Trip 4 · So close, so different
Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam
Three cities on one short line north, close enough to look the same on a map, different enough to tell apart on foot.
It’s one of the easiest trips to put together. Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam sit on one short line running north, with less than an hour by train between each of them. Two countries, no border to stop at, and nothing to organise beyond a couple of tickets. You could rush it in a long weekend, but it’s better over most of a week, with time to actually walk each city rather than just pass through it.
Why take them together?
Three cities that feel nothing alike
Three cities this close together, on flat land, along the same rail line. You’d expect them to feel much the same. They don’t, and the difference shows up as soon as you start walking: it’s in how big each city feels on foot.
Brussels keeps changing between the big and the small. A wide road one minute, a narrow street with cafés the next. Antwerp stays small-scale for longer, with the heavy traffic mostly somewhere else, so you can wander without much of a plan. And Rotterdam looks like a very big city from a distance, then feels a lot smaller once you’re on foot. Taken in order, one after the other, they make each other easier to see. So close, and so different on foot.
The route, south to north
Three cities, one short line north
Each city walked at street level and read through the Travel Without Chaos Index: walkability, street life, and places to pause.
The practical part
Getting between the cities
The train is the natural way to do this route. Both legs are short, the trains run often, and the stations put you close to where you’ll want to walk. Many people only do one of these legs, so here they are, one at a time.
Brussels to Antwerp by train
About forty minutes. Trains leave several times an hour, and most of them go direct. Flat fields, a stop in Mechelen, houses closer and closer together, and then you step off in Antwerpen-Centraal, often named one of the most beautiful railway stations in the world. In the main hall, a lot of people just stand there for a moment and look up. It’s quite a way to arrive in a city.
Good to know — trains to Antwerp run from all three main Brussels stations: Brussels-Central, Brussels-North and Brussels-Midi. Central is the one in the middle of town. Antwerpen-Centraal is within walking distance of the old centre.
Antwerp to Rotterdam by train
Normally, a direct train, and less than an hour. One border into a new country, though you barely notice crossing it, and the land stays flat the whole way. When we travelled, there was a rail strike, so we took the bus instead. It leaves right by Antwerpen-Centraal and took about an hour and a half. Slower, but it got us there.
Good to know — direct trains run from Antwerpen-Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal, taking roughly 35 minutes to an hour depending on the service. Check for strikes before you go. If the trains aren’t running, the bus is a workable plan B.
Three cities, an hour and a half apart, and three very different ways of feeling a city on foot. Every city gets its own full walk.