As we are based in Brussels, Antwerp is often our ‘go to’ short getaway. I like how compact and cosy the city center is. You can reach the Central Market in about 20 min walk from the train station. There are  nice restaurants and a great coffee culture. Even if the weather is less great (what we call the Belgian microclimate ) there are great places to spend a few hours indoors as well.

As the Sunday forecast was dry in the first part of the day, we scheduled the outdoor activity first: a visit at the City Zoo. If you are beginning to think we are spending a lot of time in zoos lately, well, you are right. It all started with a set of animal magnets that our son received as a present. He then chose a stuffed elephant and a hippo as his favourite toys that should come with us everywhere. Finally, for the last week or so he continously pointed at animals in all the children books he has.  We took that as the universe telling us to take him to see some animals up close.

The Antwerp city zoo’s entrance is on the left of the train station Antwerpen Central. There is an underground parking in front of station that will cost you about 20 Euro for 7  hours. We bought the tickets online in advance but there was no queue when we arrived around 11h30. An adult ticket online is 25 euro and children under 3 are free.

The zoo is very compact, featuring all the usual suspects: a few big cats, elephants, Zebras, Giraffe. There is not a huge variety of species but the atmosphere is nice and the staff seemed really involved in the day to day life of each animal. As the distances are not big, you can see plenty, even when the toddler insists that the stroller is for babies. In fact, a significant share of visitors on Sunday seemed to be between 2 and 5 years old, dragging around some slightly less enthousiastc 30 something year olds.

The best area for us was the new Great Ape Valley. The entire ape and chimpanzee population at the zoo was quite impressive for a smaller establishment.  We also loved looking at the penguins frolicking in the small water stream in their enclosure, not far from the main entrance..  The slighly disappointing part was the Hippo Adventure Bridge. It is accessible through a narrow stairways and once up, the possibilities are not so interesting.

If your child wants to take a break from the animals, there are two small play areas: one for under 6 years and the other for above 6. You will also find a few caffees and a snack bar but the choice is not too impressive. We brought a few snacks and fruit with us to prevent any hunger induced meltdowns. There are several diaper changing facilities in the vicinity of the snack bars.

You can count on spending aprox 2h30-3h in the zoo and the acquarium building. As we left the zoo, we were quite ready for a late lunch and followed Dekeyserlei street towards the Central Market (Grootemarkt). Within a 5 minute walk, you will see a freshly opened Five Guys hamburger restaurant. Have not tried them in Europe but I still remember the original shop in New York that was pretty good for the ( very) occasional burger craving. The milkshakes were really good too.

For more of a treat, continue on Meir Street and at no 50 you will find Cafe Imperial. This is a beautiful café with an excellent location on the ground floor or a former Napoleon residence: the Palace on the Meir. The interior has remarkable Empire époque decorations. It is perfect for a quick bite in a beautiful setting. You can also choose to stay in the garden, and enjoy a glass of cava in the peaceful internal courtyard of this beautiful building. They have a high tea menu including sandwiches, scones and sweets with coffee at 22 Euro.

The Palace on the Meir is one of the prettiest buildings in Antwerp and an impressive historic pedigree. The originally 18th century building used to be the residence of important rulers such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Willem I of the Netherlands and the Belgian Royal House. At present, the interior of the palace is under restauration so the visits of the rooms are suspended.

To recover from the disappointment of not being afle to visit the Mirror’s Room of the former Napoleon Residence, stop at Chocolate Line on the groundfloor of the right wing. They have great pralines with exotic flavours like chili, matcha and koriander.

After this tasty stop, we went direcly towards the Grootemarkt and enjoyed a leisurely stroll in the old narrow streets of the city center. As Sunday all the shops are closed, the city center was calm and quiet,  giving us the space to enjoy the flemish architecture while secretly hoping that the toddler will remain asleep in the stroller after a full day of running around.

What is you favourite spot in Antwerp?

Happy travels!