This lovely city is a girl's best friend. Antwerp is the epicentre of the world diamond trade, and the pricey rocks shine as garishly as Tom Cruise's pearly whites from dozens of shop fronts.

Antwerp is also a mecca for fashionistas. Influential designers such as Dries Van Noten and Walter Van Beirendonck emerged from the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s and put Antwerp squarely on the fashion map.

Nowadays, shoppers can browse for clothes by local designers in chic downtown boutiques or take in one of the rolling exhibits at the cutting edge MoMu fashion museum.

Antwerp lies some 50km north of Brussels in Flemish-speaking Flanders and remains relatively undiscovered by Europe's tourist hoards.

It boasts excellent galleries, bars and cafes, many of which are centred around the spacious, pedestrianised Grote Markt.