Antwerp, Belgium – 20 August 2026

This Viking river cruise is full of itinerary changes and this city turned out to be a nice switch. Antwerp is a city with a long history and a pivotal location. As a major world port, it became a hub of trade and especially for the diamond industry since the 1500’s. There still is a diamond district and a museum providing the history and uniqueness of these precious gems. Of course, Napoleon was here and actually cleaned up the city and built a port.

The walking tour of Antwerp is led by a local woman who provides the history of the city and the various buildings. Along the river is a building that looks like a castle and is even called HetSteen Castle . In fact it is the remaining structure of the city’s wall. It has been changed over the centuries since it was first erected in the 1100s and expanded during the 1700’s. Impressive.

The statue in front is Lange Wrapper – a mischievous giant from Antwerp folklore, known for stretching his body to enormous lengths to startle drunkards and wrongdoers at night. Also used to scare children into being good.

As we walk to the center of the historic district, we pass several original buildings. One is the meat house. This building was outside of the city walls to keep the blood away flowing away from the city. The city had canals back then which since have been covered with roads. You can go down into the sewers for a tour if you are interested….not me.

Once in the city Centre square, many interesting buildings and stories to tell. Unfortunately, there is a beer festival coming on the weekend and they are setting up so some of the buildings fronts are obscured. I am still able to get some good photos of the city hall with all of the flags and of the famous statue in front. The statue is by Jef Lambeaux (1887) demonstrating the legend of the giant Antigone and Roman soldier Brabo, who cut the hand of the giant and threw it into the river Scheldt, from which the name Antwerp (hand – werpen) originates.

Making our way through city streets and into the oldest, very narrow street between several houses preserved as Historic sites. As we leave this area, we are back on a street facing The Cathedral of Our Lady.

As the story goes, a statue of the Virgin Mary floated into the city from the river in the 10th century and was pulled out of the water and taken as a sign to the people to build a chapel. 100 years later, a fire destroyed part of it. Then King Charles V helped to fund the rebuilding and he wanted it to be as big as St. Peter’s in Rome. Needless to say, they stopped building in 1523 because it would have been impossible to finish. This is also part of a trails to Santiago de Compostela from Belgium.

Inside the church is grand with over 52 smaller side chapels built by various groups. There are many iconic paintings done by the famous Flemish painter Paul Rubens. A lot worth exploring.

One of the discoveries made in this cathedral during renovations is that underneath the interior’s white paint, there is actually very colorful paint.

The walking tour ends and we are left to our own wandering for a couple of hours in the afternoon. There is a nice walk along the river and of course, a little shopping for some Belgium chocolates.