6 Day Trips from Antwerp by Train
Base yourself in Antwerp and one train station opens six genuinely different day trips, five in Belgium and one across the French border. The trick is sequencing: start with the short hops while you learn the timetable, and save the long ones for the days you have the most energy. Here they are, shortest to longest.
Mechelen: 17-20 minutes, the easy start
The shortest and cheapest hop, as often as every 8 to 15 minutes. St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon anchor a compact old town you can cover in half a day, so do not block out a full one. Good for a first morning or a short layover.
Ghent: under an hour, the calm canal city
Direct trains run roughly 46 to 59 minutes. Ghent gives you canals, the Gravensteen castle, and St Bavo’s Cathedral with the Van Eyck Ghent Altarpiece, with a fraction of Bruges’ coach-tour crowds. For a single Belgian canal town from Antwerp, this is the better pick.
Brussels: 45 minutes, the capital
The most frequent connection on the board, direct trains roughly every 15 minutes. Grand Place, the Magritte Museum, and the Atomium fill a day without rushing, and Brussels doubles as the airport gateway if you flew into BRU.
Bruges: 1h25-1h35, the postcard one
The longest of the near trips, and genuinely longer from Antwerp than from Brussels. Bruges is the most photogenic and the most tourist-saturated, with crowds peaking at midday. Go early, climb the 366-step Belfry before the queue builds, and give it the full day.
The coast at Ostend: about 1h35, the beach day
Roughly hourly trains to North Sea beach and promenade, with the Kusttram running the length of the coast for onward hops to towns like De Haan. Best from May to September; a weaker pick in winter unless a bracing off-season walk is the point.
Lille, France: about 1h30, the border crossing
The one international trip: bring a passport or EU ID card. Fastest direct services run about 1h30, some with a change up to two hours. Vieux Lille’s Flemish-French old town and the famous Sunday Braderie flea market reward it, though it ranks below the in-Belgium options if time is short.
Booking discipline
None of these need scarce timed tickets bought from Antwerp; the tradeoff is journey time, not ticket scarcity. Buy same-day domestic tickets at the station or the SNCB app, and consider booking the Lille leg a little ahead on busy weekends. If you would rather stay in the city, our Antwerp city guide covers what to do without leaving town.
Read more: the full week mapped out is in our Antwerp, Belgium 7 day itinerary .