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One Day in Mechelen

Mechelen does not have the fame of other Belgian cities, like Brussels or Bruges, but it's a beautiful place to visit for one day while in Belgium.

We first visited the imposing Saint Rumbold's Cathedral in the city center. Buil in 1200s, the cathedral, is probably most known for its van Dyck paintings. A tall tower with 514 steps tops the cathedral. We climbed to the top and admired some icredible views from there.

Grote Markt is a beautiful pedestrian city square lined with cute houses and buildings from different centuries. One of them is the Gothic Town Hall building.

Beguinages were houses where they sent widows to live if they could not find suitable husbands for them during the crusades. The area around here is really nice and peaceful with picturesque narrow streets and typical Flemish houses. The Large Beguinage was declared a UNESCO World heritage site.

We visited Het Anker Brewery, founded by a community of beguines. The most popular beer produced here is Gouden Carolus Classic, a strong dark beer. And from 2010 they also produce Gouden Carolus Single Malt whisky.

The Dossin Barracks were used by Nazis as a deportation center. The barracks are now a memorial and there's also a new Holocaust museum across the road, Kazerne Dossin.

We checked the Fish Market by the river for an authentic feel. It's a nice place to grab a beer, mingle with locals and enjoy the atmosphere. We also took a look at the 3 beautiful buildings

We ended the day with a nice walk along Dyle River that crosses the city.