Underrated Stops Around Antwerp
Most visitors based in Antwerp make a beeline for Bruges. The more rewarding trips are often the quieter ones the guidebooks rank lower. Here are the underrated stops within easy reach, all reachable by train from Antwerpen-Centraal.
Lier: the town nobody plans for
Lier sits about 15 minutes out by train and rarely sees a tour bus. Its draw is the UNESCO-listed begijnhof, one of the Flemish Béguinages, a walled world of small houses and lanes, plus the astronomical Zimmertoren clock. An easy half-day, and about as calm as a Flemish old town gets.
Mechelen over Bruges
Mechelen, 17 to 20 minutes away, gets skipped by travellers rushing to Bruges, which is exactly why it works. St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon anchor a walkable Gothic centre with a fraction of the crowds, and you can climb the tower for a view over the flat Flemish landscape.
Ghent, the calmer canal city
If you want canals and guild houses without the coach-tour crush, Ghent (under an hour) beats Bruges for anyone based in Antwerp. It is a working university city, so there is real local life a block off the Graslei waterfront, and the Van Eyck Ghent Altarpiece in St Bavo’s is one of the most important paintings in Europe.
De Haan on the coast
Once you reach Ostend (about 1h35) and pick up the Kusttram, the belle-epoque resort town of De Haan is the coast’s quietest, most characterful stop, all low villas and tram-halt charm, well away from the busier beach towns.
Kalmthoutse Heide
North of the city, the Kalmthoutse Heide is a large cross-border heath of purple heather, pine, and sand drifts, reachable by train toward the Dutch border. It is the region’s best pure-nature escape and almost entirely local.
Hoge Kempen
Further out, Hoge Kempen is Belgium’s first national park, a bigger commitment from Antwerp but a genuine wilderness of pine forest and old mining landscapes for travellers who want a full hiking day.
How to reach them
All of these run on same-day SNCB tickets from Antwerpen-Centraal; only the coast and Hoge Kempen need a full day, while Lier and Mechelen are easy half-days.
Read more: our Antwerp, Belgium day trips guide has the full network, and the wider-region walks are in the Flanders hikes guide .