Antwerpen-Centraal is Antwerp's main railway station, a domed stone palace on Koningin Astridplein at the eastern end of the city centre. Finished in 1905, it is so grand that the people of Antwerp nicknamed it the 'railway cathedral'. The most surprising part is underground: since 2007 trains have stopped on three levels, one of them in a tunnel that runs beneath the city.
Antwerpen-Centraal at a glance
- Where: Koningin Astridplein, at the end of De Keyserlei, next to Antwerp Zoo and the diamond district.
- Built: 1895–1905 for the station building; the iron-and-glass train shed went up first, in the late 1890s. Rebuilt underneath between 1998 and 2007.
- By: the architect Louis Delacenserie (station building) and the engineer Clement Van Bogaert (train shed).
- What it is today: Antwerp's busiest station, with domestic and international trains, shops and cafés, still used every day by tens of thousands of travellers.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes to walk through the hall and look at the platforms from each level.
From a wooden terminus to a railway cathedral
The railway reached Antwerp in 1836, on one of the first lines in continental Europe, from Brussels via Mechelen. The first station here was a modest wooden building. As the port grew, the city wanted something to match, and in the era of King Leopold II the architect Louis Delacenserie, who had restored much of medieval Bruges, designed a new station building in an eclectic, palace-like style, with a great dome over the entrance hall. The tracks arrived on a long stone viaduct and ended under a huge iron-and-glass shed.
For more than a century Antwerpen-Centraal was a terminus: trains came in, stopped and had to reverse out. Between 1998 and 2007 the station was rebuilt from below. Engineers dug two new levels under the old shed and a tunnel under the city towards the north, so that trains, including those to the Netherlands, can now pass straight through. The historic hall and shed were restored at the same time and kept in use.
What to look for
- The dome over the entrance hall, visible from Koningin Astridplein and from far down De Keyserlei.
- The entrance hall itself: polished marble and stone in many colours, gilded details and a large clock high up on the wall facing the platforms.
- The train shed: an iron-and-glass vault that covers the tracks on the upper level, best seen from the end of the platforms.
- The three platform levels: from the upper platforms you can look down through the open centre to the trains on the levels below.
- The grand staircase that leads from the hall up to the platforms on the upper level.
Do-Re-Mi in the station hall
In March 2009 about 200 dancers surprised commuters in the station hall with a choreographed routine to 'Do-Re-Mi' from The Sound of Music. It was a promotion for a Flemish television talent show, and the video of the flash mob spread around the world online. It is one reason many people who have never been to Antwerp recognise the hall. Today the hall is calmer, but buskers and travellers with suitcases still give it the feel of a stage.
Tips for your visit
- Arrive by train if you can: walking up from the platforms into the domed hall is the best way to see the building.
- For photos of the shed, go to the upper level and stand near the end of the tracks. Keep behind the safety lines and do not block passengers on busy platforms.
- Morning and early afternoon light falls nicely into the hall. Avoid the weekday rush hours if you want space to look around.
Nearby
- Antwerp Zoo: one of the oldest zoos in the world, founded in 1843, right next to the station.
- Diamond district: the streets around the station where much of the world's rough diamond trade passes, with jewellers' windows along Pelikaanstraat and Hoveniersstraat.
- De Keyserlei and the Meir: the boulevard leading west from the station into Antwerp's main shopping street.
- Chinatown: a small Chinatown around Van Wesenbekestraat, a few minutes' walk from the station, good for a quick lunch.
See Antwerp with World City Trail
Our Antwerp scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 44 minutes of walking. Antwerpen-Centraal station is one of the stops, along with the Cathedral of Our Lady and the City Hall.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Antwerp.
Play the Antwerp scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Antwerp →
Play the outdoor escape game in Antwerp →
Facts checked in October 2026.