House on General Van Merlenstraat

Holy moly Readers, we had a lot of fun today wandering around the Art Nouveau area in Antwerp (technically Zurenburg). There were so many stunning buildings, all beautifully preserved and full of intricate detail. Have a look at some of them below…

On the corner are the ‘Four Seasons’ houses – as the name suggests, each house is decorated to represent a different season.

Further down Waterloostraat, there are houses with mosaics representing Napoleon and Nelson (hough I somehow missed Nelson)

And if you think these were impressive, wait until you see what’s on Cogels Osylei, where the houses are truly enormous.

But wait! Look what’s tucked in towards the top of the road…

Apparently this house is meant to represent the 20th century, which I suppose it does, and better something so individual than a pastiche. Still, for those of us who fancy something grander, one of the mansions was recently for sale at a mere 1.3m Euro, which, since it has seven bedrooms, feels something of a bargain compared to London prices.

And when you’ve finished, you can head off to Dageraadplaats, with a church on one side, cafes and restaurants all around the edge, and a playground and basketball court in the middle for the young folk. Plus, a number 11 tram will take you all the way home. What a great week we’ve had in Antwerp1 Highly recommended.