Belgium is in the top 10 list of Lonely Planet's "Best in Travel 2014", with Antwerp being "Belgium's capital of cool" offering outstanding architecture, art, fashion and food. Let Antwerp surprise you; it is a cultural city with an historic city centre, the hometown of Rubens and Van Dyck and a vivid, active city (fashion, shopping, cultural events, the zoo, swimming pools, ...). There are also lots of musea of all kinds and for all ages. The city has lots of nice quarters to discover and many restaurants and bars. The harbour of Antwerp is the second biggest in Europe with a rich history that you will find everywhere in the city. All these places of interest are within walking or cycling distance.
There are also other cities in reach by train such as Bruges, a Unesco world heritage site (74mins), Ghent (54mins), Brussels (39mins) Paris (2h by Thallys) or Amsterdam (73mins by Thallys).
Daytrips to the Belgian (or Dutch) coast (about 100km) and the Ardennes (about 200km) are possible