What is living in Antwerp like for a few weeks or months?

You have a job, a project or a few months of remote work lined up in Antwerp. Before you sign anything, you want to know how the paperwork, the costs and daily life fit together. This guide gathers those questions and points you to the detailed answer for each one.

Living in Antwerp: what do you need to sort out first?

Living in Antwerp for a while starts with three checks. How long may you stay in Belgium? Must you register at an address? And where do you sleep in the meantime? Settle them in that order. Everything else, from tram tickets to groceries, is easy to arrange once you are here.

In this guide

• Belgium digital nomad visa: what exists today and how long you can stay
• Antwerp city hall registration: when you must register, and when you cannot
• Rent in Antwerp: the cost categories and where to find current figures
• Best areas to live in Antwerp: the districts compared
• Ghent vs Antwerp: which city suits a month of remote work, with Brussels too
• Coworking in Antwerp: where to work near Antwerp South
• Temporary housing during renovation: where to live while the builders are in
• Bridging accommodation: a place to stay between selling and moving in
• Where to live after a separation: your options for the first months
• Shops open on Sunday in Antwerp: supermarkets, shopping Sundays and public holidays

Your first weeks at a glance

Can you live and work in Belgium on a short stay?

A short stay in Belgium lasts at most 90 days in any 180-day period, the Immigration Office says on its short stay page. To stay longer, you need a long-stay route such as a single permit or a professional card. The Immigration Office’s list of work routes has no category for digital nomads or remote workers.

There is also a small task on arrival. Unless you stay in a hotel, you report your address in Belgium soon after arrival. Non-EU citizens have three working days; EU citizens have ten. The IBZ form My Address in Belgium lets you do this online. It is not a registration as a resident.

Can you work for a foreign employer during those 90 days? The official pages we checked on 14 October 2026 do not answer that question. Ask the Belgian embassy, the regional work authorisation service or an adviser before you rely on it. Our guide to visas and the 90-day rule for remote workers lists the official sources step by step.

Do you have to register your address in Antwerp?

You register your address in Antwerp when it becomes your main residence: the place where you usually live for most of the year. The city asks you to report the move online within 8 working days. A local police officer then checks that you really live there. Non-Belgians who settle in the city register through its migration desk, by appointment.

The City of Antwerp explains the steps on its page about reporting a change of address. Many city pages are in Dutch only, so a browser translation tool helps.

The main residence is a factual test, says the National Register. It looks at where you work, where your children go to school and where you use energy. A short furnished stay before your real home is a different situation, and the municipality decides from the facts. Hoost does not allow address registration: your domicile stays where it is now. The guide on registering during a temporary stay explains the difference between declaring and registering.

How much does living in Antwerp cost?

Living in Antwerp costs most in housing. Statbel’s household budget survey for 2024 found that Belgian households spend about a third of their budget on rent, water, gas, electricity and other fuels. Rents in the city are among the highest in Flanders. The CIB barometer, reported by VRT in September 2026, puts Antwerp second for apartments, after Leuven.

The main cost categories when you rent are the rent, a rental deposit, energy and water, internet, transport and food. Figures change every few months, so we do not quote them here. Instead, our page on what living and renting in Antwerp costs explains each category. It links to the official sources that keep the figures up to date.

Which part of Antwerp suits a stay of a few months?

The right part of Antwerp depends on where you work, how you travel and how much city life you want around you. A home near the centre puts shops and sights close by. A southern district gives you more green space, with trams into town. Our comparison of Antwerp districts for a longer stay covers the options.

Antwerp South is the part we know first-hand. The Hoost building is near Middelheim Park, about 1.9 km away in a straight line. Antwerp Expo is about 1.2 km away and the Olympic Stadium about 0.5 km. Antwerpen-Centraal is about 4.3 km and Berchem station about 3.5 km. The building sits on the south side of the ring, next to the Kennedytunnel, which helps if you work on the Left Bank.

Still choosing a city? Read Antwerp, Ghent or Brussels for remote work before you decide.

Living in Antwerp day to day: transport, shopping and work

Daily life in Antwerp runs on trams, buses and bikes. De Lijn runs the trams and buses and lists its tickets, travel passes and contactless payment on its tickets page. Trams 2 and 6 stop near the Hoost building. Our guide to getting around Antwerp by tram covers the lines.

If you bring a car, check the low-emission zone before you drive into the centre. The Hoost building is outside the zone, but the centre inside the Ring is not. See parking and the LEZ in Antwerp for the rules and the park and ride sites.

For groceries on your first weekend, check which shops open on a Sunday before you run out of coffee. For work, every Hoost apartment has a dedicated workspace with Wi-Fi and an Ethernet connection, on a Telenet fibre line. If you prefer company at work, see the coworking spaces near Antwerp South.

Temporary accommodation while living in Antwerp

Temporary accommodation while living in Antwerp gives you time to view homes, learn the districts and start work before you commit to a lease. Hoost has four furnished apartments in one building at VIIde-Olympiadelaan 19 in Antwerp South: one with one bedroom and three with two bedrooms. You book from 2 nights to 6 months, and a longer stay continues with a new booking.

This is how a stay runs in this building:

• Arrival: self check-in with a lockbox, from 15:00. Check-out is by 11:00.
• Living: a kitchen with cooking basics, bed linen and towels, heating and a TV in every apartment. A shared washing machine and dryer are in the building.
• Work: a dedicated workspace with Wi-Fi and Ethernet in every apartment.
• Costs you should know about: electricity, heating and water are included. Cleaning is charged per booking, and the city tax is charged separately. On longer stays, extra cleaning can be arranged roughly every two weeks. There is no deposit.
• Families: a cot and a high chair are available on request.
• Companies: Hoost can invoice your employer.
• Car: there is no parking on site. P+R Olympiade is about 0.2 km away, and there is paid parking nearby.

People also stay with us for reasons other than a new job. Some need somewhere to live during a renovation. Others need a stay between two homes, or a place of your own after a separation.

When Hoost is not the right choice

Hoost suits a furnished stay while you settle. It is not the right choice in these cases:

• You must register your address. Hoost does not allow address registration. If your permit, bank or employer needs a registered address soon, look for a lease.
• You need parking on site. There is none; parking is at P+R Olympiade or in paid parking nearby.
• You want hotel services. There is no daily housekeeping, and arrival is by self check-in.
• You want one booking of more than 6 months. Each booking runs up to 6 months. A longer stay needs a new booking, subject to availability.
• You travel with a pet. Pets are not allowed.
• You want to live in the historic centre. Antwerp South is about 4.3 km from Antwerpen-Centraal in a straight line.

If none of these apply, send us your dates and tell us about your plans. Our page on furnished stays for people relocating shows what we offer for longer stays.