Northeast Belgium

Antwerp (Antwerpen/Anvers in Dutch/French) is Belgium’s second city, biggest port and capital of cool. It has long been a powerful magnet for everyone from fashion moguls and club queens to art lovers and diamond dealers. In the mid-16th century it was one of Europe’s most important cities and home to baroque superstar painter Pieter Paul Rubens – as many a museum will regularly remind you. Despite many historical travails thereafter, and severe WWII bombing, Antwerp retains an intriguing medieval heart with plenty of café-filled cobbled lanes, a riverside fortress and a truly impressive cathedral. Today, however, Antwerp’s top drawcards are its vibrant fashion and entertainment scene, along with its startling architectural and cultural contrasts.

Far greater than the sum of its minor 'sights', delightful Lier is one of Flanders’ overlooked historical gems. The centre retains a satisfying architectural integrity and it's ringed by a circular waterway followed by a walkable green rampart where the city walls once stood.

Proudly claiming to be Belgium’s oldest town, Tongeren (Tongres in French) has a picturesque old core, is remarkable for retaining several sections of its Roman-era city walls and draws crowds to its Sunday antiques market. Great-value boutique accommodation plus an imaginative dining scene seal the deal and make for one of northeastern Belgium's most convivial touring bases.

With a moated castle at its heart, an impossibly lovely begijnhof, an oversized Grote Markt and a whole slew of delightful traditional cafes, Turnhout ought to be a major draw. Yet for now it remains oddly undiscovered by most foreign visitors, perhaps because the castle is still used as a functioning courthouse rather than a museum.

Lively Leuven (Louvain in French) is an ancient capital, a prominent brewing centre and Flanders’ oldest university town. In term time, and even during the holidays, some 25,000 students give the city an upbeat, creative air. The picturesque core is small enough that you can easily see the sights in a short day trip, but characterful pubs and good-value dining could keep you here for weeks.

A photogenic trio of historical towers gives the extensive Grote Markt of Sint-Truiden (St-Trond in French) a fairy-tale feel that easily justifies an hour or two of your time.

This soaring, Gothic-vaulted cathedral features a 1723 monumental pulpit, a 1630 Van Dyck crucifixion scene in the south transept, and dozens more fine artworks below the stained-glasswork of the apse. But the most notable feature by far is the 15th-century tower, soaring 97m high and dominating the city skyline.