Antwerp

Antwerp is the Belgian city for fashion, design and art. The Antwerp Six, graduates of the fashion department at the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts who included Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester, put it on the fashion map, and the MoMu fashion museum tells their story within the wider history of Belgian fashion. Rubens lived and worked here, and the grand Antwerpen-Centraal station is a sight in its own right. Brussels has the institutions, the Grand-Place and the Art Nouveau townhouses. Antwerp is smaller, more stylish, easier to walk and better for shopping. The painter's residence at the Rubens House is closed for renovation until at least 2030, though its garden and the Rubens Experience stay open.