Most neighbourhood guides for Antwerp rank areas by vibe, as if everyone moving here were choosing a lifestyle. If you are relocating for work, your first filter is different: where is your office, and how do you get there every morning in the dark in January. Get that right, then pick your vibe.
We have been placing expats in furnished apartments across Antwerp for over 20 years at Globexs, so this guide is organized the way our first conversation with a tenant actually goes: by work location first, character second, honest downsides included.
Antwerp is compact. The city centre is walkable end to end in 40 minutes, trams and buses (De Lijn) cover everything, and the Velo bike-share system has stations everywhere and costs about €60 a year. You do not need a car unless you work at the port. A monthly De Lijn pass runs around €60, and a single ride about €2.50 with the app.
Furnished mid-term rentals, the kind you take for 1 to 11 months without buying a single fork, start from about €1,100 per month in the outer districts and from €1,300 to €1,600 in the popular central ones. Utilities add €150 to €250 if not included.
Historic centre. Cobblestones, the cathedral, restaurants downstairs. Fantastic for a first stint abroad, and you will walk to work. Downsides: weekend tourist crowds, noise on Friday and Saturday nights, and groceries mean small city supermarkets. From €1,350 for a furnished 1-bedroom.
Stadspark / Quartier Latin. Between the park and Central Station. Quieter than the centre, theatre district charm, and everything within 10 minutes. This is also the default area for people working in the diamond district. From €1,300.
Zurenborg. The belle époque showpiece around Cogels-Osylei and Dageraadplaats. Probably the most beautiful residential streets in Belgium, a proper café square, and a real neighbourhood feel. Downside: everyone knows it, so good furnished units go fast. From €1,400.
Het Zuid. Galleries, the KMSKA museum, the best restaurant density in the city, and the Scheldt quays for running. The classic expat favourite. Downsides: parking is genuinely terrible, and prices reflect the popularity. From €1,500, and premium units go well beyond that.
Markgrave / Harmonie. Just east of Zuid, calmer and a notch cheaper, with the Harmonie park. Good compromise for couples who want Zuid on weekends without paying Zuid rent. From €1,300.
Short version: live in the north or on the left bank, never commute across the city at rush hour. Eilandje is the premium option, converted warehouses around the old docks, the MAS museum, 10 to 20 minutes to the right bank terminals, from €1,600. Merksem and Ekeren are the practical options: ordinary, well-served working districts with easy parking and fast port access, from €1,100. Linkeroever and Zwijndrecht serve the left bank plants, from €1,100. We wrote a separate detailed guide on port-area housing, including the tunnel traffic problem, which is real.
Berchem. Live near Berchem station. Direct trains reach Brussels in about 40 minutes, the station area has been rebuilt, and old Berchem toward Zurenborg is genuinely pleasant. This is the answer for the growing group of people splitting their week between the two cities. From €1,200.
Deurne, Borgerhout (outer part), Merksem. From €1,000 to €1,100 for furnished 1-bedrooms. Borgerhout inside the ring has become interesting, with a young, diverse, slightly rough-edged energy and quick tram access to the centre. Outer Deurne is quieter and plainer. None of it is a postcard, all of it works, and the money you save over 6 months is a holiday.
Rent out your apartment with Globexs
Linkeroever deserves an honest paragraph. It is 10 minutes from the Groenplaats by tram or bike through the pedestrian tunnel, has riverside views back at the skyline that the postcard photographers actually use, and costs noticeably less than the centre. It is also architecturally dull and quiet to the point of sleepy. Some tenants love the calm. Some transfer out after a month. Know yourself.
Our two most requested areas, side by side. Zuid gives you restaurants, art and the river, and takes parking and higher rent in exchange. Zurenborg gives you beauty, a village square and slightly lower prices, and takes a longer walk to the centre in exchange (or tram 11 from Dageraadplaats). Families with small children usually pick Zurenborg for the calm. People here for 3 months who want to be out every night usually pick Zuid. Both are safe, both are lovely, and nobody has ever regretted either for long.
Register with the city if you stay over 90 days (start at antwerpen.be, the international newcomers desk). Get the De Lijn app before you argue with a ticket machine. Supermarkets: Delhaize and Albert Heijn for range, Colruyt for prices, and the Saturday market on Theaterplein for everything else. SIM cards and banking are simple compared to most of Europe, but a Belgian account usually needs your registration first, so bring a card that travels well for the first month.
Every apartment we offer is furnished, connected and ready on day one, with contracts from 1 to 11 months and English-speaking support throughout the stay. If your employer is arranging housing, point your HR team to our corporate guide. If you are choosing yourself, tell us your office address, budget and arrival date, and we will send options in the neighbourhoods that actually fit your commute, from €1,100 per month.
