Central Station

Antwerp's Central Station is an absolute must-see. Why? Because it is a truly magnificent railway station. It was elected 'the most beautiful railway station in Europe' by visitors of Stedentripper.com (city trippers' website) in 2010. And, in 2009, the American Newsweek magazine ranked it among the most beautiful ones in the world. The magazine's editors visited a number of prestigious stations around the world and the station in Antwerp was ranked fourth. The British-American online news site Mashable elected the Central Station in Antwerp the most beautiful railway station in the world in 2014.

So there is every reason for you to visit this station, even if you do not need to catch a train. The present building was constructed between 1899 and 1905. By the middle of the previous century, the building was in a very poor state, and there were plans to pull it down... This was prevented by registering it as a listed building around 1975. The restoration of the station did not start until 1986 and took until 1998.