Wading through
Boots, a lamp and arched stone tunnels โ a real adventure.
Bert76 โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Bert76 โ CC0 ยท Dmitry Djouce โ CC BY 2.0
They were sewers, but modern drainage now runs in separate pipes, so the canals carry only rainwater โ damp, dark and earthy-smelling, not foul. The tall boots and coat protect you completely. The experience is closer to exploring an urban cave than a sewer. Children from about 8 and brave hearts.
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De Ruien is Antwerp hidden underground: the network of medieval canals and streams (the "ruien") that were the city's open arteries โ for shipping, defence and drainage โ then vaulted over between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries when they became stinking sewers, leaving a city beneath the city of kilometres of arched stone tunnels, with buried bridges and arches and the foundations of medieval houses. The tour is a real adventure: you wear tall rubber boots and a coat (provided) and wade through shallow water beneath the old town with a lamp, or ride a small boat in the deeper sections, with a guide telling the city's history from below โ from plagues to smugglers to the modern restoration. Tours in several languages including English, and a shorter self-guided audio tour. The entrance is near the Grote Markt โ among Antwerp's most singular experiences, for the adventurous rather than the claustrophobic. Book ahead โ numbers are limited.
Boots, a lamp and arched stone tunnels โ a real adventure.
Medieval arches and bridges beneath the streets.
The deeper sections by small boat in the dark.
Suikerrui 21, 2000 Antwerp