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
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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…
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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…
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Antwerp
Little has changed since 1924 at this congenial bruin café (traditional pub) that attracts grizzled elderly locals with its exceptionally reasonable beer…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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'…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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Northeast Belgium
Half working watermill-museum, half unpretentious brick-and-beam pub, Liermolen is a remarkably inexpensive drinking hole with Maes/Grimbergen beer from …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Antwerp
Distressed brick walls, merrily battered tiles and mismatched chairs provide the atmosphere while friendly, bearded baristas fix faultless coffees,…
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Northeast Belgium
Retaining its traditional patterned floor tiles and beamed ceiling, Mechelen’s ‘oldest pub’ is ideal for low-key beery conversations with newspaper…
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Leuven
This gently bohemian barista-bar makes work-of-art espressos and flat whites on a La Marzocco machine.
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Antwerp
On an otherwise typical Borgerhout street, this brilliantly unpretentious shop-room pub is owned by Klaas Janzoons of Antwerp indie-band dEUS.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Antwerp
Scruffy-chic Korsåkov is one of the surest places in central Antwerp to find the super-late hipster crowd still getting served.
