Antwerp City Guide

Belgium's second city (after Brussels) is a buzzing town, with several claims to fame. Antwerp (Antwerpen) has been the diamond capital of the world for centuries. Armed guards and traders with handcuffed briefcases announce that you are in the Diamond Quarter, while a museum tells you all you need to know and dozens of shops sell discounted 'rocks'.

Although Peter Paul Rubens was German by birth, it is in this city that he spent his adult life, and to which he bequeathed some of his greatest works.

Antwerp's port is Europe's second (after Rotterdam), one of the 10 largest in the world, and principal source of the city's wealth. The importance of the city's maritime heritage will be celebrated from 2010 with opening of a major new museum dedicated to the topic.

More recently in its history, the city gained fame during the 1980s through the efforts of the 'Antwerp Six', as they are known in the fashion world. Their legacy is very much alive today, not just in the Fashion Museum, or in the Antwerp Fashion Academy school, but on many streets, where it seems that every other shop window is a designer statement.

A weekend in this laid back, stylish and confident town (with its handsome main squares, cobbled alleyways, many excellent bars, restaurants and smart shops) will show you just why a recent poll concluded that the citizens of Antwerp are the happiest city dwellers in Europe.