Antwerp After Hours
After Hours is the Planned vs Rogue series where Katie brings you their favourite things the team did when the cameras weren’t rolling.
Catching Up With Friends
Drinking in Belgium with Belgian mates is obviously a good idea.
Way back in 2015, while camping around Tasmania, Benny introduced himself to a group of Belgian tourists with whom we were sharing the campground. Among them was Chris (pictured above), as well as our good friends Tania & PY. Over the subsequent years, each time we’ve all happened to be standing on the same soil we make a point of meeting up - whether for drinks, or a place to stay.
Making friends who you can visit in international cities is great for so many reasons. Aside from potentially providing free accommodation, they provide a local perspective that you would almost certainly miss without them. They also provide a sense of familiarity and calm which becomes invaluable when you’re away from home for months on end.
When Antwerp made it onto our destination list we hit Chris up right away. Although Chris and his partner Juliette live a few hours south from Antwerp, they decided to come up for the night to hang out with us. After a few drinks and a classic Belgian-style kebab, we were enjoying each other’s company so much that we made plans to have breakfast the next morning before they headed back home. Even though this was only a couple of weeks into our trip, it provided us with an extremely welcome sense of comfort and socialisation that we were already missing from our regular lives.
Becoming a Cafe Regular
Our regular breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien
In Antwerp, Benny and I thought we’d be very thrifty in our choice of accommodation at the Budget Ibis. It cost only half of our weekly accommodation budget, despite it’s central location. However, the hidden cost became immediately clear as we realised we had literally no food facilities in our room. No bar fridge, no kettle, nothing. As a result, we became very well acquainted with the lovely cafe next door to the hotel, Le Pain Quotidien.
This became our regular breakfast spot, enjoying simple meals of eggs, bread, fruit and coffee. Although this is not something we typically do on a trip, having this ritual did make us feel like we were mingling with locals and living some semblance of a ‘normal’ life in that week.
We also visited the same kebab shop on more than one occasion that week, and were surprised when the staff remembered our order after only one visit. This kebab shop was CENTRAL, surrounded by bars, casinos and hotels. But something about this Australian couple must have stood out, saving us valuable seconds in the ordering process on our return.
Returning to the Geeky Cauldron
Recognise the pipes behind Katie’s head? The Geeky Cauldon played a key role in Benny’s Rogue Day in Antwerp.
By now, you should have watched our episode in Antwerp. If you haven’t - why not?! Go now!
If you have already watched it, you may recognise the wall behind Katie in the above image from the second stop on Benny’s Beer Tour of Antwerp. The Geeky Cauldron left such a positive impression on us that we returned not once, but twice. Our first return was with our friends Chris and Juliette, and the second time was purely because we had spare time and we knew it would not go to waste there.
With a fun theme, impressive drinks last covering beer, cocktails, and exciting non-alcoholic beverages, and amazingly friendly service in a central location, this is a bar we would happily return to. And if you’re like me and certainly not any kind of fantasy or sci-fi geek, don’t let that put you off! I seriously had so much fun there, and would recommend it to anyone visiting the city.
Drinking Traditional Belgian Beers
Benny really getting into his Kwak beer in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp.
I’m just going to say it - Belgium is my favourite country to drink beer in. I adore the old styles, the ambient serving temperatures, the bespoke glasses for each brewery… it’s just my thing. Before our 2023 trip, I enjoyed beer but wine was my go-to. Now, when I fancy a drink, I reach for a beer and the more traditional style, the better.
Belgium has such a deep history with beer, and is home to some of the most exclusive and sought-out brews in the world. Many Trappist beers are still brewed by monks across the country, but Westvleteren’s are the cream of the crop. While we didn’t make it to the monastery (or to be more specific, the gift shop where you buy the extremely limited supply beers), we were lucky enough to try one the highly coveted Westvletern 12 at Kulminator (this is another bar from Benny’s Rogue Day that we went back for in our own time).
I’m not going to go through and list every amazing beer we had during our week in Antwerp. Luckily, Benny has already done that so I highly recommend having a read. Instead I will just reinforce my point: Belgium is the top of the beer ladder as far as I’m concerned, and Antwerp is a fantastic place to experience this magic.
Admiring Central Station
Truly a beautiful building to stroll through.
Central train stations all around the world are known for their architectural beauty and historical insights. Antwerp’s own Central Station certainly hits these marks, having been constructed in 1836 and still showcasing many of it’s original features. Numerous publications have named it in the top 10 most beautiful stations around the world, and when strolling through it’s not hard to see why.
We happened to stay in a hotel next to the station, but on the opposite side to where the main city was. This meant we had ample opportunity to shortcut through the building whenever going out or heading home. There are also many businesses housed inside the original part of the station, including the BASE shop where Benny got a Europe-friendly sim card. There’s also a Starbucks and many other coffee shops and cafes and boutiques.
Overall, Benny and I had an awesome week in Antwerp. It is a bustling city with tourist hot spots and local hubs in equal measure, so it’s not hard to find any kind of experience you might be looking for. For more tips on how to make the most out of 24 hours in Antwerp, watch Episode of Planned vs Rogue below!
