ANTWERP, BELGIUM City Tour! 🇧🇪 (10 things to do + our vlog)
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- A short trip & city tour of Antwerp, Belgium! In this vlog, we're exploring some best things to do in Antwerp - an often overlooked city with brilliant history, architecture, and food!
We're Brandi & Alan, full-time travelers and creators since 2018. We post fun vlogs and informative guides to both document our travels and help you on your own journey.
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:48 Our awesome little Airbnb
1:30 Antwerp Old City & snacks!
4:30 St. Anna's Tunnel & Scheldt River
6:17 Grote Markt
7:15 Het Steen Castle
9:05 MAS Museum
10:20 Mier & Antwerp Central
11:55 Sights, Souvenirs, & the BEST lunch in town!
14:58 Sunday Flea Market
15:22 Our camera broke. :(
15:53 Thanks for watching! Subscribe for more adventures! :D
24€ is worth it to see the interior and artwork of the Onze Lieve church ( Our Lady Cathedral. Filled with Rubens masterpieces, modern art, architectural wonders, it’s more museum than church. Most museums charge a LOT more for less. We thoroughly enjoy your videos.
One day we would like to!! Unfortunately with being on the road we have to stick to a budget! 😢
Really glad you enjoy them!! Thank you!! 😃
The top floor of the MAS museum (best view in the city) is actually completely free! You can just take the escalators all the way to the top. You only have to pay if you enter one of the art floors of the building.
Ahh awesome tip, thank you!! Next time we visit we’ll have to get that view!!
Being from Antwerp, I myself wasn't even aware of it being free of charge. You learn something every day!
no,you must pay))
@@EricPomen nope, still free.
Whoa. This is like the only travel channel that doesn't annoy me. Nice job guys!
Ahhh thank you! That makes us very happy to hear! 😆
Alan seems like a real treat to travel with. 4 minutes in and his 4th complaint. I won't bother watching the rest. Cheers
He was having some trouble in his workplace at the time, but has since left and is doing a lot better now. 😊
Also do keep in mind that a lot of people on CZcams are far from professional, not actors, & have personal lives. That and a lot of people in the travel genre tend to be overly positive and avoid any form of criticism about a place because people get upset about everything (kinda like this… I didn’t even think he was being negative in that four minutes after a review.. he didn’t like a cheap grocery store croissant? Unbelievable! What a negative person!😱 hahaha)
@@IfWeGoTo - I really didn’t expect you to respond, but I appreciate the thoughtful response. Being preoccupied with work stress would certainly impact your mood. The comment about the church fee, the two digs about the coffee, followed by the pastry comment was enough for me. More importantly though is doing the content you’re happy with and don’t worry about the negative comments. Mine may have been unfair. Safe travels and happy adventures.
@@shanef6957 for sure, it can be hard to be on camera when you're traveling and really only have one chance to do it - and you want to, but other stuff is on your mind!
& I agree with you, sometimes he is a little too honest for youtube, but I don't really think he was trying to be negative... more just giving an opinion - the price was too much, the coffee he didn't love, the food wasn't the best. I do think it was in this same video we had some of the best food we'd ever encountered and he praised it highly.
I think not being outwardly positive about everything can come off as negative when many travel video makers avoid saying anything negative at all in fear of response.. we've even started to haha. But we understand where you're coming from too.
And likewise, appreciate you writing back, makes us all feel better. :) Hope things continue well for you also!
As always, fun to join in on your adventures!
We love making the videos for you guys!! The best part really is getting to share the experience with family! lol
what a wonderful video of Antwerp, thanks for showing us around!
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!! Thank you so much for watching! 🤗
Merci beaucoup pour cette superbe vidéo et cette chaîne riche,
Vous êtes toujours les bienvenus 💛🤗🙋
Salutations d'Istanbul Turquie
Merci beaucoup!
hahaha, the talking 🗑 can at 4:11 is epic 😛, was so unexpected. (but also the foot pedal to open! we need that everywhere.)
Right!! Why don’t more places have that. I hate the ones you have to touch! Lol
awesome Belgium tour guys, nice sharing 👍 and have a wonderful day
Thank you!!! You do the same!! 😃
Very good 👍 🎉Thank you guy’s for sharing your experience in Antwerp .
Thank you for your kind comment!! So happy to hear you enjoyed it! 💕
Hey... Antwerp! Another cool vid.
I totally love our southern neighbour's. And especially their pronunciation of the Dutch language, (that is what the Flanders speak). Had a good laugh at 14:45 🤣 Spicy or not...? 🥵
Have a great day you guys!
Ahh thank you! Antwerp was so cute, loved it! Hahah yeah I noticed most of the text was the same, but totally different accent!
And oh... so spicy. So so so spicy. lol.
You too!! Thanks for stopping by again! :D
Stopping by with pleasure ☺️
We love to travel, but also love to see other people travel and have a great time.( Plus, and that makes you both stand out of a lot of travel vloggers, it feels 100% genuine.)
Looking forward to content in the future. 😀👍🏻
Ahh likewise! Do you guys have instagram by chance? (Sorry if I've asked before... I don't have the best memory lol)
And aww thank you so much!! We really try to just make chill fun videos for our family so that means a lot to hear!!
Nothing wrong with your memory, rather mine, cause you did! And I forgot to answer...
But, myself.. Noop... 🙈
However my wife does, I'll ask her to contact you on Instagram..... If I don't forget 🤣
Your family must be thrilled to check out your vlogs and see your travels.
Also the St. Anna's Tunnel reminds me so much of the under river tunnel in Hamburg, Germany (Eingang Alter-Elbtunnel). (also worth a visit, Hamburg that is, though the tunnel is cool too)
Would love to visit Hamburg!! Do you know how big that one is relative??
@@IfWeGoTo Not too sure to be honest. The Hamburg ones looks shorter judging by your video.
@@NotBROLL Haha we'll have to visit and see!! The one in Antwerp was ridiculously long though lol
There is also one in Rotterdam, don't know if you went there, wasn't in the video.
We didn’t find it!!! No!! What is it called?? Would be interested to check it out next time!
Thank you guys!
Oh no, Thank you!!
Churches in Europe are not like Churches in America. They invested alot of money in the church’s tour such as audio tour, restoration, and others. I used to think church tickets were expensive too. However, once I went in for one of them, I couldn’t resist to go in to others. You should give them a try next time.
Oh yes, I am sure it was lovely, but unfortunately it wasn’t in the budget - we have to pick and choose a few things being on the road! Next time we’ll make it a priority though :)
👍 Nice video! Thank you for sharing this experience with us. Keep it up.
Thank you so much!! Do you guys also make travel videos??
@@IfWeGoTo We only started last year after our trip to Egypt. There is still a lot to learn but it's just lots of fun :)
@@Droomreizen-Dreamtravels Oh how wonderful!! I hope it has been a blast for you guys! Egypt is one of our top bucketlist stops!
Do you have instagram by chance? I love keeping in touch with fellow travel video creators - you never know when your paths may cross!
@@IfWeGoTo Sorry we haven't Instagram, but we can say: Egypt is definitely worth a trip!
No worries!! Maybe we can keep in touch here on YT - I will add you! :)
Happy travels!!
Hi I will be visiting Antwerp soon, how was the public transport there? Expensive? Easy to navigate around? Thanks :-)
Hi!! It was not too expensive! I’d expect standard European prices! Accommodations were a bit cheaper & better location for us than other major cities!
Navigating is very easy! Good train system!! And a small city so it’s not overwhelming or anything!
Awesome ❤️🇧🇪
Thank you!!!
Hey Guy's Have a good day's . I liked your vlog very useful thoose people who wants to go their as me . Unfortunately althought I know English untill now I have never been in abroad . While watching thoose vlog videos like I wish I were in the screen beside you . Hope you good travel . Enjoy it . I wish this year I will able to realize my biggest dream to travel . Love you Guys !❤
Thank you, we are very happy that you enjoyed it!
Where are you watching from?
I hope you get to travel abroad soon, hopefully this year!
thanks for sharing your adventures... as I can't afford for my self...to travel...takecare always...
We are really happy you’ve enjoyed them and can join along in a way! I know it’s definitely a privilege to be able to travel this much and one definitely needs certain life circumstances, but If you ever need tips on doing it more affordably let us know!
The same in Rotterdam a big tunnel for bigs and pedestrians to the otherside. Not had to go to Antwerp for that. Lol
Hahaha, fair enough! Where is the tunnel in Rotterdam??
Hi , thanks for a good video of my city. I see you have seen nothing yet in my city, the smalles street in Antwerp, vlaaikesgang is a the smallest street in Antwerp from 1400 , Philips pakhuis , a very old beautiful area nearby the mas museum ;). need more informatie let me know 😅
Next time we will have to check those out!!! Thank you so much!! 😀
Very nice video. Antwerp holds 1920's Olympic Games. Greetings from Brazil.
Thank you! We are very happy you enjoyed it! We didn’t know about the Olympic Games being held there!
What part of Brazil are you from? We really want to see your country one day!!
@@IfWeGoTo You will. The name of the city is Joinville. I'll be continuing watching your videos.
Next time ask an Antwerpian (like me) to show you the REAL antwerp with the spots that Tourists don’t know but are breathtaking! Because after seeing your video of Antwerp I can say that 1 or 2 days is really not enough if you really want to see Antwerp! And you show food that’s totally not Belgian LOL 😂
Haha we would love to do that!! Getting the locals to show you the hidden parts of a city I’d really the best way to do it!
Sorry , about which places you are talking ?
@@IfWeGoTo don’t believe him there is nothing to do here!!!
Kan je misschien een paar plekken aanraden?
Hi guys , I’m a seafarer and my ship will visit Rotterdam in feb first week and can you guide me about the place in detail and nearby places to visit @ifwe go to
Wow that’s so cool! Rotterdam is very cool! We don’t live in Rotterdam and will be in Asia in February, but if you need any tips feel free to reach out! We have a Rotterdam video also, and a few across the Netherlands and Belgium!
hi you forgot to tell that the man with a hand in his hand is the reason for the name " antwerpen " comes from dutch meaning " hand werpen " , so this man fighted against the giant who asked for money each time a ship passed the river " schelde ", so a herow cut the hand of the giant and threw it in the river .
Yeah!! We did a section on it but I think we didn’t hit record or something because we couldn’t find the footage!! It was a really neat story though, we learned because of the hands all over the city! Lol so thank you for sharing!! Hopefully others who happen upon your comment will learn about it!
❤❤
Thank you!!!
Watching from Antwerp
Thanks for watching!! We loved your city!!
is your friend depressed, or is he a dutch person.
Sorry I don’t understand?
She described Our Lady Cathedral as "Just another big church....supposed to house some cool paintings." LOL. It actually has several paintings by the baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. This is isn't the travel channel for me.
I had no idea! I guess after spending so much time in Europe we were a bit churched out and were a bit put off by the expensive price to enter a place of worship (when most are free or a small fee to help with upkeep/restoration) - not realizing there was a museum inside. Still not sure how extensive it is or if it’s worth 40 euro or not. Many of the dedicated museums in Europe are much less than 20 euro each.
I agree with the comments though, we went about this in the wrong way. We saw it more as lighthearted sarcasm not realizing people would take it so seriously and prefer travel vlogs that are only ever overtly positive - even if it’s dishonest to an extent. (We’ve even switched to doing more of this because of the pushback)
Anyways, hope you can forgive our blunder in this case and find someone better suited to your tastes. We have varied opinions, make jokes, get grumpy, and make mistakes… there are people who literally will never criticize anything out there too though!
Lovely intro. What an awesome cathedral, not an awesome price tho. Wooden escalators would trip me out sheesh. I agree with Alan on the old history and castles everywhere in the EU. RIP camera lens :/
Thank you!!! Yeah that’s always the bummer with hot tourist spots lol.
Such a bummer on the lens, but literally just replaced it yesterday! Finally!
what did you decide on?
What broke was an EF 24-105 f4, but just got the newer version of the same lens - so an RF 24-105 f4! And now I don't have all that extra adapter space sticking off it! lol. I always felt like I was reaching for that lens!!
Aaah antwerp the parking of belgium
the parking?
@@IfWeGoToTheres a saying in belgium: "antwerp antwerp and the rest is parking". Basically saying that no city in belgium is as good as antwerp.
Antwerpen is very nice!
Don't think they have any secret kibbeling though...
It was an awesome city to visit!! I didn't see any there.. should we be looking for it next time??
@@IfWeGoTo I'm afraid it will be a impossible mission in Antwerp...
Antwerp is famous for it's sour meat with frenchfries, it's like the Belgium herring. Famous but disgusting, lol.
Since a few weeks the scaffolding on the cathedral is removed
That’s awesome! It must be beautiful to see now!
most honest unpretentious video I have ever seen and I love your boyfriend common sense.
Wow!! Thank you so much, we’re so happy to hear you enjoyed it! 😊 I also really appreciate that you see Alan’s calm temperament as a good thing - a lot of people misunderstand his mellow energy for being unenthusiastic. But that’s not the case! Hahaha.
Thanks again for watching and commenting! Have a great day! 😃
@@IfWeGoToyou’re very welcome! I am from Cali was in Rotterdam when I watched your video with my two little ones and we are in same place right now exploring. It was really awesome to get some pointers before we head out. Keep doing what you do, simple, honest and real. I just hate watching videos too polished and fake to look good but yours is authentic. Thank u!
Oh so cool!! We're from CA as well - I'm from the Bay Area, Alan is from SoCal!
That's so cool you guys are out exploring the same spots. If you guys ever need any more info or tips or anything don't hesitate to reach out! :D
Thank you again!! Happy & safe travels to you and your family!! :D
Antwerp's nightlife is the best in Europe (maybe second to Berlin if i'm honest)
Wow, had no idea! Sounds like we will need to go back one day to check it out!
never ever call the Cathedral of Antwerp a Church hahaha if you would tell this to a local he would freek out , Antwerp is famous for restaurants and bars , but you just visited tourist traps ... i Think you really missed the best parts of town to be honest
Hahaha… I guess we are not religious so every place of worship is a church to us! But thanks for the correction.
What do you think we should visit if we make it back??
I totally agree on that
Could you share some best spots? Alvast bedankt
I can understand that sometimes for a tourist it is expensive to pay 20€ for an entrance. But knowledge is free, and the way you speak about the cathedrals, the train station or the boy sculpture and the fact that you eat kfc and falafel is the reason why europeans think poorly about americans. You visit such a cultural and historically important places, it's a pity ro miss the essence of them.
Hi there! It is a pity to miss some of the sights, but we've been traveling long term for over 5 years now. Unfortunately, that means we have to watch our budget. 24€ for an entrance fee (actually 48€ because there are two of us) is ok if you're on a short term trip or every once in a while, but if you do that for every sight in every city, you'd quickly burn through all of your budget. We'd rather get to go and see some of a city and skip a few things than not get to go at all.
Same goes for food. We have had some nicer meals abroad, but because we stay long term we often opt to cook for ourselves or for cheaper meals. I don't see why visitors should be looked down upon for eating a little more locally? (Also where did you see KFC? lol)
I don't think we said anything negative about stuff in the city other than the church being way over priced? (Most are free or have a reasonable a fee for upkeep/maintenance/restoration - it's a church! It shouldn't be for profit!). And your comments about the train station and the boy statue... what was wrong with what we said there again? I'm genuinely confused.
amazing no cars on the keizerlei
Hello, your next 'go' should be Uganda,Africa☺
Oh yes!!! We would love that!!! That region of Africa is one of our dream destinations. ❤️
@@IfWeGoTo 😍
🇧🇷❤🇧🇪😍
Thank you!!!!
Red Light District is totally expected as it's legal haha
Yeah it was still unexpected for us though, we just sort of wandered into it lol.
Your boyfriend looks like that kid who goes shopping with his mum looking at female accessories and what have you not, and he's like.. it's been over 42 minutes, and you havent decided yet.!
Hahaha… he was suuuper tired and having some troubles with work when this was filmed. So I guess I’m not surprised to hear that! 😂
You kinda look like Ansel Elgort fr :D
Hahahah he gets that a lot actually!!!
Loved the scenery and y’all are cute but you didn’t have mussels, frites or visit the diamond district?? Would have loved for you to have actually gone inside of the museums and buildings, tried the chocolate and actually dug a little deeper into the culture. Most of this content is already visible without a vlog.
Thank you!
There were definitely some things we missed while there!! We travel long term and we have to make budgetary decisions sometimes!
I think we did mention the diamond district in this video (maybe I cut it out but I thought we had!) as well as try chocolate, fries, and other foods in our other Belgium videos, just not this one! 😃
Anyways, thank you for your recommendations! We’re constantly learning and trying to improve so your suggestions are appreciated!
Antwerp felt a bit like a maze to me. Not a lot of green spaces either.
That’s a far assessment! But it is small so I am sure there are green spaces to be found around it! At least we hope! Lol
@IfWeGoTo There's a small dorito shaped park called stadspark. Anyways I'm used to the Netherlands so it took a bit to get used to the lack of trees 😅
5 minute walk from the tunnel you can take the free ferry...
Oh we didn’t know that! Awesome! Thanks for the tip!
Nice making video love from Pakistan 🇵🇰 come Pakistan explore Pakistan
Thank you very much!! We would love to visit Pakistan one of these days!
Neat castles ... Americans...😮
We Americans are quite fascinated by castles... we don't have too many where we're from! Lol
👍👍👍💚
Thank you!
Jesus had to eat too 😂. Talking trash cans! That’s what the states are missing! Prediction… in 500 years a bunch of tourist will be sitting around America drinking beer.
LOL I suppose he did... I guess after reading about it more that church stores and keeps some art in tact, but idk it rubbed me the wrong way to charge *that* much for a church lol.. the freakin Louvre costs less!! lol.
Hahaha that would be a sight to see...
Lots of new construction prolly cause most of Antwerp was destroyed during WW2
Hm I guess that is a possibility!!
You really didn't have a clue about what to do or where to go in Antwerp, did you? And you didn't get a lot of help from Grouchysmurf either.
If you have any suggestions for next time we’d love to hear it! We only had a couple of days there and went to the top spots mentioned online.
And yeah, he’s working on it. He has sleep problems and works a lot. Have to give him props for showing up and trying - but leaving mean comments doesn’t really help, now does it?
Don't ever call Antwerp "underrated" in Antwerp their ego would explode.
Underrated is a good thing though? Meaning it is better than expected.
Are you maybe thinking overrated?
@@IfWeGoTo No. The joke is that the cliché says people from Antwerp has a really high esteem of themself and their city, so if someone else says "no it's even better", they wouldn't be able to handle it.
Ahh I got it hahahah!!
Ugh agreed! Churches who charge... Just yuck
We definitely don’t mind a little bit to help with restoration or upkeep, but that one was a bit out of budget for us! Lol
Guys, imagine traveling to that beautiful city. Declaring the beautiful view when you walk outside mentioning the beautiful World Famous Cathedral, talking about the amazing works of art inside and how beautiful it is. It's a World famous spot. And then you arrive in front of it, jab at Catholics for charging and then declaring that you refuse to pay $24 euros or whatever it was. Imagine being a grown Man and being this weak. If I arrived alone or with 10 people. They'd say "it's 25 euro to go in..." My response? "There's 6 of us here's $150Euro..." Done....easy... Be a MAN... elevate and make more money if you can't afford to go into museums/cultural sites when traveling... And if you can, you are a Weak Man indeed.... 👀
We travel full-time. If we were on a once in a lifetime trip, of course we’d spend the money to visit. But when you travel non-stop you have to make budgetary choices.
I don’t really think this has anything to do with strength… hahaha. Your comment is a bit odd… you’re welcome to pay for your own trip, take the time to film/edit it, and upload it on your own YT channel. We’ll be the first to watch it. 🤗
so true! He's whining all the time about money. Coffee is too expensive, the chruch is so he'd better stay home if he can't afford it.
Y’all seem to have an endless budget lol… so you are welcome to make your own videos and document your own experience! Would love to watch and know what we’re missing.😃👍
Americans visit Europe and don’t understand it.
Visit a high street. ‘It’s like their outdoor mall’… 🙄
Why did you leave this comment?
@@IfWeGoTo I did not mean to offend you. However I have found many American travel videos (which I otherwise enjoyed watching) often fall for this trap which I find a tad rude - the idea that city centres are just 'outdoor malls' - they are places rooted in culture and history, not just commercialism.
sorry it just seemed like you were annoyed about what we’d said so I asked why.
We get that Europe has a lot more history to it and cultures that have been around a heck of a lot longer, but a high street is a business and retail center isn’t it?
And it’s funny you said that considering we even mentioned that there are historic and modern stores. (And the whole thing we said about the Grote Market/Wall Street comparison)
Comparing it to a place that you can shop… that has many of the same stores as a shopping mall (and American shopping malls at that) didn’t seem far off. And it’s not an insult or anything either. I think it’s normal to have a centralized place where people gather and shop.
You should not include your husband in the videos...... He is like a statue, make him take the video. He cover a big part of the screen too.
Sorry, he's here to stay!
He's more well spoken than and explains things better... and I'm better with the camera. It's a team effort!
@@IfWeGoTo Oh my! It is pleasant to see your beautiful face and you are very good in explaining things too!!
Sorry I want him in these too! First and foremost these videos are for memories! Imagine traveling with your significant other and then never including them in your pictures/videos! That would be so sad!!
@@IfWeGoTo I think your man is fantastic in these's vids. He's compliments has more value because he is so honest. personly i liked that alot!
@@jokersbrain8377 Ahh thank you!! He is very honest and sometimes he's tired from work (like in this video!) but I agree, it's hard to find overt honesty in travel videos!