Antwerp in 4 Days: Budget Belgium Day Trips

Antwerp in 4 Days: Budget Belgium Day Trips

Four days builds on the 2 day Antwerp base and adds two of Belgium’s best day trips: Ghent, the better-value canal town, and Brussels, the essential half-day capital visit. Both run comfortably as there-and-back days without an overnight. Need more time, see the 5 day , 6 day or 7 day version, each adding one more trip onto this same spine.

Book these before you go:

Day Focus Travel time / cost
Day 1 Antwerp orientation on foot Home base
Day 2 Mechelen half-day, Antwerp diamonds in the afternoon 17-20 min each way, €6-9 one way
Day 3 Ghent day trip: Graslei, Gravensteen, St Bavo’s Altarpiece 46 min-1h, €9-14 one way
Day 4 Brussels day trip: Grand-Place and one paid sight 45-48 min, €9-11 one way

Day 1: Antwerp Orientation

Land at Antwerpen-Centraal, the “railway cathedral” itself, worth ten free minutes under its dome before you go anywhere else. Walk Meir toward Grote Markt (20-25 minutes) or ride a De Lijn tram, about €3 a trip (current fares at delijn.be ).

Grote Markt, the guild houses, and the Brabo Fountain cost nothing to see. The MAS rooftop panorama, also free, gives a full 360-degree view over the port and river without a museum ticket. Lunch is a frituur cone, €3-5; dinner, a budget bistro plate with a Bolleke, runs €20-25.

Day 1 spend: roughly €25-32, hotel not included.

Day 2: Mechelen Half-Day, Then Antwerp’s Diamonds

Morning: the train to Mechelen takes 17-20 minutes, roughly €6-9 one way, the shortest and cheapest of any Belgian day trip from Antwerp. St Rumbold’s Cathedral and its carillon anchor a compact, walkable old town, genuinely covered by lunchtime; don’t plan a full day around it. Check current hours at visitmechelen.be .

Afternoon: back in Antwerp by early afternoon, walk the Diamond District for free, respectfully, since much of it closes Saturdays and Jewish holidays given the neighborhood’s large Orthodox Jewish community.

Evening: a Bolleke at a real De Koninck cafe, €2.50-3.50, closes out the day cheaper than a sit-down dinner.

Day 2 spend: roughly €20-30, including the Mechelen round trip.

Day 3: Day Trip to Ghent

Ghent runs 46 minutes to just over an hour by direct train, roughly €9-14 one way, cheaper and shorter than the same trip to Bruges. Walk the Graslei waterfront, step into Gravensteen castle, and see the Van Eyck brothers’ altarpiece inside St Bavo’s Cathedral; full details at visit.gent.be . Lunch in the Patershol district runs €12-15, noticeably less than a comparable meal in central Bruges.

Day 3 spend: roughly €35-45, including the round-trip fare.

Day 4: Day Trip to Brussels

Brussels runs 45-48 minutes by direct train, roughly €9-11 one way, with departures about every 15 minutes, the most frequent service on this list. Grand-Place costs nothing; add a single paid choice, either the Atomium (about €17) or the Magritte Museum (about €13), rather than rushing both. Current opening hours sit on visit.brussels .

Day 4 spend: roughly €30-45, including the round-trip fare and one paid sight.

Is Ghent or Brussels the better first day trip from Antwerp?

Ghent, if cost per hour of sightseeing is the measure; it’s cheaper than Brussels’ single big paid attraction and delivers a full day of canals and old-town streets for the fare. Brussels wins on breadth, since the Grand-Place, the Atomium and the EU Quarter cover more ground in one visit. Doing both, as this itinerary does, settles the question either way.

Check belgiantrain.be for live fares on both routes before you lock in a departure time, and see the Antwerp Belgium day trips guide for the full ranked list of all 5 trips.