Antwerp - March 2026

This brief trip to Antwerp preceded a trip on a European Sleeper train to Decin in the north of the Czech Republic. This train from Brussels to Prague only runs on three days each week and Antwerp is the first stop. Arriving in Brussels on a Eurostar train from London on Tuesday 10 March 2026, we were able to connect with a SNCB train to Antwerp despite a strike on Belgian railways.

It's always a pleaure to arrive at Antwerpen Centraal. However, on this occasion an escalator from a low level platform was out of service but a lift provided the necessary elevation for us and our luggage to the original entrance. After a walk in the rain we reached Citybox, our economical contemporary accommodation for the night.

De Hovenier

An evening in Antwerp provided the opportunity to walk towards the cathedral and visit some bars. De Hovenier, Sint-Jacobsmarkt 26, wasn't busy at 18.45.

For the first beer in Antwerp, it was a simple choice to order draught De Koninck Bolleke, brewed nearby (€2.90 / 25cl). There are three other draught beers and 15 bottled beers, including Seef Bier and Tripel Westmalle (€4.30) on the laminated drinks menu.

The marble topped tables, traditional tiled floor, wood panelling and furniture make this a good example of a traditional bar. The landlord was jolly and a large drawing of his smiling face is pinned on a wall near the internal steel chimney pipe for the log burner. After settling for our drinks in cash it was nice to be invited to return another day. De Hovenier can be recommended as a place to call in for a beer for anyone not bothered by the choice of schmaltzy music that may be playing. 

Cafe de Kat

We arrived at Cafe de Kat, Wolstraat 22, at 19.45 and found a free window table. The laminated beer menu lists 3 draught beers including De Koninck(€3.60) and 18 bottles including Seef (€5.20) and Westmalle Tripel (€4.60).

Tim's choice was Westmalle Dubbel (€3.70). Despite the stylish Drinkt De Koninck neon sign behind the bar, this is a classic beer cafe with marble topped tables, traditional tiled floor, mirrors, wood panelling and furniture.

Mirror on far wall reflects neon sign above the bar

It is one of 16 Antwerp bars featured in Belgian Cafe Culture by Regula Ysewijn.

Jazz Cafe de Muze

Arriving at De Muze, Melkmarkt 15, by 8.45pm, before the 9pm jazz start, allowed us to find a table near the stage and order drinks before the 50 cent surcharge on drinks. Tim enjoyed a glass of Lupulus NEIPA with music from De Muze 5, the regular Tuesday night band. The handwritten beer menu card lists 10 draught beers including De Koninck Bolleke (€4.1) and 19 bottled beers including Seefbier (€5.4) and Westmalle Tripel (€5.3).

The dimly lit large space has a high ceiling, heavy light fittings, exposed beams and brickwork with two staircases to an upper level.

De Muze is near the Cathedral of our Lady which is illuminated at night.

Kassa 4

It's about a 15 minute walk from De Muze to Kassa 4, Ossenmarkt 21, near Citybox and the university. There were customers outside and we were able to find a table inside at 10.15pm. It was nice to discover plenty of traditional original features inside including floor tiles, marble table tops, wooden panelling and furniture.

A variety of enamel brewery signs are displayed on upper levels of the walls. A large blackboard above the bar lists the available beers, six on draught including De Koninck (€4) and 22 bottles priced at €4, €4.50 or €5 (maximum). Tim's last beer of the evening was a bottle of Troubadour Magma (€5). 

De Koninck Bar

The first beer of the afternoon on Wednesday was a Bolleke (€3.50) at the De Koninck Shop which has a bar and seating area.

The main De Koninck Bar is separated from the shop area by an internal opening.

Main bar with high seating and copper vessel in far room

This access was closed with a curtain due to a later opening time but there was an opportunity to get a photo. After many visits to Antwerp this was Tim's first visit to De Koninck brewery and with curiosity satisfied, probably the last. 

Speciale Belge Taproom

In contrast, a first visit to Speciale Belge Taproom is unlikely to be Tim's last.

Cobbled entrance to Taproom with blackboard listing beers

About a 12 minute walk towards Zurenborg from De Koninck Brewery, it is situated in the PAKT courtyard area that includes other enterprises including Caffenation PAKT for coffee. 

View towards bar with tank beers above and Untappd beer menu on screens

It's a friendly place with a slightly alternative feel to it. The brewery motto 'Goed Bier  Goed Volk' is displayed on an overhead banner.

Brewery vessels to the right of the bar can be observed through a glass screen.

From the 'home brewed' beers, Tim chose Al Blondy (€4.50) served in a stemmed glass with the brewery logo and tasting pleasantly fruity.

Ipadawan, a hazy DDH Session IPA (€5.5) proved equally enjoyable. Leaving at 5.15pm we had time to walk back to Citybox, collect our luggage, eat a quick meal at Thai Wok Express and buy cold beers at Proxy Delhaize, Astridplein, ready for the overnight train journey, departing at 20.02 hrs from a low level platform.

The chilled Leffe Blond and Tripel Karmeliet from the supermarket were enjoyed travelling through Belgium and the Netherlands before sleep across Germany until approaching Berlin.

Thursday 7.15am in Berlin - view from European Sleeper train

Antwerp - February 2025

 

Antwerp Central station looks spectacular from inside and outside! Our arrival on Sunday 2 February 2025 only required a short walk west on De Keyserlei, passing Bier Central and several diamond jewellery specialists, and then south near the Opera to reach YAYS aparthotel, just past a convenient Lidl supermarket.xx

The new YAYS aparthotel has no reception with guests using a PIN number to enter the hotel and pre-advised room and is recommended. 

This post will focus on bars visited for the first time and will mainly be useful for anyone staying near the central station or visiting any of the excellent art and photo galleries in the Zuid district. 

Antwerpen-Centraal

Unfortunately De Kroon van Hopland (previously visited) and De Hovenier (marked for a visit) were both closed so three less recognised cafe bars were visited in the evenings.

Cafe de Klok was the largest cafe bar of these and our custom seemed to be tolerated here without much of a welcome. There were only a few customers in the last hour before closing. The sizeable room has tall windows with curtains, a wooden central bar and bench seating with red leather cushioning. The overhead fluorescent lighting might be the bar's worst feature. The Belgian pop music from the jukebox tonight wasn't really appreciated either!

There's a picture of the bar's exterior with Stella Artois branding, in the pages of the bound menu.

There's a decent selection of beers including local options like De Koninck Bolleke on draught and Seefbier in bottles. Prices were reasonable with all six Trappist beers priced under €5.

The bottle of Hopus (€4.70) was correctly served, with a branded shot glass for the sediment from the bottle, although it's left to the drinker to perform 'the theatre of the pour'.

An earlier visit to In de Stad Aalst, before a good meal at Restaurant Sinbad, was a completely different experience.

The small space with a short bar was busy with regulars but we found a table near the front window. A chandelier and many small framed photos of customers on a side wall are reflected in the window. The floor tiles were a traditional floral design. Other decoration included traditional Tripel Karmeliet and Stella Artois signs. The barman simply pointed at a small list of beers, on a wall just past the bar, when asked for a menu.

It was hard to go wrong with a keenly priced Westmalle Tripel here! You have to like music played loudly to relax here and the varied selection included some rock classics including Peggy Sue and Love Potion Number 9.

Like De Hovenier, In de Stad Aalst is one of the cafes included in the 'More great cafes' section at the end of Regula Ysewijn's book 'Belgian Cafe Culture'.

There are two bars next to each other on Kipdorbrug at the junction with Italielei / Frankreiklei. On two occasions one would be open while the other was closed. On Sunday night, Tante Lies was in darkness but De Kleine Opera was open.

This was another lively bar, with local drinkers. The dimly lit interior featured games machines and  neon lighting.

When my chosen beer was not available it was no hardship to accept Westmalle Tripel (€4.50) as an alternative! A new customer was made to feel welcome here but an antiseptic smell did not encourage lingering for long.

Het Zuid

                                            KMSKA                                             MHKAFE (Keith Haring)                 M HKA (Panamarenko)                                                                          

A Visit Antwerpen post mentions 'Het Zuid has been setting the tone in cultural and creative terms in Antwerp for decades. Just a five-minute walk apart, you'll find three top museums ... The Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) ... Fotomuseum Antwerpen (FOMU) ... and the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA). 

Having previously visited KMSKA in 2024, this year we visited MHK A where a temporary Panamarenko - Journey to the Stars exhibit included a spaceship model. 

Absorbing culture is thirsty work and while in the Het Zuid neighbourhood we visited L'Entrepot du Congo which overlooks the new Zuidpark, a green area that was previously docks and then a car park. 

A locally brewed De Koninck Bolleke (€3.50) always makes a good first beer of the day in Antwerp! The large high-ceilinged room has black and white floor tiles and traditional cafe furniture with marble topped tables. At a nearby table, a customer had brought his cat on a lead inside while he quickly drank a cup of coffee. 

The range of bottled beers includes Nello's Blond and Nello's Tripel brewed by Brouwerij De Arend in Hoboken, Antwerp, four Super 8 beers, Gordon Scotch Xmas and Guinness.

View north from steps of the Vlinderpaleis, Bolivarplaats, Antwerp Zuid

When every table in Cafe Hopper, on the southern end of Leopold de Waelplaats, was taken on a Monday afternoon, we walked south to the Palace of Justice 'Vlinderpaleis' at Bolivarplaats.  After climbing the steps we had a good view back towards Antwerp along Amerikalei. 

By the time we returned, Cafe Hopper was still full so we went across the road to Wijnbistro Patine, next to Chatleroi which had not yet opened.

Patine has a nice rustic atmosphere with natural wood shelves. A bottle of Seefbier brewed by Antwerpse Brouw Co (€4.20) made a good local choice. The bar's menu has daily special offers including draught Stella Artois for €1.85 on Mondays and house wine for €2.95 on Wednesdays.

In February, Chatleroi, the black cat themed bar, opens at 4pm on weekdays and we had no problem finding a table soon afterwards! From March 2025, weekday opening is 3pm.

There's a mix of high and low marble topped tables, with basic stools to sit on. The illuminated Vedett sign behind the bar reads 'Rock and Roll never dies'. Appropriately, there's plenty of interesting rock and blues music being played including Dire Straits - Wild West End and Tom Waits - Downtown Train. Draught beers include the estimable Tripel d'Anvers brewed by De Koninck in Antwerp served in a stemmed glass that features buildings in the city.

Chouffe in the cafe at Middelheim Museum

We returned to Het Zuid the next afternoon after a visit to the open air sculpture park at Middelheim Museum where the cafe is also recommended. On this occasion there was a table free at Cafe Hopper, previously visited in 2024, after a visit to KMSKA, and recommended for its coffee, beer and music selection.

Other revisited bars

De Ware Jacob                                   De Vagant

A few favourite Antwerp bars were revisited on this trip including De Ware Jacob (for draught Avec Les Bons Voeux) and De Vagant (for draught Cherry Chouffe) which were as enjoyable as ever. It is always reassuring to find places like this where the owner has a familiar face and runs an establishment to be proud of in an effortless way.

Only visited previously in 2019, it was nice to revisit Beerlovers Bar (for draught Brouwerij St Bernardus Tripel and a bottle of Huisbrouwerij Wapper Saison Wapper) and find that it was better than remembered. Both service and prices were good. Perhaps the secret is to visit on a quiet Monday! 

This visit coincided with a meal at nearby Little Tibet Cafe (Tibetan art cafe, Rotterdamstraat 88) which is simply furnished and serves dishes from a limited menu. The substantial noodle based dishes are recommended and good value. A few beers are available.

Friends have enjoyed beer and food at Bier Central and a first visit was made as it was close to the aparthotel. It proved to be a pleasant place to sit down and take a leisurely look at the 'Beer Encylopaedia' menu, where beer prices are higher than average. On this occasion there was no need to order anything but perhaps another time?

Tim has made many visits to Antwerp and these have been documented by posts in Beer Europe over the years. The web version of Beer Europe includes a search field. 

Some recent Antwerp posts include:

Antwerp First visits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/AntwerpFV2024.html 

Antwerp Revisits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/antwerp-2024-revisits.html 

Antwerp Spring 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html

Liege 2025

The curves of the new Liege-Guillemins station, designed by Santiago Calatrava have graced the city since it's opening in 2009. The major city in Wallonia is situated on the river Meuse, near Belgium's eastern borders with Germany (Aachen) and The Netherlands (Maastricht).

Views from the Namur to Liege train

Liege-Guillemins is normally served by two trains an hour from Namur taking 45-50 minutes for the journey that follows the north bank of the river Meuse. We arrived in Liege by train on the morning of Friday 31 January 2025. Passengers aged 65+ can make a return journey between any two Belgian cities for €8.50 with a Senior Ticket. Tram tracks now lie in front of the station but the start of the Liege tram service has been delayed until April 2025.

L'Aigle d'Or

Taverne L'Aigle d'Or is one of the few Wallonie bar cafes mentioned in Belgian Cafe Culture by Regula Ysewijn. Most of the iconic cafes in this handsome book are in Flanders.

Arriving here just before noon, we were able to find a table before customers began arriving at lunchtime. Blackboards list the lunchtime menu, large arches break the space into distinct areas, several tall fridges are stocked with a variety of beers, a partition separates the bar from the dining area with tables.

A bound menu includes details of 9 permanent draught beers and bottled beers. A further 11 variable draught beers are served.

Permanent draught beers include L'Aiglon, a 5.4% ABV Blonde brewed for the bar by Brasserie Minne. This was highly rated by Frank, a homebrewer from Aachen (humble_beer on Untappd).

Impressively, the menu page for Trappist beers includes 3 Westvleteren beers and Tynt Meadow. Music playing included Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild.

Museum La Bovarie + Madame Bovarie

After coffee at Aigle d'Or, we headed to Museum La Boverie (art gallery), crossing to the island part of Liege using the La Belle Liegeios footbridge which opened in 2016.

Artworks in the permanent collection include The Turnip Washer by Evariste Carpentier. 

The Museum La Boverie shop had a display of Brasserie Surrealiste beers for sale. 

The fridge at the Madame Bovarie 'sandwich shop' inside the museum building with views towards the river Meuse was well stocked.

For our first beers of the day we enjoyed locally brewed beers here. Blanche de Liege is a wheat beer brewed by Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu, 20 km north-east of Liege. Smash is a pale ale brewed with Mosaic hops by Brasserie (C) in Liege. A complimentary bowl of savoury snack biscuits was placed on our tray when we reached the payment point.

It was nice to see Le Plongeur et son arc in the distance, a 2000 replica of a 1939 artwork by Idel Ianchelevici featuring a diver on his hands on the tip of a white arc of a diving board on the opposite bank, as we walked northwards from La Boverie.

After crossing the Pont Albert 1 back to the west side of the river, we walked past the yacht harbour and then inland to Place Saint-Paul by the cathedral before continuing past the historic Taverne Saint-Paul to reach Le Pot au Lait.

Le Pot au Lait

A lengthy passage leads to Le Pot au Lait and there are exotic and colourful 3D murals to admire on the way.

The entrance to the bar is also elaborately and colourfully decorated.

Inside the lighting is dim and a variety of spooky and weird images and objects are displayed. There are plenty of different areas for seating and it was quite busy for an afternoon. Heavy metal music was playing. 

The beer menu offers good variety and value. Beers are ordered and paid for at the bar, which has a surface decorated with a colourful mosaic design..

Beers may be served in a standard stemmed glass as in the case of the Goliath Triple brewed by Brasserie des Legendes.

L'Annexe

To reach our final bar in Liege, L'Annexe, involved passing Au Delft by the university and recrossing the river Meuse on a footbridge - Passarelle Saucy.

L'Annexe is accessed from a narrow passageway (Rue Roture) that leads off a one way street (Rue Puits-en-Sock) and is situated across from Cafe Le Petit Bougnat. It's only open from 4pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Blackboards against an internal brick wall by the bar list bottled / canned beers, cocktails (not shown above) and draught beers. The bar was very quiet so there was an opportunity to chat with Kenny the barman, from Mauritius. He went to the cellar to look for a beer from Misery Beer Co (as featured in Breandan Kearney's book Hidden Beers of Belgium). 

He returned with his last can of English Porter (€7) but sadly there was no Harzington 'inspired by the brewers of Vermont'. 

Instead Hazy Pale brewed by Norm Brewing, less than 2km away proved an excellent alternative. Kenny also gave us a complimentary dish of crisps. Music playing was laid back in style e.g. Ross David - Fire Burnin. 

The bar was still quiet when we left and in a heartwarming moment, Kenny handed me the can of Misery Beer Co English Porter as a gift, refusing to accept any payment for it. Cheers!

From here we caught a bus that took us over the Pont des Arches and dropped us near the imposing Palais Provincial. A short uphill walk leads to Liege-Saint-Lambert station which was undergoing building work and had no functioning platform indicators. Happily the train we boarded was bound for Brussels via Namur and we would arrive back in Namur in darkness.

Obviously, half a day is inadequate to explore Liege fully and it is a city destined for a future visit!

A separate blog post Namur 2025 features bars visited in Namur on this trip.