brueghel, Alma-Tadema and Van Gogh, all of whom spent part of their careers in Antwerp. More recently, the city has acquired a reputation as a fashion centre, following the achievements of a group of local students. In 1988, six members of Antwerp’s fashion school jumped in a camper van and headed to London for the fashion week. The “Antwerp Six” as they are now known, returned undisputed heroes, having knocked the fashion world sideways with their innovative creations.

Their legacy is visible in the stylish fashion museum, opened in 2002, as well as in the rich pickings on offer for serious shoppers. Boutiques and designer outlets are scattered down side streets, while all the big names have taken up residence on Meir Street, which links the old centre to Centraal station and the diamond quarter.

In addition to its status as an international port, Antwerp is known worldwide for its position at the heart of the diamond trade. Home to the World Diamond Centre, the city handles 85 per cent of the world’s rough diamonds; the industry employs around 12,000 people across the city and rough diamonds account for 7 per cent of all Belgium’s exports. Even if you are not buying a jewel it’s worth taking a walk around the quarter, where CCTV cameras perch like birds of prey above each shop door, watching as you peer at the delicate cutting and polishing implements which line up like torturer’s tool sets in the windows.
However, while part of Antwerp’s charm lies in its winding streets, which reflect its haphazard growth from medieval entrepot to modern cultural hub, the city’s directors feel it’s time to move it firmly into the 21st century. Deijnckens says: “In 2006, for the first time, we have drafted an actual urban plan and a guideline for decades of future development.”

This reinvention has been partly down to the mayor Patrick Janssens, who has been in office since 2003. Janssens wants to pull the city together and make the public spaces more accessible for all residents. The main area for development will be the waterfront. The river Scheldt has a promenade but it is disappointing and run down. The competition to design the new waterfront has been opened up to architects from across Europe, in order to inject some fresh ideas into the city.

Deijnckens says: “There is a saying in Antwerp that citizens have been living with their backs to the river for the last couple of decades. But now I think they are coming back to the water.”

Other areas of development are the old railway station, north-east of the centre, which was traditionally used for transporting goods to and from the port. The plan is to transform it into “a cultural park”, the largest green area in Antwerp by 2008, to help bring the communities together. Redevelopment here will also mean more interest in the docklands area, which has already attracted fashion workshops and art galleries. “The Mayor’s idea is to join all these new developments together and put some effort into the future of the city rather than concentrating solely on Antwerp’s past,” says Deijnckens.

What is clear is that Antwerp’s crossroad past has made its future bright and colourful. It has retained its popularity with Benelux and the rest of Europe, and is not only a centre for fashion but fast becoming the fashionable place to be.

Where to stay

Radisson SAS Park
Lane Hotel
Where? Near the city park, Centraal station and the Diamond Centre. Around 3km from the medieval centre of the city and waterfront.
Facilities 174 rooms, free wifi internet access throughout the hotel, 11 meeting rooms, a banqueting room for (600 people), an underground car park and a swimming pool.
Price From E179
Contact Tel +32 3 285 85 85, radissonsas.com

Astrid Park Plaza Hotel
Where? In the heart of the diamond district and around 2km from the centre.
Facilities 228 rooms, 18 meeting rooms and a ballroom, (600 theatre-style). High-speed internet access (E9.50 for 24hrs), two restaurants, pool, sauna and gym.
Price From E139
Contact Tel +32 3 203 1234, parkplaza.com

Express by Holiday Inn Antwerp
Where? Downtown, north of the centre and closer to the port.
Facilities High-speed internet access and wifi access from E12.50. The hotel has free breakfast for guests.
Price From E89
Contact Tel +32 3 2214949, ichotelsgroup.com

Ibis Antwerpen Centrum
Where? Close to the centre of the medieval town near the main shopping street Meir, which runs between Groenplaats and Centraal station.
Facilities 150 rooms and wifi internet access in public areas and some of the rooms (E10 for two hours). A light breakfast is served from 4am.
Price E82
Contact Tel +32 3 2318830, ibishotel.com

Novotel Antwerpen Noord
Where? In the harbour business centre (7km from the city centre).
Facilities 120 rooms, five meeting rooms (capacity for 180), wifi internet access is available (costed through an outside provider) in some rooms and in public areas. There is an outdoor (unheated) swimming pool, three tennis courts and
free parking.
Price From E78
Contact Tel +323 5420320, novotel.com


All prices quoted for a week night stay in mid-April.

Tried and tested review
Flight check: VLM, London-Antwerp
Hotel check: Hilton Antwerp

 

Getting there

Belgian airline VLM (flyvlm.com) is the only carrier serving Antwerp directly from the UK. There are up to seven flights a day from London City priced between £104 and £464 return depending on when you book and travel and the degree of flexibility required. VLM also flies direct up to twice a day from Manchester. It also offers connections from Liverpool and Manchester to Antwerp via London City.

Alternatively you can fly into Brussels (various airlines depart London and regional airports) and take the hourly bus link to nearby Antwerp (schedules on brusselsairport.be). Or take Eurostar (eurostar.com) and change at Brussels’ Midi station for connections to Antwerp (schedules on b-rail.be).

Benelux Background

In 1944, the exiled governments of Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg established the Benelux Customs Union to encourage free trade within the region and develop growth after the crippling Second World War. Enacted in 1947, the agreement contributed to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 of which the Benelux countries were founding members (along with Germany, Italy and France) and the foundation six years later of the European Economic Community. Trade between the three countries remains strong today, and they are also linked by language, with 83 per cent of the inhabitants speaking Dutch and the rest French. The original customs agreement was replaced in 1960 by the Benelux Economic Union, which is expected to be replaced by a new legal framework when it expires in 2010.