Meir: The Grand Boulevard
On Gingerguide's self-guided Antwerp audio tour, Meir: The Grand Boulevard is a stop worth about ~45 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type landmark
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Antwerp Antwerp guide
About Meir: The Grand Boulevard
Antwerp's magnificent main shopping boulevard, a pedestrian street of grand 18th and 19th century buildings, anchored by the Rococo Royal Palace now used as a shopping centre.
The Meir is Antwerp's principal shopping street and one of the grandest commercial boulevards in Belgium, a broad pedestrian thoroughfare lined with elegant eighteenth and nineteenth-century facades that give it a quality quite different from most modern shopping streets. At one end of the Meir stands the extraordinary Rococo palace of the Royal Palace, now used as a luxury shopping centre, which was built for Charles of Lorraine in the mid-eighteenth century and later served as the official Antwerp residence of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Meir connects the historic city centre around the Grote Markt with the Central Station and Diamond District, making it the main artery of the city centre. Beyond the major international brands that have taken over many of the ground-floor spaces, the street retains considerable architectural dignity in its upper stories and is a useful orientation axis for exploring the city.
Did you know? The Rococo Royal Palace on the Meir was used as Napoleon's official Antwerp residence when he made the city his North Sea naval headquarters.The building is now a shopping centre.
How much time do you need at Meir: The Grand Boulevard?
Around ~45 min works well for Meir: The Grand Boulevard — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Meir: The Grand Boulevard?
Yes — Meir: The Grand Boulevard made the cut as one of 22 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Antwerp. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Antwerp
Hear the story of Meir: The Grand Boulevard
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