North of the centre across the Albert canal, and one of the districts repeatedly named in reporting on Antwerp's drug-related explosions. Antwerp handles more cocaine than any other European port, and the conflict between the clans that move it is the defining safety story of the city. VRT reported that the federal judicial police in Antwerp opened 45 new investigations into drug-related violence in 2025 — explosives, shootings, kidnappings, arson — after 91 recorded incidents across the province in 2024, and that gangs increasingly recruit minors as disposable perpetrators. What that violence is, in practice, is targeted: a device left at a specific front door or car, in a dispute between people who know each other. The two 2025 explosions reported below both damaged a door and injured nobody. It is serious, it is not aimed at passers-by, and it happens in residential streets rather than where visitors go. Residential, with no visitor traffic to speak of.
Merksem — Antwerp, Belgium
🟡 Local-source safety assessment · 10 areas reviewed individually Methodology →
In detail
Booking.com has no separate search area for this neighbourhood, so this link searches the whole city rather than just this area.
Frequently asked questions
Is Merksem safe?
Wandroz currently rates Merksem in Antwerp as an area where the review found nothing traveller-relevant to report during the day and roughly average compared to other neighbourhoods in Antwerp at night. This comes from a structured local-source assessment: an area-level review of credible local sources — local and national news, municipal and police-published material, and official surveys where they exist — consolidated across sources rather than taken from a single report. Antwerp publishes no comparable neighbourhood-level crime dataset; where a city does, Wandroz uses it instead.
Is Merksem safe at night?
At night, Merksem is rated as roughly average compared to other neighbourhoods in Antwerp. If you're unsure, it's worth checking recent local reviews for your specific street or block, since a neighbourhood-wide rating can't capture block-by-block variation.
Is Merksem a good area to stay in as a tourist?
Merksem's day rating (an area where the review found nothing traveller-relevant to report) is the more relevant one for typical daytime tourist activity; check the night rating too if you'll be out late. Note that the Booking.com link on this page searches Antwerp, not Merksem specifically: Booking does not list this neighbourhood as a destination of its own, so check each property's address against the map above.
Is there official crime data for Merksem?
Not an official government crime feed — Merksem's rating comes from Wandroz's own current local/national press and survey research for this specific area instead (see the note on this page for what was checked and the sources used). An absence of recent negative coverage is treated as inconclusive, not as proof the area is safe. If you live in or know Merksem well, you can suggest a correction using the link below.
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