# Mechelen The city of Margaret of Austria, between Brussels and Antwerp: the 538-step tower, the Kazerne Dossin memorial, the beguinage and the Het Anker brewery. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/mechelen · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Mechelen, Malines in French and Malinas in Spanish, is exactly halfway between Brussels and Antwerp, and almost nobody includes it on a first trip. That is a mistake: in the early sixteenth century it was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands under Margaret of Austria, Charles V grew up here, and the city keeps a cathedral with one of the tallest towers in the country, a World Heritage beguinage, a historic brewery and Belgium's most important Holocaust memorial. Everything fits into a day on foot, and the centre, closed to cars during the day, can be walked at an easy pace. ## How do you get there from Brussels? By train, about 20 minutes: Mechelen is on the Brussels to Antwerp line, with very frequent trains. From Zaventem airport there is a direct train of about 11 minutes, so Mechelen is also a good base for the first or last night of the trip. From the station to the Grote Markt it takes a quarter of an hour on foot. By car, about half an hour on the motorway towards Antwerp. The historic centre is closed to traffic from 11:00 to 18:00: leave the car in the free Douaneplein car park, ten minutes' walk away, or in a paid one in the centre. ## What to see in a day? Start with the Grote Markt and St Rumbold's Cathedral, free, with a Van Dyck Christ on the Cross. If it is Saturday, go up first thing to the tower: 538 steps to a glass skywalk at 97 metres, from where you can see as far as Brussels and Antwerp on a clear day. On other days it opens at 13:00, so leave it until after lunch. Ten minutes to the north, Kazerne Dossin tells the story of the deportation of Belgium's Jews and Roma from this barracks during the occupation. It needs two hours and is closed on Wednesdays. Very close, the Great Beguinage, a district of cobbled lanes, leads to the Het Anker brewery, home of Gouden Carolus, with a guided tour and a brasserie open every day. In the afternoon, the river: the floating walkway on the Dijle runs from the Haverwerf to the botanical garden over the water, and from April to October the Malinska boats leave from the Haverwerf for 45 minutes through the centre, for €11. If you like art history, the Hof van Busleyden, the palace of one of Margaret's councillors, tells the story of Burgundian Mechelen. ## What about with children? Mechelen works very well for families because it is small and flat. With small children, the boat, the river walkway and the toy museum, which since 2024 has been in the station itself. If you have one more day, the Planckendael zoo, in Muizen, one train stop away, is a whole day of animals; under-12s travel free on the train with an adult. The tower is for older children who can manage the staircase. ## Where to eat? The Het Anker brasserie is the safe bet any day, including Sunday, with Flemish cooking made with its beer. On weekdays, Cosma serves sharing plates and aged meats four minutes from the square, and Tinèlle, with one Michelin star, has a lunch menu at €58 in a seventeenth-century convent. Look on the menus for the Mechelse Koekoek, the Mechelen breed of chicken, and for asparagus in spring. ## Where to stay? Mechelen is quieter and somewhat cheaper than Brussels or Bruges. The Het Anker hotel is inside the brewery; the Hotel Vé, on the Vismarkt, has a pool, sauna and jacuzzi; and Martin's Patershof is a four-star inside a former church, with breakfast in the choir. ## Mechelen, Leuven or Antwerp? All three are less than an hour from Brussels by train. Leuven is the university city, with more of a bar scene; Antwerp, the great city of Rubens and fashion. Mechelen is the quietest and the best for walking, and it combines on the same day with Antwerp, a quarter of an hour further by train. From Brussels it is a long half day or a full unhurried day. ## Dónde está - Zonas: Beers of Belgium - Cerca: Lier (a 13.0 km), Antwerp (a 22.0 km), Brussels (a 22.1 km), Leuven (a 22.6 km) ## Qué hacer - **Climbing St Rumbold's tower and its skywalk** (1 h 15 · Fit teenagers and adults; not suitable for anyone with vertigo or for pushchairs · €8 adults · €3 for ages 4 to 26 · 20% discount on the family ticket): The tower of St Rumbold's Cathedral is 97 metres high and dominates the whole plain between Brussels and Antwerp. You climb on foot: 538 stone steps up a spiral staircase, with stops in the carillon room and the bell chambers. At the top, the skywalk is a glass walkway around the tower, with two virtual reality viewers that show palaces and gardens of the city. Tickets and hours It costs €8 for adults and €3 for ages 4 to 26; the family ticket, for one or two adults with up to four children under 26, has a 20% discount. If that day you have taken the boat trip or visited the toy museum, you pay €6 and €2. Open Sunday to Friday from 13:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 10:00; the last climb is at 17:00. Closed on 25 December and 1 January. Booking Only about 25 people go up every 20 minutes, so at weekends it is best to buy the time slot online. The tower entrance is, while the porch works last, round the corner, to the right of the facade. - **Kazerne Dossin, Holocaust memorial and museum** (2 h · Adults and teenagers; the content is hard for small children · €12 the permanent exhibition · €5 for ages 9 to 21 and students · memorial free): During the German occupation, the Dossin barracks in Mechelen was the assembly camp from which the trains of deported Jews and Roma from Belgium left for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Today the former barracks houses the memorial, which is free, and opposite, a white four-storey building houses the museum on the Holocaust and human rights. Tickets and hours The permanent exhibition costs €12; ages 9 to 21, teachers and students pay €5. The memorial is free. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:00 to 17:00, and Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 9:30 to 17:00. Closed every Wednesday, as well as 1 January, Rosh Hashanah (12 and 13 September 2026), Yom Kippur (21 September) and 24, 25 and 31 December. Tickets are bought at its online shop. Getting there It is on the Goswin de Stassartstraat, north of the centre, about ten minutes' walk from the Grote Markt. From the central station it is 2 km; from Nekkerspoel, 1.2 km. It has no parking of its own: the nearest is Tinel, 200 metres away. - **St Rumbold's Cathedral and the Grote Markt** (45 min · All ages; the interior is flat · Free): St Rumbold's is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, the seat of the Primate of Belgium. Admission is free and inside you see Anton van Dyck's Christ on the Cross, works by Michel Coxcie, Gaspard de Crayer and Abraham Janssens, the coats of arms of the Knights of the Golden Fleece and the high altar by Lucas Faydherbe, from 1665. When to go in Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 17:30 and Sunday from 13:00 to 17:30. Closed on 1 January. The tower is paid separately. The Grote Markt On leaving, the Grote Markt, the main square, brings together the town hall, with its unfinished Gothic wing, and guildhalls with facades onto the square. It is the starting point for walks around the centre, which is closed to traffic from 11:00 to 18:00. - **Het Anker brewery tour and its Gouden Carolus** (1 h 45 · Adults; the tour includes beer): Het Anker is one of the oldest breweries in Belgium and the home of Gouden Carolus, named after Charles V, who was raised in Mechelen. It is inside the Great Beguinage, in brick buildings beside the Dijle, and also has a whisky distillery, a brasserie and a hotel. What the tour is like The Enjoy Tour goes through the brewhouse and the history of the house and ends with two Gouden Carolus and a small gift. It lasts about an hour and a half, up to 1 h 45 depending on the group, and is given in Dutch, English or French. There are fixed times on weekdays and at weekends; you book online, where you see the price of the day. Arrive ten minutes early: latecomers are not always allowed to join. Getting there It is at Guido Gezellelaan 49, ten minutes' walk from the Grote Markt and 25 from the station. By car, park at Keerdok, five minutes away, or at Tinel. - **Hof van Busleyden Museum, Burgundian Mechelen** (1 h 30 · Adults and families; under-12s go in free · €15 adults · €13 for ages 18 to 26 · €4 for ages 13 to 17 · free up to age 12): In the early sixteenth century, Mechelen was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands under Margaret of Austria, and the future Charles V was raised there. The Hof van Busleyden is the brick palace of a councillor of that court, with a courtyard, galleries and a garden, and its museum tells of that golden age: the art, the music and life in the city. Tickets and hours €15 for adults, €13 for ages 18 to 26, €4 for ages 13 to 17 and free up to 12. The ticket includes the temporary exhibition. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. - **Boat trip on the Dijle from the Haverwerf** (45 min · All ages, with a folded pushchair · €11 from age 13 · €9 for ages 4 to 12 · free up to age 3): The Dijle crosses the centre of Mechelen in curves, between quays, gardens and the backs of old houses. The boats of the Malinska company leave from the Haverwerf, the old grain quay, next to the Lamot congress centre and opposite the fish market, and tour the inner river in about 45 minutes with commentary from the skipper. Price and season €11 from age 13, €9 for ages 4 to 12 and free up to 3. They sail every day from 1 April to 31 October, and on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in March and November. Departure times are on its website; for groups of 15 or more there is a discount and tailor-made departures. - **The floating Dijle walkway, from the Haverwerf to the botanical garden** (30 min · All ages; the access ramps are steep and slippery in the rain · Free): The Dijlepad is a wooden walkway that floats on the Dijle between the Haverwerf and the botanical garden, right up against the facades that look onto the river. It is the prettiest walk in the centre and costs nothing. Where to enter There are access points at the Haverwerf, next to the Fontein bridge, at the Raghenoplein and at Nekkerspoel-Borcht. It can be walked in a wheelchair with help, but the ramps are steep and slippery when it rains. - **Mechelen's Great Beguinage, a UNESCO site** (45 min · All ages; the cobbles are not good for pushchairs or wheelchairs · Free): The beguines were women who lived in community without taking vows. After the destruction of their first beguinage, outside the walls, around 1560, they rebuilt it inside the city: a district of cobbled lanes and little brick houses, now protected and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the other Flemish beguinages. The visit It is always open and free. You enter along the Hoviusstraat and stroll for three quarters of an hour. It is still inhabited: lower your voice and do not enter the courtyards. The Het Anker brewery is at one of its ends. - **Planckendael zoo, at Muizen** (5 h · Families with children of all ages): Planckendael is the zoo of the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp at Muizen, on the outskirts of Mechelen: a large, all-day park with animals from the five continents spread between forest and meadows. It is the plan with small children that completes the city. Tickets The price changes according to the day: you see it in the calendar of its online shop. Buying at least a day ahead saves you €2 per adult and €1 per child; children under 3 go in free. Open 365 days a year, with hours depending on the season. Getting there It is at Leuvensesteenweg 582. Muizen station is close, on foot, and on the train under-12s travel free. By car, parking is paid. Dogs are not allowed, except assistance dogs. - **Mechelen toy museum, at the station** (1 h 30 · Families with children; also the nostalgic): The Speelgoedmuseum brings together toys and games from different eras, from dolls and tin trains to board games, with corners for playing. Since October 2024 it has been in Mechelen station itself, in the kiss & ride area, so it is the first or last stop of the day if you arrive by train. Hours and tickets Open from 10:00 to 17:00; its website says every day and Visit Mechelen says Tuesday to Sunday, so do not count on Monday. Closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. Tickets are bought at its online ticket office. With its ticket, St Rumbold's tower is cheaper on the same day. ## Dónde comer - **Brasserie Het Anker** (Restaurant, Mechelen · Great Beguinage, €€). Qué pedir: a Flemish dish cooked with Gouden Carolus and the house draught beer - **Cosma** (Restaurant, Mechelen · Befferstraat, €€€). Qué pedir: several starters to share, such as the prawn gyozas or the risotto croquettes, and a Piedmontese beef tartare - **Tinèlle** (Restaurant, Mechelen · Het Predikheren, €€€€). Qué pedir: the three-course lunch menu at €58 or, à la carte, the Mechelse Koekoek croquettes and the turbot ## By plane: Fly to Brussels and take the 11-minute train to Mechelen Mechelen is the city closest to Brussels-Zaventem airport (BRU), which has direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities: a direct train gets you to Mechelen station in about 11 minutes. You can spend the first night here and see Brussels or Antwerp by train from Mechelen. From Charleroi (CRL) it is longer: a bus or train to Brussels and another 20-minute train. ### Dónde dormir if you're flying - **Hotel Het Anker** (Small hotel): The Het Anker hotel stands on the same site as the brewery, inside the Grand Beguinage and ten minutes' walk from the Grote Markt. It has about twenty rooms (the website mentions 22 and 23): doubles, twins, triples and family rooms, all with a bathroom, air conditioning, television and wifi. The stay Breakfast is served on weekdays from 7:00 to 9:30 and at weekends from 8:00 to 10:30 (in July and August, from 7:00 to 10:30 every day); they can cater for gluten-free diets if you ask when booking. Downstairs you have the brasserie, which opens every day, and the shop. They rent bikes and keep yours indoors and locked overnight. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out before 11:00. Getting there and parking It is a 25-minute walk from the station. The hotel's own parking spaces are few, paid and must be booked; otherwise the public Keerdok car park is five minutes away. Pets are allowed for a supplement. - **Hotel Vé** (Spa hotel): Hotel Vé is a four-star design hotel on the Vismarkt, the old fish market, the square of bars and restaurants beside the Dijle. It occupies a fish smokehouse and a former cigar factory, with a lounge that looks onto the river, and is a five-minute walk from the Grote Markt. The rooms and the wellness area It has 57 rooms, one of them adapted, with an accessible bathroom, and a step-free entrance. The wellness area has a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi, and the hotel has its own restaurant, the Bistro Fuego. Visit Mechelen describes it as a family-friendly hotel. Getting there About twenty minutes' walk from the central station, or by bus to the centre. The historic centre is closed to traffic from 11:00 to 18:00: if you are coming by car, ask when booking where to leave it. - **Martin's Patershof** (Hotel): From the outside it is a church, and it used to be one. Inside, Martin's Patershof is a four-star hotel with 79 rooms, some of them in the former nave, next to the stained-glass windows and arches, and breakfast is served in the choir. It is on the Karmelietenstraat, a five-minute walk from the Haverwerf and the Grote Markt. Who it is for For a special night in the city, as a couple. It has a restaurant and bar, a lift, four adapted rooms, and the restaurant and breakfast room are at ground level, without steps. It carries the Green Key eco-label. ### Servicios - **Mechelen station and the train from Brussels and the airport**: About 20 minutes by train from Brussels and 11 from Zaventem airport · 15 minutes' walk to the Grote Markt ## Car-free: Mechelen by train and on foot Mechelen is a city to enjoy without a car: the train arrives from Brussels in 20 minutes and from the airport in 11, the centre is pedestrianised and everything worth seeing fits into a quarter-hour walk. Only the Planckendael zoo calls for a short train ride to Muizen. Presupuesto orientativo: 90–170 € por persona y día. ### Dónde dormir without a car - **Hotel Het Anker** (Small hotel): The Het Anker hotel stands on the same site as the brewery, inside the Grand Beguinage and ten minutes' walk from the Grote Markt. It has about twenty rooms (the website mentions 22 and 23): doubles, twins, triples and family rooms, all with a bathroom, air conditioning, television and wifi. The stay Breakfast is served on weekdays from 7:00 to 9:30 and at weekends from 8:00 to 10:30 (in July and August, from 7:00 to 10:30 every day); they can cater for gluten-free diets if you ask when booking. Downstairs you have the brasserie, which opens every day, and the shop. They rent bikes and keep yours indoors and locked overnight. Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out before 11:00. Getting there and parking It is a 25-minute walk from the station. The hotel's own parking spaces are few, paid and must be booked; otherwise the public Keerdok car park is five minutes away. Pets are allowed for a supplement. - **Hotel Vé** (Spa hotel): Hotel Vé is a four-star design hotel on the Vismarkt, the old fish market, the square of bars and restaurants beside the Dijle. It occupies a fish smokehouse and a former cigar factory, with a lounge that looks onto the river, and is a five-minute walk from the Grote Markt. The rooms and the wellness area It has 57 rooms, one of them adapted, with an accessible bathroom, and a step-free entrance. The wellness area has a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi, and the hotel has its own restaurant, the Bistro Fuego. Visit Mechelen describes it as a family-friendly hotel. Getting there About twenty minutes' walk from the central station, or by bus to the centre. The historic centre is closed to traffic from 11:00 to 18:00: if you are coming by car, ask when booking where to leave it. - **Martin's Patershof** (Hotel): From the outside it is a church, and it used to be one. Inside, Martin's Patershof is a four-star hotel with 79 rooms, some of them in the former nave, next to the stained-glass windows and arches, and breakfast is served in the choir. It is on the Karmelietenstraat, a five-minute walk from the Haverwerf and the Grote Markt. Who it is for For a special night in the city, as a couple. It has a restaurant and bar, a lift, four adapted rooms, and the restaurant and breakfast room are at ground level, without steps. It carries the Green Key eco-label. ### Servicios - **Mechelen station and the train from Brussels and the airport**: About 20 minutes by train from Brussels and 11 from Zaventem airport · 15 minutes' walk to the Grote Markt ## As a family: Mechelen with children Mechelen is a small, flat city with no cars in the centre, and it has outings made for children: a boat trip on the river, a walkway that floats on the water, a toy museum in the station itself and one of Belgium's big zoos on the outskirts. ### What works best The boat trip on the Dijle, 45 minutes, free up to age 3 The floating walkway on the Dijle, free The toy museum, in the station Planckendael zoo, for a whole day The St Rumbold's Tower, for older children who can manage 538 steps ### Where to stay Family rooms at Hotel Het Anker Hotel Vé, with a pool ### Where to eat Brasserie Het Anker, with children's dishes and a kitchen that serves non-stop from 12:00 to 21:00 ### Worth knowing The beguinage cobbles do not go well with a pushchair Dogs are not allowed at Planckendael Under-12s travel free by train to Planckendael with a paying adult ### Qué hacer as a family - Climbing St Rumbold's tower and its skywalk - St Rumbold's Cathedral and the Grote Markt - Hof van Busleyden Museum, Burgundian Mechelen - Boat trip on the Dijle from the Haverwerf - The floating Dijle walkway, from the Haverwerf to the botanical garden - Mechelen's Great Beguinage, a UNESCO site - Planckendael zoo, at Muizen - Mechelen toy museum, at the station ## With teenagers: Mechelen with teenagers With teenagers, Mechelen has two outings they will remember: climbing the 538 steps of St Rumbold's Tower to the glass skywalk, and a visit to Kazerne Dossin, the Holocaust museum, which gives a lot to talk about. ### What works best St Rumbold's Tower and its skywalk, with virtual reality viewers Kazerne Dossin, €5 for ages 9 to 21 The boat trip on the Dijle The Hof van Busleyden, €4 for ages 13 to 17 ### Where to stay Hotel Het Anker, with triple rooms ### Where to eat The Het Anker brasserie, at any hour ### Worth knowing Kazerne Dossin is closed on Wednesdays The tower only opens in the morning on Saturdays ### Qué hacer with teenagers - Climbing St Rumbold's tower and its skywalk - Kazerne Dossin, Holocaust memorial and museum - Hof van Busleyden Museum, Burgundian Mechelen - Boat trip on the Dijle from the Haverwerf ## Consejos ### Saturday is better The tower opens at 10:00 on Saturdays only; on other days, at 13:00. ### Avoid Wednesday Kazerne Dossin is closed on Wednesdays, and the Hof van Busleyden on Monday and Tuesday. ### Chained discounts With a boat or toy museum ticket, the tower costs €6 instead of €8. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Brussels to Mechelen? About 20 minutes by train and about half an hour by car. ### What is there to see in Mechelen in a day? The Grote Markt, the cathedral and its tower, Kazerne Dossin, the Great Beguinage, Het Anker and the Dijle by boat or on the floating walkway. ### How much does it cost to climb St Rumbold's tower? €8 for adults and €3 for ages 4 to 26. ### Can you go from Brussels airport? Yes, there is a direct train in about 11 minutes. ### Which day is it best not to go? On Wednesday Kazerne Dossin is closed; on Monday and Tuesday, the Hof van Busleyden.