Short Day Trips from Antwerp
Antwerp itself earns most of your days, so the smartest day trips are the short ones: a half-day out and back that leaves the evening free for a Bolleke in the old town. These are the escapes that need the least commitment, all from Antwerpen-Centraal or the free river ferry, none needing a car.
Mechelen: the 17-minute hop
Mechelen is the clear winner for a short trip: as little as 17 to 20 minutes from Antwerpen-Centraal, with trains running as often as every 8 to 15 minutes, so there is nothing to plan around. Its compact Gothic old town centres on St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon, and the whole centre is walkable in half a day. Ride back in time for dinner in Antwerp.
Lier: quieter still
Lier, a small Flemish town about 15 minutes out by train, is the pick if you want somewhere even calmer than Mechelen. Its UNESCO-listed begijnhof (one of the Flemish Béguinages) and the astronomical Zimmertoren clock give a genuine reason to go, and the town rarely sees a tour bus. An easy morning, back by lunch.
Ghent: the one worth a full day
Ghent runs under an hour by direct train, typically 46 to 59 minutes, and it is the single best day trip if you want more than a half-day out. The Gravensteen castle, the Graslei waterfront, and St Bavo’s Cathedral (home to the Van Eyck Ghent Altarpiece) reward the trip, and Ghent draws noticeably fewer coach tours than Bruges. It is a working university city with real local life a block off the main canal.
Linkeroever: a micro-escape across the river
The shortest escape of all does not need a train. Cross the Scheldt to Linkeroever, the quieter left bank, on the free Sint-Anna ferry (24/7 since September 2025) or through the free Sint-Annatunnel of 1933. You get parkland, the Sint-Anna beach, and the best view back at the old-town skyline, all for the price of the walk. With the premetro tunnel closed for renovation until roughly March 2027, the ferry and pedestrian tunnel are also the way to cross the river anyway.
The longer trips exist too
Brussels (about 45 minutes), Bruges (1h25 to 1h35), the coast at Ostend (about 1h35), and Lille in France (about 1h30) are all reachable, but each eats a full day. If you want to base yourself in Antwerp and range wider across Belgium, our Antwerp, Belgium day trips guide covers the full network and how to sequence it.
Read more: pair these with a couple of city days using our 2 day Antwerp itinerary .