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Diamonds, docks and Rubens, the prosperous trading city of Antwerp both dazzles and intrigues. Easily reachable from Amsterdam or Brussels, well-known for its array of historic brown cafés and lively social scene. There are dozens of venues notable either for their impressive beer selection, preserved interior or downright authenticity and you will come away with an impression of a distinctive city, even by comparison to superficially similar nearby cities like Ghent and Rotterdam.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

The Route Map:

Stop #1 is Café Kulminator 🇧🇪 

One of the best beer venues in Europe isn’t a bad place to begin. Notable for its special qualities aside of that, too. Dirk & Leen run the place, now an elderly couple, who have decades of experience cellaring Belgian ale of all kinds. These mature for years – sometimes decades, taking on different qualities. This is the core appeal from a drinking perspective. From a pub-going perspective it hardly gets homelier with surroundings that put you at ease, like being in someone’s living room rather than a pub. Cluttered and personalised with books, games, comfy seating and made welcome by Leen’s kindly service. Dirk is a bit more of a loose cannon, sometimes grumpy, sometimes in a stupor, tolerating what’s happening but no more than that. This culminates (get it!) into a really special, intimate and lovely experience. Those who don’t care for clutter or idiosyncratic service are advised to seer clear. Check opening times carefully which reduce as the years go by, and on entering do confirm that you are there to ‘taste a nice beer’ – do not refer to drinking.

If you have found the strength to drag yourself away from the place, let’s move on:

Stop #2 is Billie’s Bier Kafeteria 🇧🇪 

Billie’s is certainly a distinctive venue. If you prize craft beer above all else you will want to visit, with tap options that are more relevant, contemporary and varied, presented with the familiar craft focus on pales, stouts and sours, which makes a change from some of the traditional Antwerp bars. A large dog mural outside is iconic as is its typically eye catching tiled floor – you’ll soon get used to the fact nearly all Antwerp bars have their own distinctive floor patterns! Positioned as an Estaminet, you’ll notice a prevailing foody smell and may wish to use this opportunity to eat something and have stomach padding for the drinking ahead.

Moving on, be sure to take an amble to Groenplaats with handsome views of Antwerp cathedral.

Stop #3 is De Ware Jacob 🇧🇪

Not as old as it looks, with fixtures salvaged from other venues. Features a pagaddertrappen staircase and is owned by people with a love of nostalgia and preservation. Extensive beer list with beers from all breweries in Antwerp, poetry recitals and an interior that is so ur-typical of the style, it cannot be passed over. A beloved venue of beer writer and explorer Fred Waltman. In tribute to his recent passing we’ve shared a couple of his photographs from the place below. Here is yet another bar that in most towns in Europe would be the venue in town by a long stretch.

Now we walk down Hoogstraat to the Grote Markt, the central square, with its dramatic ensemble of tall, ornately carved burgher’s houses, cathedral skyline, town hall and Brabo’s monument. Take your time to absorb this as it really is as iconic as Brussels’ Grand Platz or Brugge’s Grote Markt.

Stop #4 is Den Engel 🇧🇪

A surviving unspoilt café on the central square, this is an venue with a palpable sense of institution about it. Still fairly priced and frequented by locals, you’ll find a more ‘every day’ drinks menu available, but here it’s more about watching the rhythms of Antwerp life, the sense of its importance for local gossip and activity. Even when it isn’t jam-packed the place still feels like where you’d go to pick up on the latest events or find a friend having a quiet drink. That says a great deal. This is before you get to the wonderfully characterful venue with its scorched ceiling, steam heater, recovered signage, blackened seating, array of fire and police hats and yes, of course, another pretty old tiled floor.

Now you’re in the centre you may wish to take a half-time break for an ice cream or a cultural activity – head to the Scheldt, or have a wander around a nearby museum or the cathedral. Remember to stay hydrated! Whenever you’re ready to move on, let’s go!

Stop #5 is Het Elfde Gebod 🇧🇪

One of the most touristic cafés in the city, we had reason to pause before including this, but if you can stomach the sense of churn, there’s a lot to like. An extensive beer selection and two floors decorated with religious iconography. The pub’s name means, literally, the Eleventh Commandment. Over 200 statuettes and figurines, some of which are several feet tall in size. Alongside the classic Belgian surroundings of exposed beams and creaky staircases it creates a heady effect. There is no doubt the theme provokes a degree of gawking, and the tourist element is made worse by the constant queuing at the door for a table and table service format. Once seated, matters improve. Service is relatively swift and civil, and the tables allow for a degree of socialising rather than simply private groups. General excitement abounds as it feels almost like being part of an ancient ritual for the first time. With its extensive beer menu and meals, you’ll be well catered for. It’s a shame to some degree that the place has inevitably become a bit gimmicky and over-touristy, but there is plenty of enjoyment to be found.

Stop #6 is Quinten Matjsis 🇧🇪

It argues to be Antwerp’s oldest pub. Whether that’s true or not is up for debate, but more important than its age is how effective it is as a place. A truly beautiful venue with climbing ivy running rampant up the exterior walls and tinted leaded glass in the windows that create an almost holy calm in the cosy wood-beamed interior with its large tables, bench seating, oil paintings and candelabras. Reminiscent of Café Vlissinghe 🇧🇪 in Brugge, not quite as quirky or outstanding, but to be mentioned in the same breath is still a compliment – the venue still remains one of Antwerp’s finest. Take a moment to enjoy the transition from medieval to 1970s as you pay a visit to the bathrooms! 

A stroll through central Antwerp and grand shopping streets along the Meir takes us to the penultimate stop.

Stop #7 is Oud Arsenaal 🇧🇪

One of Antwerp’s jewels, a preserved little brown café with all the cosy/gezellig qualities you’d hope to find from such a venue. Established in 1822 with a 1920s renovation, hopefully they aren’t planning on a 3rd renovation! The patina of character only grows with the years, and the location of the bar next to neighbouring businesses and buildings is so out of keeping it looks like it has beamed down from space. Hugely popular with a wide range of people across classes and backgrounds, with locals jealously guarding it, while never making you feel unwelcome. Beer selection is typical city fare but with a range of lambic sours and gueuzes for specialist drinkers enhancing the offer. As the sense of institution pervades almost everything about the place, ordering a Bolleke of De Koninck – Antwerp’s biggest beer- feels appropriate, where it is often said to be among the freshest and best poured in the city. Check out the resident cats snoozing or prowling around and soak up your personal chapter in this café’s storied history.

Stop #8 is De Kroon van Hopland 🇧🇪

This place takes a brown café concept, expanding on it with funky, quirky, if not slightly macabre decor. There’s a mannequin sat in a wicker chair by the entrance, vague colonial stylings and oozing neon light in the evening alongside eclectic music selection. The adjacent restaurant offers food delivery you can eat in the pub, there’s a social terrace out front and a smart little bar churning out a stripped back selection. The locals don’t seem to mind at all, as reviews attest. Due to its location it is a venue never far from your thoughts as you traverse the city for the next watering hole.

Should any of the above 8 venues be closed we have a series of recommended backup venues for you:

Other recommendations:

Café Pelikaan 🇧🇪 – The tiny dinky Pelikaan has a bright opulent design with early 20th century flourishes that is distinctive, perhaps not to everyone’s tastes but nevertheless memorable. Intimate at times, as locals come and go, cheek by jowl. At night the action overflows into the streets, the bar itself shining like a beacon. An interesting venue and definitely one you could love. 

Paters Vaetje 🇧🇪 –  One of the central Antwerp tour pubs, mere minutes away from half a dozen others, with transient custom to match. The interior is quirky and characterful though with its tiny bar, church window like panels, steam heater and rickety mezzanine level. It’s tiny, cosy and promotes social interaction while serving very good Belgian beer.

De Vagant 🇧🇪 –  De Vagant is a minimalist bar breaking down a brown café into its essential components so mercilessly that it almost throws the baby out with the bathwater. This is an attempt to bring the format into the present day, aiming at a younger modern crowd. There is still ever present café social life to enjoy from the beer to the board games to the rickety furniture. Definitely a venue to have up your sleeve, but unlikely to be the one place in Antwerp you rush home to tell people about. Nevertheless, anything in the top 30 in Antwerp is pretty good, which this is. 

Café De Kat 🇧🇪 – If you were to show someone an example of a brown café, De Kat would not be far away from the most typical of the genre. One room corner café with worn light wood fittings, a patina of age and some splendidly aged elegant features at the bar and across the floor in the shape of classic Antwerpse tiling. The custom is mixed from a core crowd of older regulars to a similarly loyal younger crowd who use it as a fashionable hangout, signs of which are evident by the film posters on the wall. You could do better in Antwerp, a little bit here and there, but you could also do miles, miles worse. In the Top 10-20 best pubs in the city. 

De Muze 🇧🇪 – In the very centre of Antwerp, this live music venue is not only at the hub but is the hub of the city’s social scene. A characterful 3 storey bar without an obvious focal point for viewing the music, but instead a sprawling venue of niches, overlooks, columns and exposed beams. Fairy lights and odd fixed decorations complete the set. Drinks are varied and most people are well catered for here at a fair going rate for the area, and being here feels like you are part of something, something that has been around a while too. This deserves credit, even if it is occasionally let down by people with headphones on on their laptops in a corner. 

Café Beveren 🇧🇪 – 50s style cafe bar with large Wurlitzer – not what you expect from the trad exterior! A colourful change of scenery and great beer selection.

‘t Souke 🇧🇪 –  Full on brown café typical of the style.

Dansing Chocola 🇧🇪 – When brown cafés blend into one, here is a strong option for a little visual and tonal variety – and how. The high-ceilinged venue resembles the sort of space you’d find in one of Budapest’s Austrian-era mansions rather than a Belgian backstreet, and it is decorated with plants, funky bits and pieces and eclectic, going on macabre recovered items. The drinks selection is varied and the offering more unisex than the average old man boozer, certainly. While loungey during the day, this is an interesting and cool place to lounge in, and becomes steadily more so as the evening picks up. Take note. 

Licht der Dokken 🇧🇪 – One of Antwerp’s brown cafés, worn wood and genteel furnishings with net curtain, that is so close to the water, it feels almost like you could be in Rotterdam or Amsterdam. While it may look like a relic, it remains relevant to locals and provides a handy bolthole for the occasional cyclist group or community event, with a rhythm that very much suggests a presence that projects past a few mouldy old regulars. Easily worth the walk over for views of the dock and a friendly little slice of local life. Drinks are basic, but as this is Belgium, that still means there are several good beers to enjoy.

Gaarkeuken 110 🇧🇪 –  A historic Estamimet out near the docks, worn wood and genteel furnishings in a large long room. While it may look like a relic – and it is – it remains relevant to locals and provides a handy bolthole for the occasional cyclist group or community event, with a rhythm that very much suggests a presence that projects past a few mouldy old regulars. A cult venue in fact. Easily worth the walk over for views of the dock and a friendly little slice of local life. Drinks are basic, but as this is Belgium, that still means there are some exquisite beers to enjoy. 

Bier Central 🇧🇪 – Antwerp’s well financed corporate beer mecca. These things are sometimes cause for hesitancy but they have made an effective and sympathetic job of it. The decoration does a good simulacra of a Belgian pub with more beer options than you can shake a stick at. Only a slight sense of churn and tourist focus drags it down a tad, along with a few cents added onto the pricing, but overall we’re pleasantly surprised how effective it is as a venue

Klok (Café de) 🇧🇪 – Simple brown café with leather backed bench seats and parquet floor. Something straightforwardly appealling about it without being flashy. Obviously local rather than touristy, also.

Café Mombasa 🇧🇪 – Lively east end café at the heart of the neighbourhood’s social scene. Well-decorated bar, distinctive and homely conjuring up a buzzing evening atmosphere or a pleasant gezellig afternoon.

Zeezicht 🇧🇪 – Preserved brown café with a pub style layout.

Tram 3 🇧🇪 – Fun-looking bar exploiting an old townhouse to make a bohemian versatile bar with roof terrace and high-ceilinged, bright bar space. Have had a peek and it seemed worth a try to us! 

Biercafe De Jordaan 🇧🇪 –  Very well reviewed beer café and locals pub a little off the tourist centre. Along with contemporary beer options there’s a nice homely looking space with attractive bar area facing the entrance.

De Duifkens 🇧🇪 – A well-reviewed local brown café still patronised by Antwerp folk rather than tourists, with all the rhythm and local patter than entails. Striking exterior with blue neons and terrace on the square leads to a bunker of dark wood with movie posters, beer signage and a baby breaking through the ceiling – just another day in Belgium. Drinks are standard fare for the city, which means at any one time several fantastic bottles are available with freshly tapped De Koninck, allowing you to drink like a local. Be polite and bring a sense of humour with you. 

Boer van Tienen 🇧🇪 –  While there are some gripes about service, those are context specific and can be disregarded. If you are coming for a drink and sit in the pub itself, there’s much to enjoy, from the tiled floor, beautifully aged wood and personalised interior, to the selection of classic Antwerp beers and local life and rhythm to be found. While it won’t hit the heights of others, it will link together a bar crawl well, while providing visual interest and a certain consistency.

Café Boekowski 🇧🇪 – Moving away from the awful pun, this café bar has a charming appearance – and no shortage of books obviously. Piano, sofa and lampshades provide a loungey feel, but this is supplemented by some typically nice beers. Not a brown café, but a bar of contemporary relevance that has a bit of character to it.

De Vischmijn 🇧🇪 – Continual recommendations have kept us interested to find out what this smart local café is like.

Café Pardaf 🇧🇪 – Colourful Deco-influenced bar typical of promenade cafés with curved bar area and a more upbeat look, complimented by a modern selection of beers.

Café Bezemsteeltje 🇧🇪- Witch-themed with dozens of little witch models strewn about the place. Characterful with exposed brick and little niches. Perhaps spoilt by games machines and loud music? We’ll have to see.

Cfou 🇧🇪 – A change of speed, this bohemian bar is more shabby chic than brown cafe, but with its greenery and some preserved tiling it does seem intriguing, further still with the excellent reviews

De Konincklijke Snor 🇧🇪 – Characterful old pub with exposed beams, personalised lived-in space and live music events which it is best known for. 

De Hovenier 🇧🇪 – A popular brown café with a younger crowd and more fun feel.

In de stad Aalst 🇧🇪 – Brown café with a dinky bar and a very local working class crowd.

Interested in more Belgian bars? Head over to our Belgium 🇧🇪 page!