Antwerp was nothing like I expected. I had only ever heard people talk about Antwerp in relation to diamonds and that was exactly the reason my fiancé had taken me there for the weekend, to find my dream engagement ring. Clearly, the objective of the weekend was ring shopping but I couldn’t help but be distracted by this wonderfully charming little city.
I’ll begin with the journey. We landed following a short flight into Brussels airport. We strolled out to the bus platform and within 5 minutes a bus pulled in and took us into the city centre within half an hour for €10, these buses depart every half hour. Our hotel, the Park Inn Antwerpen, was 100 metres from the drop off point and situated on this beautiful little square, alongside the diamond museum, the central zoo and central station. Check in was smooth and our room was excellent. I was very pleasantly surprised as given the location and reasonable price I thought the room would be far more basic. Instead it was very spacious with a huge bed and contemporary design. Everything was spotless and we also had a lovely big bathroom. So with that we took to the streets and it just kept getting better. All of the diamond stores we had appointments with were literally within 2 minutes walking distance, so much so that within the space of a few hours I had found my perfect ring. Whilst the ring was being set I popped into a sweet little salon and had a manicure for only €20 whilst hubby to be went for a sneaky pint. Once we had the ring collected we returned to the hotel for a quick shower and change and were delighted to find that we still had loads of time left to explore the city.
Once we strolled outside our hotel into the main square we soon stumbled across a whole district of restaurants and bars. We ventured into Kelly’s Irish bar and enjoyed the atmosphere and a few drinks whilst watching rugby. We then took the 10 minute stroll from our hotel in the Diamond District towards the old city. The main streets along the way were lined with many fashionable high street shops and boutiques. We stopped for dinner and had wonderful pizza at Da Giovanni, a massive pizza each and two bottle of wine for less that €20. We also ate in Isola Sarda the following night and that really was excellent. But excellent food aside, the highlight of the trip for me (besides the ring) was the spectacular architecture of the old city. Gothic architecture and amazing churches with gargoyles and the lot. I could go on but all in all Antwerp really blew me away.
Other great hotels that we also came across over the weekend with superb locations include the Leopold Antwerp, the Radisson Blu Astrid and the Astoria Hotel.
