Sister Bean

Northeast Belgium


This beautiful old corner building hosts a female-run cafe that's a great choice for breakfasts of smoothies and blueberry pancakes, or lunches including halloumi salads and quiche of the day. There's also a big weekend brunch buffet (€20) – assuming you can nab a table…


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Northeast Belgium attractions

1. Schepenhuis

0.14 MILES

The Schepenhuis is a small castle fantasy dating back to 1288. It became the council parliament for the Burgundian Netherlands from 1473.

2. St-Romboutskathedraal

0.17 MILES

This soaring, Gothic-vaulted cathedral features a 1723 monumental pulpit, a 1630 Van Dyck crucifixion scene in the south transept, and dozens more fine…

3. Op-Sinjoorke Statue

0.21 MILES

Landing on his back with limbs akimbo, the giant yellow character that you see in the grassy contoured space north of St-Romboutskathedraal is Op…

4. Stadhuis

0.22 MILES

Balancing the massive bulk of St-Romboutskathedraal across Mechelen's splendid Grote Markt is the contrastingly poetic stadhuis in all its devil-may-care…

5. Het Zotte Kunstkabinet

0.24 MILES

This eccentric little shop-museum is great if you can catch it open, and has some fun with the 'crazy' hell scenes and frolicking odd folk of 16th-century…

6. OLV-over-de-Dijle

0.28 MILES

This breathtakingly huge Brabantine Gothic church has suffered numerous reconstructions, notably after bombing during WWII. Nonetheless it retains a very…

7. St-Janskerk

0.33 MILES

Built in white sandstone, the 15th-century Gothic church of the 'two Johns' (Baptist and Evangelist) looks fairly unremarkable from the outside. However,…

8. Tongerlo Refuge

0.33 MILES

In medieval times, abbots from wealthy monasteries would often travel to Mechelen to consult the primate (archbishop) and thus required city residences…