Antwerp, Belgium: Self-Guided Walking Tour
Things to Do in Antwerp: Essential Sights and Culture
Antwerp is a remarkable Belgian city where maritime heritage, Renaissance history, and world-class art meet modern design. Located along the Scheldt River in Flanders, it grew into one of northern Europe’s most powerful commercial and cultural centers during the 15th and 16th centuries. Today, travellers searching for what to see in Antwerp will discover a destination defined by soaring Gothic architecture, master painters like Peter Paul Rubens, and innovative museums housed in unexpected industrial spaces. Neywo features a free audio guide for Antwerp with 325 narrated places to help you explore.
What to See in Antwerp: Landmark Places and Museums
Antwerp’s compact historic center and creative districts hold centuries of stories, art, and architecture.
- Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal): This Roman Catholic cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Belgium, featuring a tower that rises 123 metres above the city. Begun in 1352, the cathedral houses a remarkable collection of art, including masterpieces by Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.
- Museum Plantin-Moretus: Located at Vrijdagmarkt, this UNESCO World Heritage Site preserves the home and printing workshop of the Plantin and Moretus families. It is an exceptional place that preserves the history of Renaissance and Baroque book-printing where the work actually took place.
- Rubenshuis: This museum is the former home and studio of Peter Paul Rubens, who purchased the property in 1610 and redesigned it to resemble an Italian palazzo. It brings together the artist’s domestic life, workshop, and artistic ideals.
- St. Charles Borromeo Church (Carolus Borromeuskerk): Built between 1615 and 1621 as Antwerp’s Jesuit church, this major example of Baroque architecture was once the largest church in the former Southern Netherlands, with artistic decoration closely connected to Rubens.
- St. Paul’s Church (Sint-Pauluskerk): Standing in the Schipperskwartier, this church combines a Gothic exterior with an exceptionally rich Baroque interior. Inside are works by Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, alongside an outdoor Calvary featuring sixty-three life-size statues.
- Vleeshuis: Situated near Clara Goessenplaats, this monumental 16th-century former butchers’ guildhall now houses a museum dedicated to the musical history of Antwerp and the Low Countries.
- Paleis op de Meir: Once a residence for emperors and kings—including Napoleon Bonaparte and the Belgian royal family—this 18th-century city palace is now a public cultural destination and museum.
- Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA): Located in a monumental neoclassical building in the Zuid district, this museum features a collection spanning the 14th to the 20th centuries, with strong representation of Flemish Primitives and Baroque masters.
- M HKA - Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen: Housed in a converted 1926 grain silo, Antwerp’s museum of contemporary art showcases Belgian and international contemporary art dating from 1970 onward.
- Fort Sint-Filips: Located along the Scheldt, this site combines military and environmental history, tracing defensive fortifications back to the 16th-century campaigns of Alessandro Farnese.
Explore Antwerp with the Free Audio Guide
If you want an Antwerp self-guided walking tour that fits your schedule, download Neywo and let the app lead the way. The app includes 7 walking tours, 1 bus route, and 1 bike route across the city.
The audio guide works entirely at your own pace with no group and no schedule: the app tells the story of each place as you reach it. Discover walks ranging from a 1.3 km stroll through Antwerp’s old heart to a 2.4 km journey across the Eilandje docks and warehouses, a 2.18 km route through Het Zuid, and longer adventures like the 3.62 km zoo and station route. Whether you prefer a short walk, a bike ride, or a bus journey, Neywo brings the history of Belgium to life right where you stand.
While exploring the region, you can also plan day trips to nearby cities like Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, Leuven, Lier, Diest, Blankenberge, and Nieuwpoort.
Places with an audio guide in Antwerp
8 places in Antwerp with a Neywo audio guide. Each one starts telling its story as you reach it.
Self-guided tours in Antwerp
9 tours in Antwerp, free in the Neywo app. Each stop tells its story as you reach it.
- Bike ride
Docks, Béguinage and Rampart Ride
A gentle ride on cycle lanes from the Verbindingsdok in the old harbour into the city's heart. Stop at the quiet Beguinage, the preserved Spanish bridge below Opera Square and the Antwerp synagogues near the station.
Verbindingsdok · Sint-Antoniuskerk · Beguinage of Antwerp · Kipdorpbrug · Province of Antwerp · Monument Jan van Beers …
Open this tour: Docks, Béguinage and Rampart Ride - Bus ride
Bus 17: From the Docks to the Railway Cathedral and Beyond
An everyday De Lijn city line that starts at the FelixArchief warehouse on the Eilandje docks. It passes the Renaissance Hessenhuis, Sint-Antoniuskerk and the Antwerp-Central station, the Railway Cathedral, then runs on through the Zurenborg and southern districts to the Rozenkranskerk. Ride it to link the old harbour with the main station and beyond.
Sint-Felixpakhuis · Museum Brouwershuis · Hessenhuis · Sint-Antoniuskerk · Franklin Rooseveltplaats · Antwerp-Central railway station …
Open this tour: Bus 17: From the Docks to the Railway Cathedral and Beyond - Walk
Brabo's Severed Hand: Antwerp's Old Heart
Begin at the medieval fortress on the Scheldt and follow the legend of the giant whose hand gave Antwerp its name. Pass the Butchers' Hall, the diamond museum on the Suikerrui and the Renaissance city hall, step onto the Glove Market below the soaring Gothic cathedral, and end among the printing presses of the Plantin-Moretus house, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Het Steen · Vleeshuis · DIVA museum · Brabo Fountain · Antwerp City Hall · Quinten Matsijsput …
Open this tour: Brabo's Severed Hand: Antwerp's Old Heart - Walk
Rubens, Merchants and the Golden Age
Walk through the Antwerp of Peter Paul Rubens, from the baroque church of the Dominicans and the House of Literature to a collector's townhouse, the Jesuit baroque church and the world's first purpose-built commodity exchange. Pass Europe's early Art Deco skyscraper and a royal palace on the Meir, then reach the painter's own palazzo-style house and his tomb in St James' Church.
St. Paul's Church · Letterenhuis · Snijders&Rockox House · Carolus Borromeuskerk · Stock Exchange, Antwerp · Boerentoren …
Open this tour: Rubens, Merchants and the Golden Age - Walk
Eilandje: Docks, Warehouses and Emigrants
Explore the old harbour district that became Antwerp's newest neighbourhood. Follow the story of emigrants bound for Ellis Island, climb the red-sandstone MAS tower, see a Luc Tuymans mosaic, cross the oldest swing bridge in the port and wander the docks, marina and warehouses along the Scheldt waterfront.
Red Star Line Museum · Bonapartedok · Museum Brouwershuis · Museum aan de Stroom · Dead Skull · Gedenkzuil Oude Dokken …
Open this tour: Eilandje: Docks, Warehouses and Emigrants - Walk
Het Zuid: Old Masters, Silos and the Walking Gate
Visit the museum district in the south of the old town. Discover the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and its square, a contemporary art centre in a former grain silo, a photography museum on the quay, and the Waterpoort, the gate that has moved house twice.
Monument Schelde Vrij · Hollandse Synagoge · Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp · Leopold de Waelplaats (Antwerpen) · Lambermont · M HKA - Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen …
Open this tour: Het Zuid: Old Masters, Silos and the Walking Gate - Walk
Zoo, Station and the Jewish Quarter
Start at Antwerp Zoo beside the monumental Central Station, the so-called Railway Cathedral, then walk the lively streets around Astridplein and the diamond district to the Orthodox synagogues, and finish by the Sint-Jozefkerk.
Antwerp Zoo · Camel and driver · Antwerp-Central railway station · Pagodepoort · Rubenspaleis · Sint-Dominicuskerk …
Open this tour: Zoo, Station and the Jewish Quarter - Walk
Beguines, Cloisters and Hidden Courtyards
A quiet walk through the northeast of the old centre: the Antonius church, the Olive Mount monastery, the Beguinage with its church and the cloisters of the Capuchins, Grey Sisters and Minims, past the Spanish bridge and the statue of David Teniers.
Sint-Antoniuskerk · Brabantsche Olijfberg · Beguinage of Antwerp · Begijnhofkerk · Kapucijnenklooster · Grauwzustersklooster …
Open this tour: Beguines, Cloisters and Hidden Courtyards - Walk
Middelheim: Rodin, Moore and the Open-Air Museum
Wander the sculpture park south of the city. See Rodin's Balzac and The Age of Bronze, Moore's King and Queen, Maillol, Marino Marini and Giacomo Manzu, and Chris Burden's Beam Drop in a green setting.
Middelheim Museum · La Rivière · Judith · Fountain · Koning en Koningin · Schalenboom …
Open this tour: Middelheim: Rodin, Moore and the Open-Air Museum
Walk Antwerp with Neywo
Neywo turns Antwerp into a self-guided audio tour. Stories arrive as you reach the place they belong to, and the route reshapes when you wander off it.
