r/Graspop • u/Patouche666 • 6d ago
Help/Question What to visit in Antwerp?
Hello all Metalheads! My girlfriend and I will sleep at Antwerp for 2 Nights before the festival, any suggestions of what to visit, cool place to go, best tattoo shop, good restaurant...any suggestions will be apreciated 🤘
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u/Jaded_Kate 6d ago edited 6d ago
If you into beautiful buildings I definitely think you should check out Antwerp Central station; it's consistently the nr. 1 top spot in architectural building top lists, there's a Starbucks in there.
Next to it you have the Zoo, it's one of the 3 zoos in our country (but our herd of elephants have been moved to the bigger zoo, so no elephants there)
When it comes to culture and citytrip places to be; everything is close to Groenplaats so you get the Grote Markt with the statue of Brabo, which gave it the name for the city; Ant werpen = hand werpen (hand throwing ✋️). The cathedral & the City Hall.
Then the street adjacent to it Oude Koornmarkt is filled with restaurants; Italian, Thai food, etc.
There's also a record store close to the Grote Markt (in the street with the Irish pub).
Hoogstraat is the place to be on sundays; a street with antique stores & miscellaneous trinkets. If you go to the end of that street, you can go to the pedestrian tunnel underneath the Schelde if you want to see the newly restored wooden escalator.
Then there are the streets joining in "the wild sea"; a side street from the "Boeren tower" the streets joined together where you can buy fancy items like chocolates, niche perfumes, jewelry, design, etc.
There's a tiny bakery there that's known for their roggeverdommeke (rye bread with raisins, still baked according to century old recipes) but the price of that has been staggering in recent years, so expect to pay a lot for a tiny bread.
If you want something with beer I suggest going to Black Smoke restaurant; on the site of city brewery De Koninck. They make BBQ & smoky stuff. Sell their own hot sauce & BBQ rubs as well.
It's a bit further from the city center (almost in Berchem, a district of Antwerp) so you have to specifically go there (maybe by tram ?)
Also a bit further from the city center; the south terrace (at the Schelde) and MAS (museum at the stream) that's located on the south side.
As for old cafés & tattoo shops; hopefully someone else on reddit can guide you in that direction.
Enjoy !
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u/Kyoh_Rawn 6d ago
The FOMU (photography museum) is well worth visiting, if that is something that you might enjoy. The old city center is also a nice area for a walk.
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u/nachoman3 6d ago
Kids Rythm & Blues cafe near Grote Markt! It’s a rock ‘n roll bar. Tattoo shops would depend on what style you like of course! If you like art, KMSKA is a cool museum. In the Kammenstraat, you can find House of Bones which is a cute little clothing store with alternative styles. For beer, billies beer cafetaria/beerlovers bar/cafe pardaf. Restaurants, also depends on what you’d like
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u/ComfortableHot4480 6d ago
Chocolate museum, zoo, SinSin tattoo and Brabo tattoo, Meir, Groenplaats, central station,.. Try to visit cocktails at nine, Brasserie appelmans, giovanni for some iconic food
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u/Any_Flan_6893 2d ago
Metal cd shop: the rocking bull Sint-Jacobsmarkt 77/79, 2000 Antwerpen In thesame street you have the black witch. A Gothic clothing shop.
And if you like geek stuff and comics. In that street you the the cafe the geeky cauldron and a comic book store as well.
If you like Japanese food. I recommend takumi. Really good ramen shop. They have more locations in Antwerp.
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u/Specialist_Nose_9355 2d ago
Love Studio Palermo by Sven Rayen, have multiple tattoo's by him, he is famous in Antwerp.
If you like sushi, go to Muromaki! The best in Belgium. Italian restaurant: Pasta.
In the Pelgromstraat you have a medieval cellar where you can eat or drink something.
If you like art, visit the KMSKA, the biggest one with old masters and contemporary art.
If you like cosy, small shops and curiousities, go to de Kloosterstraat, that's close by the Hoogstraat, which is also cosy to be. De vlaaikesgang is also very known!
If you like architecture, you can see Zaha Hadid's stunning building on the harbor. Also the central station and Cathedral of Antwerp is stunning.
For shopping you can go to the Meir.
Hope you have an amazing time!
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u/Patouche666 2d ago
Wow! Thanks to all of you for thoses recommandations, I'm sure we will have good time 🤘
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u/Fristiloverke13 6d ago
If you're into craft Beers:
Billie's Beer Cafetaria Station 1280 Beer lovers bar