Turnhout Beguinage

Step through the gate of the Turnhout beguinage and the sound of the city falls away. White facades, cobblestones, a church at the centre and a calm you can almost touch: this fourteenth-century beguinage is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for good reason.

In its heyday, hundreds of beguines lived here. Today you wander freely among the historic houses, while the beguinage museum tells how these women ran their own little world for centuries.

The beguinage is within walking distance of Turnhout’s Grote Markt. Combine it with a terrace in town and you have an afternoon of Kempen culture at its finest.