By Steve Dinneen
“I’d be willing to bet there’s no quicker way of getting from the UK to mainland Europe,” said Robert Sinclair, CEO of London City Airport, as we stood on the tarmac at Antwerp Airport. The flight we’d just taken was 40 minutes from tarmac to tarmac, meaning you can leave the City or Canary Wharf after work and comfortably make an 8pm dinner reservation in the centre of Antwerp, especially as the airport is located right in the city.
What’s there?
Antwerp is often overlooked in favour of Brussels and Bruges but it’s every bit as beautiful and historic as either, full of grand shopping streets and winding, cobbled alleyways. Even the train station has been called the most beautiful in the world. At the centre of it all is the vast, imposing, gothic Cathedral of Our Lady, its impossible height propped up by hundreds of flying buttresses. Inside you can find works by iconic artists including Peter Paul Rubens, one of Antwerp’s most famous sons.
Most people know Antwerp as one of the world’s largest ports (it’s the second biggest in Europe, after Rotterdam), and while this isn’t much of a tourist destination in its own right, it helped bring about the city’s diamond trade, the biggest in the world, with 84 per cent of rough diamonds passing through the city limits. Stroll through the centre of town and all around are windows filled with the unmistakable glint of diamonds.
What’s there to do?
Belgium is famous for chocolates and beer and there are no shortage of places to indulge in either. You could visit the Chocolate Museum, or you could cut out the middleman and head to one of the many chocolate emporiums. I went to Chocolate Line, owned by master chocolatier Dominique Persoone, famed for his outre creations, including the very pleasant beetroot number I tried. You can also take in his chocolate sculptures, which include a metre-high bust of Frida Kahlo.
If beer is more your thing, as it is mine, then the city really is your oyster. Beer Central Antwerp, located on the main drag, has an entire book’s worth of options to try, from traditional Belgian wheat beer to mad, fruity concoctions. Your best bet, though, is to just meander from street to street, bar to bar, taking in the kinds of places filled with nicotine-stained locals who have, over time, become one with the venue itself.
What about restaurants?
Antwerp has a culinary clout far above the level its 530,000 population suggests, with 29 Michelin starred restaurants (the similarly-sized Manchester, for comparison, has just one). Vying for a place on that prestigious list is relative newcomer Fiera, a stunning dining room in a former trading hall that serves exceptional modern European cuisine (I had sweetbreads followed by a kind of deconstructed lobster ravioli, both excellent).
For something more relaxed but equally high-end, there’s a lovely little place called Graanmarkt 13 in the basement of a fancy homeware store, which specialises in vegetable dishes (but is not entirely vegetarian). Belgian brilliance.
• The new Luxair route from London City Airport operates four weekly rotations from £139 return including taxes. For more information on their 30-plus destinations go to londoncityairport.com
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