Getting Around Antwerp
Antwerp is a compact, largely flat city, and most visitors find that the historic centre is best explored on foot. For longer hops, the city has a dense public transport network of trams, buses and a metro-style underground line, plus taxis and ride-hailing options. Bicycles are also a popular way to get around, and the city is well connected to regional cycle routes.
Walking
The city centre is walkable, and many of the main sights cluster within easy reach of one another. Note that many streets in the centre are narrow and driving there is slow and rather uncomfortable, which makes walking and public transport the more practical choice for short trips. A useful pedestrian link is the St.-Anna Pedestrian Tunnel on the Antwerp Left Bank, which has quaint historic wooden escalators and lets you walk (or cycle) underneath the river Scheldt into central Antwerp.
Rail, Metro and Trams
Belgium has an extensive rail network, and for intercity travel within Belgium, trains are always the best option. Antwerp's monumental main station, Antwerp-Central, has a distinctive triple-level layout: platforms with single-digit numbers are on the upper level, platforms with numbers starting with 1 are on the middle level, and platforms starting with 2 are on the lowest level. All trains to and from the Netherlands use the lowest-level platforms.
Antwerp-Central is a major stop on the Paris–Amsterdam high-speed line. International trains from France and the Netherlands stop at Antwerp-Central only, not at Antwerp-Berchem. Antwerp-Berchem is a secondary station that can come in handy if you want to start your visit in the southern districts; with the exception of high-speed trains and the Dutch-run Intercity Direct service, nearly all trains stop there.
Within the city, trams and a metro-style underground line form the backbone of the network, with buses filling in the rest. Tickets and passes can be bought through the relevant operators' channels, and the SNCB (Belgian Railways) app is useful for planning rail journeys and for showing you how to get to the station.
Buses and Other Public Transport
De Lijn is the Flemish region's public bus service and operates local and regional buses. Long-distance coach operators also serve Antwerp, including Flixbus, which offers services to numerous German destinations as well as Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and London, and Ecolines, which offers bus travel from many countries, usually in Central and Eastern Europe, and has an office on the Berchem station square.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxis are available, and at Antwerp Airport a taxi into the centre costs around €10. Ride-hailing is an option in the city as well, though the source material does not detail specific providers.
Arriving by Air
Antwerp Airport (ANR) is a small airport catering mostly to leisure travellers, with some regular but mostly seasonal flights to popular holiday destinations in Southern Europe, Morocco and Turkey, as well as private and chartered business aviation. The flip side of its small size is that arrival and departure procedures are very quick compared to large hubs. There is a regular bus from the airport to the centre, and a taxi costs around €10.
Brussels Airport (BRU) is connected to Antwerp by hourly direct trains to Antwerpen Centraal, taking about 25 minutes (45 minutes on weekends and public holidays). There is also a direct bus between Brussels Airport and Antwerp, with two stops in Antwerp: at Hotel Crowne Plaza and in the city centre at Franklin Rooseveltplaats, platform B5.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) has a high-speed train station directly underneath the terminal on the Amsterdam–Brussels line, giving several rail options into Antwerp. There is no longer a direct regular intercity train from Antwerp to Schiphol; the cheapest option is the EuroCity to Rotterdam and then a transfer to a Dutch IC train to Schiphol. A new hourly semi-high-speed EuroCity Direct train connects Antwerp directly to Schiphol, and the bright red high-speed Eurostar (Amsterdam–Paris) also stops at both Schiphol and Antwerpen Centraal, though reservations are required and it is the most expensive option. KLM also maintains a direct shuttle bus connection between Antwerpen Centraal and Schiphol Airport, bookable as a KLM flight segment.
Tickets and Passes
For rail travel, tickets can be bought on the Belgian railways website and at ticket counters in most stations. For international journeys, tickets for train journeys originating from the Netherlands are bookable through Belgian Railways (NMBS/SNCB), Eurostar, or NS International, but remember that some tickets — especially Eurostar tickets — are valid only on specific trains. If you cross multiple borders, it is often possible to book your entire trip at once through Deutsche Bahn. Passengers coming from the UK via Eurostar can transfer at Brussel-Zuid to any regular NMBS-operated train bound for Antwerp, provided Antwerp was selected as the final destination at the time of booking. For local buses and trams, tickets and passes are available through the relevant operators.