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The Atlas Obscura Guide To Antwerp

16 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Antwerp, Belgium

Updated January 28, 2022

Unusual Attractions in Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium

St. Anna's Tunnel

Rare wooden escalators lead deep down into an otherwise staggeringly monotonous tiled tunnel.

Antwerp, Belgium

Het Bootje (The Little Boat)

The patron of this extravagant Art Nouveau confection insisted that nothing less than a boat should project from its facade.

Antwerp, Belgium

Cafe Beveren

This small corner bar is home to a rare 1930s dance organ that still plays tunes for one Euro.

Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp Ruien

An open-air sewer system that was covered piece-by-piece over 300 years.

Antwerp, Belgium

Plantin-Moretus Museum of Printing

Most prolific publishing house in the 1600s open to the public.

Antwerp, Belgium

Nello and Patrasche

This statue dedicated to the story of a Flemish boy and his dog was relatively obscure in Belgium, but a cult sensation in Japan.

Antwerp, Belgium

Kulminator

To enter this cluttered-yet-cozy sanctum of Belgian brews, ring the bell and tell the gatekeepers you've come “to taste beer.”

Antwerp, Belgium

Brabo Fountain

A man throwing a giant severed hand towers over Antwerp’s main square.

See All 16 Things To Do in Antwerp

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium

Cafe Beveren

This small corner bar is home to a rare 1930s dance organ that still plays tunes for one Euro.

Antwerp, Belgium

Kulminator

To enter this cluttered-yet-cozy sanctum of Belgian brews, ring the bell and tell the gatekeepers you've come “to taste beer.”

Antwerp, Belgium

Elfde Gebod

According to this bar, God gave an “11th commandment” to Antwerp: Thou shalt drink beer.

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Sculptures 5 Statues 5 Legends 3 Bars 3 Unique Restaurants & Bars 3 Giant 3 Outsider Art 2 Subterranean Sites 2 Beer 2 Music 2 Tunnels 2 Art 2

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Stories About Antwerp

Is This $88 Portrait the Work of a 17th-Century Flemish Master?

Science and historical research say….maybe.

January 28, 2022

The Ambitious Plan to Digitize 100,000 Historic Texts in Belgium

Two major Antwerp institutions are putting some of their voluminous holdings in the cloud.

by Matthew Taub

The Best 18th-Century Toilets Were Designed to Look Like Books

This shit is lit.

by Jessica Leigh Hester

January 9, 2020

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