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.