Antwerp Parks and Green Spaces
Antwerp is a dense city, but it keeps more green than first-timers expect, from a formal park near the centre to a beach across the river. Here are the best green spaces to visit, most of them free, all within the city or a short hop from it.
Stadspark
The closest proper park to the historic centre, Stadspark is a 19th-century landscaped park with a curving pond and mature trees, a quick reset a few minutes from the shopping streets. Small, central, and free.
Rivierenhof
The big one: Rivierenhof, in Deurne, is a large provincial park along the Grote Schijn stream, with woodland, water, an open-air theatre, and plenty of room to spread out. It is the city’s main destination park and reachable by tram or bus.
Middelheim open-air sculpture park
South of the centre, the Middelheim Museum sets modern and contemporary sculpture across open parkland, free to enter. Part gallery, part green space, and one of the more distinctive afternoons in the city.
Nachtegalenpark and Den Brandt
Next to Middelheim, the Nachtegalenpark ties together Den Brandt and Vogelenzang into a broad belt of lawns, ponds, and formal gardens. It is the largest continuous green area on the south side and a local favourite for picnics.
Park Spoor Noord
Built on former railway yards near the Eilandje docks, Park Spoor Noord is a flat, modern city park with water features and wide lawns, popular with families and close to the centre.
The Kruidtuin
Near Centraal Station, the Kruidtuin is a small botanical garden, a quiet walled pocket of green a short walk from the busiest part of the city. Free and easy to slot into a day.
The Sint-Anna beach
Cross the Scheldt on the free Sint-Anna ferry and the left bank has the Sint-Anna beach and the Galgenweel lake, the closest thing Antwerp has to a seaside afternoon. With the premetro tunnel closed until roughly March 2027, the ferry or free pedestrian tunnel is the way over.
Getting there
Trams and buses reach every park on a single De Lijn ticket (around EUR 3, verify at delijn.be); the river crossings are free.
Read more: for the walking routes that link these together, see our Antwerp walking routes guide , and the city itself is in the Antwerp travel guide .