Antwerpen: The Flemish Soul of Belgium
English signs say Antwerp; locals say Antwerpen. The Dutch name is the first clue to the city’s character, because this is Flanders, not French-speaking Belgium, and the distinction shapes everything from the language on the menu to the identity the city carries.
A Flemish, Dutch-speaking city
Antwerp sits in Flanders, the northern, Dutch-speaking half of Belgium. The working language is Dutch (Flemish), and while English is spoken freely in the tourist core, this is not Brussels or Wallonia; a “dank je” for thank you and an “alstublieft” for please go further here than any French phrase. The city is Belgium’s largest single municipality at roughly 530,000 people, and it wears its “second city” tag with more pride than resentment.
The founding legend behind the name
The name itself comes from a story. The giant Antigoon tolled the Scheldt crossing by cutting off the hands of anyone who would not pay, until the Roman soldier Brabo cut off the giant’s own hand and threw it into the river: “hand werpen,” hand-throwing, the folk origin of Antwerpen. The Brabo Fountain (1887) on the Grote Markt tells it in bronze, and the local butter-and-almond biscuit, the Antwerpse Handjes, is shaped like a little hand for the same reason.
The art city: Rubens and the cathedral
Antwerp was Rubens’ home city, and the Cathedral of Our Lady (EUR 12) still holds several of his altarpieces, including The Descent from the Cross and The Elevation of the Cross, painted for the exact building they hang in. Note for 2026: his own house, the Rubenshuis, is closed for renovation until around 2030, so the cathedral, and the reopened KMSKA fine-arts museum in Het Zuid, are where you meet Rubens now.
The fashion soul: the Antwerp Six
Antwerp punches far above its size in fashion. In 1986, six Royal Academy graduates, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee, broke through together in London as the Antwerp Six and put the city on the international map. The MoMu fashion museum (open through 2026) marks the 40th anniversary with a headline show running to 17 January 2027.
Diamonds, beer, and jenever
The Diamond District near Centraal Station handles roughly 84% of the world’s rough-diamond trade, though the actual cutting mostly happens in India now; treat it as a trading quarter, not a workshop tour. For the local table, order “een bolleke” and you get De Koninck, the amber beer brewed here since 1833, and the city keeps a genuine jenever tradition dating to the 1500s.
Practical basics for 2026
Belgium uses the euro. Antwerp has no big airport, so most visitors arrive by train via Brussels (BRU, about 25 to 40 minutes). One transport note: the premetro tunnel under the Scheldt is closed until roughly March 2027, so cross the river on the free Sint-Anna ferry or tunnel rather than a tram.
Read more: our full Antwerp travel guide walks through the sights, food, and neighbourhoods in depth.