Antwerp: Flemish port-city living, half an hour from Brussels

The expat scene: Antwerp's international crowd is spread out, so you make friends by showing up to the same things again and again. Antwerp Outlanders and Expats in Antwerp run regular meetups, the University of Antwerp's MONDO program welcomes international residents, and Bib Vrede hosts Dutch conversation tables. English is normal at startup, tech and university events, while the chamber of commerce and most trade groups work in Dutch. A Dutch greeting before you switch to English goes over well. The city also has a Jewish community of around 20,000, largely Ultra-Orthodox and long connected to the diamond trade.

Healthcare: Antwerp has about 16 hospitals, and UZA, the university hospital, sits in Edegem on the city's southern edge. Weekends, the Huisartsenwachtpost Antwerpen-Centrum covers central postcodes from Friday 7 p.m. to Monday 7 a.m., and apotheek.be lists the pharmacies on duty. Once you're registered and paying into Belgian social security, you must join a mutual health fund (ziekenfonds), which typically refunds about 75% of the official rate for a family-doctor visit. If you're living on U.S. income, have private international coverage in place first.

Schools: Antwerp International School runs the International Baccalaureate from age 3 to 19, Da Vinci International School also teaches the IB, and the Lycée Français International d'Anvers follows the French system. Most international schools teach in English, with Dutch or French alongside. Ask each one about current fees and waiting lists.

Remote work: Home internet runs about $55 a month in our data, and Antwerp sits six hours ahead of Eastern time, so U.S. calls land in your afternoon and evening. Belgium has no digital nomad visa, so working remotely for a U.S. company isn't a route in by itself.

LGBTQ expats: Antwerp Pride runs over several days each August and ends with a parade along the Scheldt quays, and Het Roze Huis represents the city's LGBTQ+ community. Local organizers said in 2026 that aggression against queer people, online and on the street, has grown in recent years, so the picture isn't spotless.

Black Americans: Antwerp is a mixed city. In 2023, about a third of residents were Belgians with foreign roots, while nearly a quarter didn't hold Belgian citizenship. That doesn't erase racism. A UN expert group that visited Belgium, Antwerp included, in June 2025 described widespread, systemic racism against people of African descent and flagged racial profiling by police. Visit, talk to Black residents, and weigh it with clear eyes.

Limited mobility: The city is flat, which helps. De Lijn says every bus on its fixed routes is accessible, and newer trams with spoken and written stop announcements have been replacing older models that weren't. The boarding ramp only works at raised stops, so check yours before you rely on it.

Retirement: Antwerp can work for retirees who want a walkable city, trains across Belgium and a university hospital nearby. The visa is the hard part. Belgium publishes no minimum income for retirement and judges each file case by case, so it fits people with solid, well-documented income. Start with our guide to moving to Belgium and compare other countries in our retirement visa hub.