Discover the wonders of bustling Antwerp in one short trip

He looks like an ordinary tourist, dressed in casual clothing, but what’s inside his luggage marks him out as different.

“There are probably around £2 million-worth of uncut diamonds in there,” my guide, Ariane, casually explains.

Ariane is showing me round Antwerp’s famous diamond district and this man is, in fact, a diamond courier, responsible for transporting stones to one of the dozens of jewel exchanges here.

I’m slightly concerned he may be a target for robbers, but Ariane points out that there are over 50 CCTV cameras on this street alone, along with countless discreet security officers.

Since the 16th Century, Antwerp has been known for its diamond trade, steadily rising to become the hub of a global industry worth billions – around 80 per cent of the world’s diamonds pass through here, and a shiny new diamond museum, DIVA, is scheduled to open in May.

It’s a rather unprepossessing area, though, and doesn’t quite live up to the sparkling image I had in my mind.

Luckily, not far away is one of the city’s most magnificent buildings, and if you’re canny, you can make sure it’s the first thing you see when you arrive here.

How? By taking the Eurostar to Brussels and hopping on a local train to Antwerpen-Centraal.

When you get off, I predict you will be utterly dazzled. Antwerp’s main station, constructed between 1895 and 1905, could give New York’s Grand Central a run for its money.

From the outside, it looks like an elaborate palace. Inside, the huge, vaulted roof is a masterpiece of iron and glass, while the entrance lobby looks like a temple, with a high domed ceiling and marble pillars.

Clearly, the city is not short of a bob or two. In fact, Antwerp has always been rather wealthy (and not just because of its diamonds).

It was a thriving port and trading centre in the 15th Century, also establishing a successful stock exchange, and, while its fortunes dipped over the next few hundred years, they rose again in the mid-19th Century.

As a result, its citizens grew to like the finer things in life, and to this day, they still love to shop.

One of the main city arteries, which runs from the station down to the Old Town and its iconic, Gothic cathedral, is Meir street.

The jaw-droppingly elaborate buildings at its upper end, many topped with gilded statues, were all originally used for retail.

Today it’s lined with malls and high-street chains, and on a brisk Saturday afternoon it’s utterly packed.

Behind it lies Schuttershofstraat, home to independent designer boutiques and a series of elegant cobbled streets clustered around the old theatre, known as the Latin Quarter.

Here, Chanel rubs shoulders with Louis Vuitton, housed in distinctive old step-gabled buildings.

There’s plenty of art to marvel at here, too. On Wapper Square, located in between Schuttershofstraat and Meir, is the original home and studio of one of Antwerp’s most famous former residents, Peter Paul Rubens.

Lauded for his baroque style (in June, the city will host a Baroque festival inspired by his works, as well as other art, theatre, music and architecture), the 17th Century artist became highly influential – as did one of his friends, Sir Anthony Van Dyck, who moved to England and became court painter to King Charles I.

Inside, you’ll see his rather small bed (people in those days slept sitting up, apparently to aid digestion), as well as many of his own works. More contemporary art can be found at Museum aan de Stroom, or MAS, a handsome building shaped like stacked cubes in Antwerp’s recently developed docklands area, known as Eilandje (“the little island”).

I’m drawn, however, back to less modern styles; behind the cathedral is the vast Grand Place, or Grote Markt, marked at one end with another Gothic edifice, the imposing City Hall, surrounded by tall, narrow, step-gabled former guild houses.

In the centre is the statue of mythical Roman soldier Silvius Brabo, who’s said to have killed a giant that terrorised people wanting to cross the river, cutting off their hands if they didn’t pay a toll.

Brabo then apparently cut off the giant’s hand and threw it into the river. 

In Dutch, “hand werpen” means “to throw a hand”, and legend has it that the name of the city is derived from the phrase. Who knows if that’s really true or not.

All I know, as I wander around the nearby streets, crammed with cosy-looking bars, cafés and restaurants, and take in the alluring, bustling atmosphere, is that Antwerp truly is a gem.

The Eurostar from London to Antwerp via Brussels starts from £35 one way. To find out more, visit eurostar.com.

Double rooms at Hotel Indigo start from £93 per night. Book at hotelindigo.com.

For more information, go to visitantwerpen.be/en.

Top 10 things to do in Antwerp

1 Order a waffle with strawberries and extra-thick whipped cream at Désiré de Lille (desire delille.be).

2 Explore Antwerp’s old network of streams, canals and even bridges, which have been buried underground over the centuries at De Ruien (ruien.be).

3 Take home a pack of hand-shaped biscuits or chocolates, modelled on the symbol of Antwerp.

4 Tour the De Koninck brewery and learn about the origin of the iconic “bolleke”, the distinctively shaped glass the beer is served in (dekoninck.be).

5 Pimp up your chips at Frites Atelier, designed by a Dutch chef, where your potato portion can come with a range of tasty toppings, such as Flemish stew.

6 Walk under the Scheldt river by taking the St Anna’s tunnel, which connects the left and right banks, via an original 1930s lift or escalator.

7 Brave a shot of Elixir d’Anvers, a bright yellow herbal liqueur made locally since 1863 using 32 different plants.

8 Take a selfie sitting in the giant stone hand sculpture on Meir street.

9 Be the king or the queen of the castle at Het Steen, an ancient fortress by the river and the oldest building in Antwerp.

10 Visit the Red Star Line Museum (redstarline.be/en) to find out how the shipping company started, ferrying passengers between Antwerp and the USA.