Venice - The City Of Water

Antwerp is a famous city in Belgium which has excellent examples of Gothic and baroque architecture with a well maintained medieval core and some magnificent artwork. It is also famous for its Diamond industry, ranked as the pioneer in that field.

Brussels, vibrant capital of Belgium, is just 48 km south of Antwerp, has the international airport destination for reaching Antwerp, though its domestic airport is 5.5 kms south of the city. A city bus service connects the main road outside the airport and the city. By car, major highways connect to Antwerp's ring expressway connecting Brussels, Mechelen, Ghent, Brugge and Zeebrugge, and other major cities of Belgium.

By rail. Antwerp is connected to the high speed train network, Thalys, which connects it to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. At a short distance north of Central Bus station, many long distance buses are arriving at Antwerp.

The delightful sight seeing spot of this charming city is Grote Market, offering a blend of Gothic, renaissance and nineteenth century architecture. Also included in the sight seeing list is Rubenshus, the restored former home and studio of Pieter Paul Rubens. Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine arts Koninkliik Museum yoor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen has more Rubens masterpieces than anywhere else in the world.

In the Diamond Quarter of Antwerp, we can see the diamond cutters, who are famous throughout the world for their skill. More than 12,000 expert cutters and polishers are working there in more than 380m workshops, serving 1,500 firms and 3,500 brokers and merchants. In addition, Antwerp's massive port is also worth visiting.

Antwerp city can be used as a plank to explore Belgium due to the proximity to Brussels, which happens to be the headquarters of European Union. Brussels is also quite famous for its delicate handmade lace and chocolate and has a plethora of traditional cafes, bars, bistros and restaurants.

Another nearby city, Ghent features the lovely and massive Sint-Baafskathedraal, where some magnificent paintings, sculptures, screens, memorials and carved tombs are to be found.

As for Antwerp's leisure options are concerned, Grote Market area is famous for all cuisines in gourmet restaurants. For delicacies, local delicacies such as pralines (filled chocolate candy can be tried. Local liquor oude jenever, a smooth hard liquor unique to Flanders and Netherlands, is a favorite drink for pastime. Central Station has lots of discos and nightclubs. All pubs throughout the city offer famous Belgian beer.

The visitors should take the usual safety precautions and beware of pickpockets though Antwerp is not as bad as Rome There is plenty of Hotels, where tourists will be entertained to their heart's content.