Belgium · Flanders · Antwerp
Zuid, Antwerp — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Zuid is Antwerp's southern city-centre quarter, an Art Nouveau and Modern district beside the Scheldt with galleries, cafés and three museums.
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Where to stay in Zuid
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Hotel rooms in Zuid sit among galleries rather than tour queues, a short walk south of the old core. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp anchors one end of the quarter, and the streets around M HKA and FOMU carry most of the cafés, restaurants and design shops that make the neighbourhood worth a night. Quieter beds face the Scheldt.
If you want galleries and dinner on the same block, with the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal an easy walk north, this is the side of Antwerp to book.
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Around the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp sets the tone at this end of Zuid, and the restaurant streets beside it keep going after the galleries have shut.Find hotels in Around the Royal Museum of Fine Arts AntwerpContemporary art and photography in one afternoonThe M HKA and FOMU blocks
M HKA and FOMU stand close enough to pair a photography show with a contemporary one, and commercial galleries fill most of the walk between them.Find hotels in The M HKA and FOMU blocksRiver-facing rooms on the western edge of ZuidThe Scheldt quays
Zuid abuts the Scheldt along this side, so rooms look out on open water and the quay walk north leads to Het Steen and the old core.Find hotels in The Scheldt quaysHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Antwerp
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
8- Museum Plantin-Moretus UNESCO
- Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal Heritage
- Het Steen Heritage
- Rubenshuis Heritage
- Museum Mayer van den Bergh Heritage
Show 3 more →
- Red Star Line Museum Heritage
- Vleeshuis Heritage
- Snijders&Rockox House Heritage
Churches & Religious Sites
4- Carolus Borromeuskerk Heritage
- St. James' Church, Antwerp Heritage
- St. Paul's Church Heritage
- St. Andrew's Church, Antwerp Heritage
worth knowingacross 2 categories in and around Antwerp
About Zuid
What are the main landmarks in Zuid?
Three museums do the heavy lifting. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp keeps the old-master collection, while M HKA and FOMU handle contemporary art and photography a few streets away, and commercial galleries fill the blocks between them. Two art centres add to the programme.
Antwerp's older monuments stand north of here: the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Rubenshuis and Museum Plantin-Moretus in the historic core, with Het Steen on the quay and Museum aan de Stroom beyond it.
What is the history of Zuid?
Zuid came back in the mid-1980s. Galleries, cafés and restaurants moved into a southern strip of Antwerp's centre that had lost its pull, and the museums and art centres followed. The street wall carries both halves of that story.
Art Nouveau frontages stand beside Modern blocks, so the quarter reads differently from the older lanes around the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal.
Where is Zuid?
Zuid fills the southern end of Antwerp's city centre, its western side closed off by the Scheldt. The old core begins just north.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Zuid?
Around the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp: Old-master collections with dinner on the doorstep. The M HKA and FOMU blocks: Contemporary art and photography in one afternoon. The Scheldt quays: River-facing rooms on the western edge of Zuid.
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Updated October 2026