Things to do in Antwerp today and this weekend

Start at the Grote Markt and the cathedral, with its Rubens paintings, then walk to Het Steen on the Scheldt. After lunch, go to the Museum Plantin-Moretus or walk along the docks to the MAS and take in the free view from its roof. In the evening there is a concert at De Roma or Trix, or the opera on the Frankrijklei.

Go indoors: the KMSKA, the Museum Plantin-Moretus, the MAS or the cathedral. At the zoo you can shelter in the aquarium, the reptile house and the winter garden. The rainy-day page lists what is indoors, with what is on there next.

Winter in Antwerpen runs from Friday 4 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027 on the Grote Markt, Groenplaats, Suikerrui, Handschoenmarkt and Operaplein. The market opens at noon and closes at 22:00 from Sunday to Thursday and at midnight on Friday and Saturday (the Operaplein an hour earlier). On 24 and 31 December it closes at 18:00, on 1 January it is closed, and on 3 January it ends at 17:00.

Saturday 14 November 2026. The boat docks at the Steenplein around 14:00, the procession goes via Het Steen, the Ernest Van Dijckkaai and the Suikerrui to the Grote Markt, and Sinterklaas speaks from the town hall balcony around 14:50. From 13:00 there is a Ketnet show on the Grote Markt.

The zoo next to Centraal station, the free roof of the MAS and, in winter, the ice rink of Winter in Antwerpen (4 December 2026 to 3 January 2027). In summer, Zomer van Antwerpen has circus and theatre for families, much of it free.

The MAS boulevard and rooftop panorama cost nothing, and the Christmas market, the Rubensmarkt on 15 August and the Bollekesfeest in August are free to walk around. Much of Zomer van Antwerpen is free too.

Students go out on and around the Ossenmarkt, the bars and restaurants of the Zuid stay busy late, and the old centre has its cafés around the Grote Markt and the Oude Koornmarkt. For clubbing there is Club Vaag on the Rijnkaai; for concerts, Trix and De Roma.