Antwerp
Overlooking one of Antwerp's most underrated architectural glories (Borgerhout Town Hall) this superb beer bar stocks well over 100 choices (including…
Must-see nightlife in Northeast Belgium
Leuven
The 30 bars that cram together on Oude Markt form one huge mass of happy drinkers whose chatter and midnight whoops reverberate around the baroque gables…
Antwerp
In a series of old warehouses transformed by an artists' collective, this magical hang-out has concrete floors, barely hanging together arrays of old…
Antwerp
Little has changed since 1924 at this congenial bruin café (traditional pub) that attracts grizzled elderly locals with its exceptionally reasonable beer…
Northeast Belgium
At this cyclist's dream cafe, you can relax with a great coffee (from €2.30) or a specially bicycle-themed beer (from €2.90) microbrewed by Brouwerij…
Northeast Belgium
The bare boards of this youth favourite have a well-loved patina, the vine threatens to break chunks out of the verandah and the rear riverside terrace…
Antwerp
More than 200 types of jenever (gin; €3 to €20) are served in this timeless, bare-boards local café decorated with posters and enamel signs.
Antwerp
A great dance venue with a decent-sized yet still intimate dance floor. It's most famous for its Saturday male-only gay night. There's also Thursday…
Antwerp
Antwerp's new kid on the beer block is reincarnated Seef. To taste their full range of offerings (beers €3 to €3.50) head directly to their fashionably…
Northeast Belgium
Operational since 1471, Het Anker is one of Belgium's oldest and most celebrated breweries. Most days there's at least one brewery tour (€8, two beers and…
Northeast Belgium
This congenial, unthreateningly inclusive wine bar makes oenology accessible to novices by listing its ever-changing by-the-glass menu as a short series…
Leuven
Coffeeshop, bar, restaurant and hip community meeting place all combine in the lovable little triangle of creativity that is Bar Stan, around 15 minutes'…
Antwerp
The decor is a mad mix of voodoo, Carribean, Pacific and Japanese elements and nine piranhas cruise in the centrepiece fish tank. The list of premium rums…
Northeast Belgium
If you're on a Belgian beer pilgrimage, it's hard to resist heading to Westmalle. The Westmalle Abbey monastic complex producing the famous Trappist brews…
Antwerp
This classic, high-ceilinged bar once provided after-sales refreshment to market fishmongers. Now it's the place to come for Antwerp's best-pulled pintje …
Northeast Belgium
Half working watermill-museum, half unpretentious brick-and-beam pub, Liermolen is a remarkably inexpensive drinking hole with Maes/Grimbergen beer from …
Northeast Belgium
Some 3km west of Sint-Truiden's centre in the suburban village of Wilderen, this reborn 1743 brewery-distillery has a splendid half-timbered barn-cafe and…
Antwerp
Roasting their own beans for some of Antwerp's finest fresh coffee (from €2), this effortlessly hip cafe is the hub of the 'new Zuid', with a sunny…
Antwerp
Tucked away on the ungentrified central edge of Borgerhout, on a square facing a lumpsome brick church, this bar is a gem of a neighbourhood local with…
Antwerp
Amid the cranes of the old harbour area, Bocadero is an area of sand and deckchairs backed by a series of bars and food stands (no cover charge; beer from…
Antwerp
The very antithesis of Antwerp style, this unforgettable little café chantant is dominated by the city's last remaining 1930s Decap dance organ, a…
Antwerp
This quiet, cosy cafe with a mini-bookshop section feels like a neighbourhood home away from home, with excellent coffee (from €2.50), cakes, simple…
Antwerp
If you just want a cuppa go elsewhere. This place is for tea connoisseurs who want to savour rare Chinese brews like Wild Purple or En Shuy Lu in an…
Antwerp
Distressed brick walls, merrily battered tiles and mismatched chairs provide the atmosphere while friendly, bearded baristas fix faultless coffees,…
Northeast Belgium
Retaining its traditional patterned floor tiles and beamed ceiling, Mechelen’s ‘oldest pub’ is ideal for low-key beery conversations with newspaper…
Leuven
This gently bohemian barista-bar makes work-of-art espressos and flat whites on a La Marzocco machine.
Northeast Belgium
Be it for top-quality flat whites, a slow- or cold-brew coffee, dirty chai or black mojitos, SweetB is Mechelen's magnet for quality caffeine fixes.
Northeast Belgium
With artistically glazed earthenware cups and hefty unvarnished wooden bench tables, Ma Façon is part gin bar, part crockery store, but predominantly a…
Antwerp
It's only open 10 hours a week, but this place is a ridiculously atmospheric spot for an afternoon glass of wine, facing onto the courtyard of the 16th…
Antwerp
Within Antwerpen-Centraal, it's well worth climbing the stairs for at least a quick peep inside this station buffet, a workaday affair set incongruously…
Northeast Belgium
Imagine that you're the French painter Toulouse-Lautrec as you sip a range of absinthes (from €6.75) sitting between Mucha panels and an art nouveau…
Antwerp
Backing onto a park and sandpit-playground, ever-busy Leon is the ultimate locals' local, shape-shifting its way from family afternoon haunt via early…
Antwerp
On an otherwise typical Borgerhout street, this brilliantly unpretentious shop-room pub is owned by Klaas Janzoons of Antwerp indie-band dEUS.
Northeast Belgium
This 1636 brick house in central Hoegaarden has been converted into a brilliantly pitched, jazz-toned pub-café that produces three of its own mellow beers…
Leuven
When it opened, the Capital claimed to offer the world's widest beer range, with over 2000 brews. That has been trimmed a little since, but it's still so…
Antwerp
This appealing wisteria-fronted street-terrace wine bistro and bar offers a good wine list along with an all-day menu of pastries, quiches, pastas, salads…
Antwerp
This fetish club for gay men has the distinction of being the country's most disreputable nightclub, with rooms devoted to fulfilling almost every…
Northeast Belgium
In the historic chapel-house facing the begijnhof church, this little cafe-bar comes into its own on summer afternoons when shaded tables spill out onto…
Leuven
Bringing a lively new vibe to Mechelsestraat, this old established jazz/blues bar serves a fine range of beers including eight on tap, but is best known…
Antwerp
Scruffy-chic Korsåkov is one of the surest places in central Antwerp to find the super-late hipster crowd still getting served.
