Well worth stopping to peruse the architecture even if your final stop is nit Antwerp Central Train…read moreStation. Amazing building. Lots of shopping and restaurants nearby.

We traveled to Antwerp on a day trip from Brussels and this beautiful station was our first…read moredestination upon arrival. First thing we noticed were the multiple levels of tracks built under the steel and glass canopy of the station. As others have pointed out what an amazing engineering design and operational efficiency! The beautiful interior of the station that greeted everyone upon arrival was quite the photo spot. Personally I preferred the departure side which was just as ornate but with significantly less people. Outside, a huge Ferris wheel was installed and blocked photos of the station exterior. Inside expect to find Starbucks and other fast or convenience food options, WCs and ticket office. It was easy just to walk from the station to the historic part of Antwerp through the diamond district or take public transportation. Well worth a visit even if not taking a train anywhere.

Used Metrostation Opera to get in and out of the historical Antwerp district from the Diamond…read moredistrict the other day and it was a quick and easy way to get around the walkable city of Antwerp. To my surprise, such a small city has a tram! The tram is a combination of both over-ground along with underground. Metrostation Opera is underground. There are bi-folding doors that open automatically by a proximity sensor. The escalators to get downstairs are also have proxmity sensors. Some of the escalators have either a red or green stripe on the ground where the green indicates ok to enter (and red indicating wrong way) ...took me a while to realize. The routes along with stations are marked throughout the station although Google Maps includes both the origin along with destination, which caused me to go the wrong direction on numerous occasions! The Metro is paid for via NFC card and there's a device for one to tap their Metro card or NFC card by some of the doors. (Automated ticket stations are few and far in between in Antwerp) Metro is 2 Euro 50 per ride and each ride is good for 60 minutes. Boarding can be on any door!