Toeristische Dienst - Visit Antwerpen — Attraction in Antwerp

Port House Tour (Zaha Hadid Building on Thursday nights 6pm) is described on the website in English - but make no mistake - is held and offered only in Dutch! Our guide was so friendly to make maybe 5-10% of the „crucial“ commentaries in English (like „no photos beyond entrance hall“ -what!?!? , or „two concrete pillars are carrying all the weight“…) I realized with several tours starting at exactly the same time and a fair amount of non-Dutch speakers in every group, it would have been really easy to create an English group!!! BUT the business model of the city is smarter than that: if you desire a tour in English or another „minority language“, you have to book a private tour at a MUCH higher price which by the way only seems reasonable if you „bring your own group“ (ca. 10 people). For a couple 120€ (60 per person) is a lot! The „business model: making money with non-Dutch speaking visitors“ works perfectly for the Visitor Center Antwerp as the same approach also applies to other tours they offer! Maybe the annoyed non-Dutch speaking visitor should show more understanding with diamond related income in Antwerp decreasing, the city needs money...

At the first floor there is a paid tour of the city, but I don't recommend it, as the most important historical information is available for free on a big interactive map in front. On the other side, the tour is quite innovative & interactive and gives insights about people of the city and their trades. Above the tour there is a panoramic view, but from the 3rd floor the old city cannot be seen much. On the ground floor there are gifts...

Whenever I visited Antwerp, I came here for information and found out about new activities and discovered more sides of the city. The entire team of the Tourist Information Centre is friendly and lovely, in particular Kristof always went above and beyond to tell me about the best parts of Antwerp and answered all of my questions to very niche travel topics. Thank you so much for all of your hard work, dedication and passion for...