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Philip's Biscuits
Exclusive biscuit shop specialising in speculoos (cinnamon-flavoured biscuits) and peperkoek (honey cake).
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Rommelmarkt
Many a Sunday in Antwerp is spent trawling through the brocante Rommelmarkt, near the river.
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Stadsfeestzaal
The 19th-century neoclassical architecture of this former city festival hall is jaw-dropping, particularly when viewed from the champagne-glass-shaped platform rising beneath its glass roof. The historic building was gutted by fire in 2001 and reopened in late 2007 as an ultra-upmarket shopping mall extending from the Meir south to Hopland, but the luxe boutiques are a bonus - the restored building is the real star.
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Véronique Branquinho
Branquinho's classic tailoring for men and women has confirmed her reputation as one of the new generations of fashion academy graduates to pick up the baton and run with it. Black features heavily in her collections, with splashes of silver and gold.
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Verso
Fantastic location - an old bank building with a gorgeous stained-glass cupola - for this large boutique, which specialises in Italian designers, although there are also a few French names and one Belgian (Dirk Bikkembergs). Women's and men's collections, cosmetics and accessories, plus a hip café .
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Vogelmarkt
Antwerp's principal food market takes over the huge square behind Het Paleis theatre every weekend. Saturday is the big day.
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Vrijdagmarkt
The city's oldest antique flea market has been operating on this square every Friday morning since the 16th century. Everything is sold by auction, with sales going down in fast guttural Flemish. Feel free to throw in an English bid if you see an irresistible antique - the dealers will readily accept it.
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Walter
Antwerp Sixer Van Beirendonck now heads-up the fashion department at his alma mater around the corner, while displaying his outrageous menswear collections in this stark, gallery-like converted garage.
