2 Days in Antwerp: Your Belgium Base

Two days built around Antwerpen-Centraal as your launch pad: Day 1 is the shortest hop on the whole board, Mechelen, 17 to 20 minutes each way, and Day 2 is the one Antwerp-based travelers sleep on, Ghent, under an hour and noticeably calmer than Bruges. Two Belgian towns, zero car rentals, and it extends cleanly if you decide to stay longer (see our 4 and 7 day versions).

Book these before you go

Day Day trip Travel time
1 Mechelen 17-20 min
2 Ghent Under an hour

Day 1: Mechelen, the 17-minute warmup

Start easy. Mechelen is the shortest ride on this whole itinerary, as little as 17 minutes from Antwerpen-Centraal with trains running as often as every 8 to 15 minutes, so there’s no need to plan around a timetable. It’s the cheapest hop too, and the one nobody else seems to be doing, which is exactly the point.

Mechelen’s compact Gothic old town centers on St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon; climb it if the tower’s open, or just circle the Grote Markt below for guildhouses that get a fraction of Antwerp’s own foot traffic. The whole center is walkable in half a day, so resist the urge to over-plan. Details at visitmechelen.be .

Ride back to Antwerp for the evening. Find a real cafe near the Grote Markt and order “een bolleke,” De Koninck’s amber Spéciale Belge served in its own round glass, with a paper cone of frites (EUR 3-5) from a stand-up frituur. Not a bad way to close a warmup day.

Day 2: Ghent, the calmer canal city

Ghent runs under an hour by direct train, typically 46 to 59 minutes depending on the exact service, and rewards the trip with the Gravensteen castle, the Graslei waterfront, and St Bavo’s Cathedral, home to the Van Eyck brothers’ Ghent Altarpiece, the Mystic Lamb. It’s also a working university city, so the crowds thin out fast once you’re a block off the main canal.

Spend the day on foot: the historic core is small enough to see most of it without a single bus or tram. Ghent draws noticeably fewer coach tours than Bruges, which is the real reason to put it here instead of the longer, busier trip. Current hours and the altarpiece’s viewing setup are at visit.gent.be .

Take the early evening train back to Antwerp rather than the last one; you’ll want energy left for dinner. If a full week of day trips sounds appealing after just these two, our longer 7 day Antwerp, Belgium itinerary adds Brussels, Bruges, the coast, and even a border crossing into France.

Practical notes

Belgium runs on the euro, and Antwerp’s working language is Dutch (Flemish), not French, worth knowing before you start greeting people in Mechelen or Ghent too. Trains for both day trips leave from Antwerpen-Centraal, so there’s no need to change stations or plan around Antwerp’s own tram network at all on this particular weekend. Buy tickets the same day at the station or through the SNCB app; neither Mechelen nor Ghent requires an advance-booked ticket.

If Mechelen’s carillon tower happens to be closed the morning you arrive, don’t wait around for it; the Grote Markt and Hof van Busleyden fill a half-day just as well, and you’ll still make your afternoon train to Ghent’s Day 2 slot if you decide to combine both in one long day instead.