Antwerp is one of the easy ones for mobile data

The short version

Antwerp does not have a connectivity problem. Coverage across the city is excellent on both 4G and 5G, and there are no dead zones worth planning around as a tourist.

That is a useful thing to know, because it means you can ignore the coverage question entirely and choose a plan on price and size alone. Not every city page can honestly say that. This one can.

What the numbers look like

We record around 60 Mbps average on 4G in Antwerp, and up to 300 Mbps on 5G in covered areas. The national average across Belgium is 55 Mbps, so the city sits comfortably above it.

Orange is the strongest performer in Antwerp specifically, across multiple tests. Nationally we recommend Proximus for its broader rural reach, but inside Antwerp that argument does not apply — Orange is the one to have here. Most travel eSIMs for Belgium run on Proximus, Orange or both, so this rarely forces a decision.

The districts visitors actually spend time in are all well served. The diamond district around Centraal Station is heavily policed and has excellent connectivity, which matters if you are here on business. The fashion district is very well connected. The port area has strong coverage too, with one caveat below.

The one local quirk

Industrial interference in the port area can affect some indoor signals. Outdoors it is fine; deep inside a warehouse or a working port building, less predictable.

If your reason for being in Antwerp is the port rather than the cathedral, that is worth knowing in advance. For a normal tourist itinerary — Centraal Station's train hall, the Meir, the museums, Pride in August, the Rubens Market — it will never come up.

Buying a SIM in the city

There is an Orange store in Antwerp city centre and a Proximus store on the Meir, the main shopping street. Both are easy to reach on foot from the centre.

Antwerp has its own airport, ANR, but services there are minimal and most visitors arrive via Brussels Airport instead, where the carriers run arrivals-hall counters. Hours and prices for those are in the Belgium guide.

One rule applies wherever you buy: Belgian registration requires ID, so bring your passport to the counter. A travel eSIM avoids that step altogether.

How much data to buy

This depends less on Antwerp than on your route. If Antwerp is your only stop for a few days, a small plan is plenty. If you are doing the standard Flanders circuit — Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp — you will use more, mostly on maps and transit apps between cities.

Airalo's prices were read from its own site on 13 August 2026 and Nomad's from its own site on 17 August 2026. The Saily figure was read off Saily's own site on 18 August 2026. Airalo sells Belgium under two package names, and the rows above are the cheaper one, Belganet. The other is Belganet+, which charges $12.50 for the same 5GB over 30 days and $19.50 for the same 10GB over 30 days — roughly 45 to 50% more for identical data. Airalo does not state what the plus package adds, so read the package name on the listing and make sure it says Belganet if that is the price you came for.

A long weekend in Antwerp alone fits in 1–3GB. The four-city circuit is better served by 10GB, which also removes any temptation to ration your map use.

If your phone plan is from an EU or EEA country, none of this applies — roam-like-at-home covers you in Belgium at domestic rates.

Apps worth having before you arrive

De Lijn for trams and buses across Flanders, Google Maps, and Visit Antwerp. Download them on hotel or airport wifi rather than burning plan data on installs.