The Antwerp issue
Walking Antwerp's Scheldt quays after the 2026 reopening
The restored Scheldekaaien terrace, Het Steen's free rooftop, the MAS panorama and the river tables you pass between them, taken in order from south to north.
By Tomás AlmeidaA city read one street at a time
The walking terrace between Het Steen and Noorderterras reopened on 10 July 2026, with its protected 1888 hangars left standing open-sided above the river wall. Barges slide past below on the brown tidal water. The southern stretch through Sint-Andries and Zuid stays a live building site into 2027.
Het Steen and the reopened terrace
Het Steen (Steenplein) is Antwerp's oldest building, a squat grey-stone river fortress with round turrets and stepped gables planted straight on the quay. The grinning Lange Wapper giant stands at its gate and the cruise pontoon is moored alongside. Start here, and go up before you go in.
The visitor centre and the rooftop walk are free and take walk-ins. From the terrace the bend of the Scheldt reads clearly, which it never does from street level. The Antwerp Story, the ticketed exhibition inside, costs €7 for an adult and €5 for ages six to 18; under-sixes are free, and booked groups and school parties are taken. The centre opens daily from 10:00 to 18:00 and closes on 25 December and 1 January.
From the gate, step onto the Scheldekaaien promenade (Noorderterras to Zuiderterras). The raised stone terrace runs above the river wall past those 1888 hangars, riveted iron columns holding up long curved roofs with nothing closing in the sides. New timber benches face the water and thousands of young plants have gone into the ground along the walk.
It is public and free, with no limits on who gathers there. Walking groups form up on it; the sunset crowd fills it. Stay on the reopened northern half, because the southern end is still hoardings.
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Sint-Pauluskerk behind the quay
Two minutes behind the quay, through the Veemarkt gate, Sint-Pauluskerk puts a spiky Gothic church body under a baroque bell tower. Inside it is calm and white-plastered, with gilded carvings on the confessionals and a Rubens on the wall. Outside, an open-air rock Calvary garden is crowded with weathered stone angels and saints.
Entry is free and a donation is welcome; guided visits can be booked. Tourists are not admitted during Sunday mass at 10:30 or Wednesday vespers at 17:00, so come in the afternoon. Winter hours are Friday to Sunday, 14:00 to 17:00, with Flemish school holidays added; from 2 May it opens daily, 14:00 to 17:00.
The church stays largely free of visitors even when the quay outside is full, which is reason enough to walk the extra block inland.
Crossing the Scheldt
Sint-Annatunnel (entrance hall at Sint-Jansvliet) starts in an art-deco brick hall and sinks into a long white-tiled tube under the river. The 1930s escalators, wooden treads and wooden balustrades, are the reason to go down. The tunnel is free and open 24/7, and you surface on Linkeroever facing the full Antwerp skyline.
Escalator maintenance happens on Thursdays and the lifts queue at times. Allow for both if you are walking to a booked table on the far bank.
DeWaterbus (Steenplein jetty) makes the same crossing on the water for €1 to Sint-Anna, and the small low-slung catamaran lines up the cathedral spire and the MAS tower behind you as it pulls away. The northern and southern routes cost €5 single and €7.50 return. Pay by card or app on board; the counter at Steenplein takes cash only. Fares were re-indexed and the timetable expanded on 1 November 2026, so work from current figures rather than an old printout.
Flandria (Steenplein pontoon) sails a white double-deck excursion boat with rows of blue seats on the open top deck. The 1.5-hour city cruise starts at €21. With time to spare, take the two to three hour port cruise: it costs more, carries a live guide, and runs out through the docks past container gantries and lock gates. Sailings thin out sharply in winter, so check the calendar before you build a day around one.
The northern quays
North of the promenade the quays turn industrial. Red Star Line Museum (Rijnkaai) occupies restored red-brick and corrugated-iron warehouse sheds with a slim modern glass lookout tower beside them. Two million people sailed for America from these sheds, and the rooms inside hold stacked emigrant trunks and the disinfection halls they passed through.
Entry is €10 standard and €6 reduced, rising to €12 and €8 while a temporary exhibition runs. Guided tours and school visits can be booked in advance. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and closes Mondays. Allow an hour; of everything on the quays, this is the hour that stays with you.
MAS | Museum aan de Stroom stacks 60 metres of red Indian-sandstone boxes in a spiral, each level turned, with wavy floor-to-ceiling glass panels and small silver hand motifs set into the stone. An escalator boulevard zig-zags up the outside. The galleries hold the city's port-and-world collection and cost €12 standard, €8 reduced.
Go up even if you skip the galleries. The boulevard and the panorama roof are always free, open 09:30 to 22:00 Tuesday to Sunday, and to midnight from 1 April to 30 October. The museum closes Mondays.
Zilte sits on the ninth floor of the MAS tower, so Viki Geunes' seafood-led three-star comes with full-height glass on three sides over the docks, the cranes and the river bend, in a muted grey-and-oak room. Tasting menus run into three figures per person. Reservations open in monthly batches and private dining is limited, so this stays a small-party booking. It reopens in Antwerp on 10 November 2026.
Havenhuis (Port House) is Zaha Hadid's last completed European building: a faceted diamond-cut glass volume cantilevered out above a restored 1920s Hanseatic-style brick fire station like a ship's prow, mirrored whole in the dock water. People photograph it as much as they photograph the cathedral. The ground floor is open on weekdays and free.
The panoramic lift is what you come for, and it only comes with the guided tour. Tours run 90 minutes for a maximum of 20 people, and the individual tours are in Dutch only. Book ahead and check the language before you turn up.
Eating and drinking on the water
RAS (in the Zuiderterras building) stands on legs over the quay, Bob Van Reeth's black-and-white striped postmodern pavilion with ocean-liner ribbon windows and a freestanding clock tower beside it. The river fills the glass from every table. Mains run €28 to €40, and the house now carries the RAS name in the Michelin 2026 selection. Book ahead for a window table or the terrace, and aim the terrace at sunset.
Het Pomphuis (north end of the dock quays) is an Edwardian brick pumping station straddling a dry dock, with enormous arched windows and riveted black steel pump machinery left standing in the middle of the dining room under a vaulted roof. Mains are €26 to €38 and the lunch menus cost less. It opens daily, Saturdays evening only. Take the tram or a taxi out.
Café Beveren (at the foot of Het Steen) is one no-frills Flemish room with a 1937 Decap dance organ filling a whole wall, a lit art-deco cabinet of pipes, mirrors and accordion fronts. Feed a euro into it and the room turns to watch. Beers are €3 to €5. It opens Friday, Saturday and Sunday, afternoons and evenings, and it fills fast.
Bocadero (Waagnatie quay, Rijnkaai) spreads imported sand and timber decking across the quay, with deck chairs and parasols, container-built bars and food counters, and the cranes and the wide Scheldt directly beyond. The terrace covers 1,500 m², with event zones alongside, and DJs play into the evening. Drinks are €4 to €9. The season runs from mid-May to early September, so it is no use on a winter trip.
Where to stay on the Zand
Hotel 't Sandt Antwerpen (the Zand) is a cream-stuccoed neo-rococo former customs house and banana warehouse on a cobbled lane, three minutes from Het Steen and the quayside promenade. The inner courtyard is planted with palms around a fountain and the roof terrace looks straight at the cathedral spire. The hotel has 32 rooms, a meeting room, and private parking at €30 a day.
Doubles start at €175 and suites at €300. Ask for a courtyard-side room, because the lane is noisy at weekends.
Hours and booking
Mondays close the MAS galleries and the Red Star Line Museum, winter thins the cruise calendar, and the Havenhuis tour, a RAS window table and anything at Zilte all have to be arranged before you arrive. See the Antwerp guide and the Antwerp hotel search.
Gallery
Kaaien and Scheldt Quays in pictures
Kaaien and Scheldt Quays — your questions
Is the Scheldekaaien promenade open again?
The restored walking terrace and the protected 1888 hangars between Het Steen and Noorderterras reopened on 10 July 2026. The southern stretch through Sint-Andries and Zuid stays a building site into 2027, so this walk keeps to the northern half.
What can you see on the quays for free?
The promenade, the visitor centre and rooftop walk at Het Steen, the boulevard and panorama roof at the MAS (09:30 to 22:00 Tuesday to Sunday, to midnight from 1 April to 30 October), the Sint-Annatunnel, and Sint-Pauluskerk, which is free to enter and takes donations.
How much does the waterbus across to Sint-Anna cost?
The Steenplein to Sint-Anna crossing is €1. The northern and southern routes are €5 single and €7.50 return. Pay by card or app on board; the counter at Steenplein takes cash only. Fares were re-indexed on 1 November 2026.
Which Scheldt cruise is worth the money?
The port cruise runs two to three hours with a live guide, out through the docks past the gantries and lock gates. The 1.5-hour city cruise starts at €21. Winter sailings thin out, so check the calendar first.
What closes on Mondays?
The MAS galleries and the Red Star Line Museum both close Mondays; Red Star Line otherwise opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00. Café Beveren opens only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Can you eat at Zilte right now?
Zilte reopens in Antwerp on 10 November 2026. Reservations come out in monthly batches and private dining is limited, so keep the party small and book the moment a batch lands.
