Doel
No one knows when the hammer will finally come down on the 400-year-old village of Doel (2020 is its final chance at reprieve), just outside Antwerp. Plans are underway to demolish it in order to expand the Port of Antwerp, and all but a few of its residents have been forced out (at the time of writing). Several historic landmarks survive here including Belgium's oldest-surviving stone mill, but it's become a haven for graffiti artists who have turned the village into a living, ever-changing canvas. Doel 2020, a protest group aimed at defeating the port expansion, still works hard at staving off what feels like the inevitable. The chance to explore this ghost town (best visited during the day, when it's safest) and wander its ephemeral artwork is one of Antwerp's simplest pleasures.
