Before you read on
- When you race
- 3–7 March 2027
- How many nights to book
- 2 nights
- Who this race suits
- An eleven-minute train from a major airport, in a small Flemish city you can walk across.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- Brussels Airport (BRU), About 11 min by direct train to Mechelen for EUR 8 to 10
- Cost for the weekend
- EUR 324 (USD 351) per person, Flights and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
An eleven-minute train from a major airport, in a Flemish town you can cross on foot.
Reasons to
- Brussels Airport is eleven minutes away by direct train for EUR 8 to 10.
- A central room averages about EUR 82 a night, low for this part of Europe.
- The hall is pillar-free with daylight through the roof, which few venues here manage.
- Antwerp and Brussels are both half an hour away by train.
Reasons not to
- No source publishes how to get from Mechelen station to the venue.
- It rains 54mm across March, more than most of this calendar.
- The town is small, so there is less to do between waves than a capital offers.
- No restaurant near the hall could be verified, so eating is a centre trip.
Conditions on the day
HYROX Mechelen runs March 3rd, 2027 to March 7th, 2027 at Nekkerhal. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Mild, grey and wet
11°C (52°F) by day, 3°C (37°F) at night
Mechelen in early March
- The March average reaches 11°C (52°F) by day and falls to 3°C (37°F) at night.
- Humidity sits at 77%, and 54mm of rain falls across the month.
- Daylight runs 07:23 to 18:25, eleven hours in total.
- Milder than the other northern European races on this calendar, and wetter than most.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Nekkerhal
March 3rd, 2027
HYROX Mechelen
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- Plattebeekstraat 1, 2800 Mechelen
- Nearest station
- Mechelen station to the venue (no published route)
- Parking
- Nekkerhal has parking. No day rate is published on the venue's pages.
- From the nearest hotel
- 15 to 25 min from Hotels in the historic centre
- Altitude
- 8m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Mechelen.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Mechelen.
Mechelen has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Nekkerhal, your race is in this building
A single pillar-free hall of 18,454 square metres on the edge of town, divisible into six sections, with skylights along the roof.
Known for. Trade fairs and consumer shows for the Antwerp and Brussels corridor, under its trading name, Nekkerhal Brussels North.
The building. Built as Mechelen's exhibition hall beside the Nekkerspoel recreation grounds, and still the largest covered space between the two cities.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page a few days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At Nekkerhal, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Mechelen one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
No published route runs from the station to the venue. Plan the morning on a live map, or drive and use the venue's parking.
What you need to book
Before you book
The listing covers five days, 3 to 7 March, so confirm your division's day before booking anything.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
Brussels South Charleroi takes the low-cost routes and is much further out.
Search flights to MechelenBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in MechelenSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in MechelenYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Two nights Nights in the city centre | EUR 164 | $178 |
| Eating, three days | EUR 120 | $130 |
| Travel, airport and around the town | EUR 40 | $43 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | EUR 324 | $351 |
Getting to Mechelen
Brussels Airport is eleven minutes from Mechelen by direct train, for eight to ten euros.
The train from Brussels Airport
Direct to Mechelen in about eleven minutes for eight to ten euros, running through the day. The shortest airport leg of any race in this guide.
The last leg to the hall
Nothing published gives a bus or a walking time from Mechelen station to Plattebeekstraat. Check a live route rather than assuming it is close.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
The train is faster and cheaper than the taxi here, which is unusual and takes sixteen minutes for fifty euros or more.
Getting to the venue
The historic centre around the Grote Markt is the obvious base, compact and walkable. The station area is handier for the train and plainer to stay in.
Brussels Airport is eleven minutes away by direct train, so this is among the easiest races here to fly into. The gap is the last leg: no source publishes a bus or a walk from Mechelen station to Plattebeekstraat, so work that out on a live map before race morning.
Where to stay
Mechelen is small and the centre is walkable end to end. The venue sits on the edge of town at Nekkerspoel.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels in the historic centre
The old core, with the cathedral and the market square. About EUR 82 a night and walkable to almost everything except the hall.
2. Hotels by the station
Plainer and handier for the airport train. The obvious base if you are coming in and out by rail.
3. Hotels around the Begijnhof
A quiet grid of heritage streets just north of the centre, and the prettiest part of the town to stay in.
Mechelen is small and the race fills a five-day window, so rooms go earlier than the size of the town suggests. Brussels and Antwerp are both half an hour away if it is full.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Mechelen is a compact Flemish town, and almost all of it is within twenty minutes on foot of the Grote Markt.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historic centre | 15 to 25 min on foot | The Grote Markt, St Rumbold's and the streets around them. Where the restaurants and most of the hotels are. | |
| Groot Begijnhof | about 20 min on foot | A preserved beguinage of narrow brick streets just north of the centre, quiet and UNESCO-listed. | |
| Station area | about 20 min | Functional, with the airport train and the Brussels and Antwerp services. Plain but convenient. | |
| Dossin quarter | about 20 min | Around the Kazerne Dossin memorial and museum, on the western side. Residential and sober. | |
| Mechelen-Zuid | about 25 min | The southern edge, with Technopolis and the retail parks. Useful if you are driving, dull if you are not. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Around the Grote Markt
The market square and the streets off it carry most of the town's restaurants, with plain pasta and grilled meat among them. No source names one near the hall.
The station area
Plainer places near the station, useful if you are staying there for the airport train. Nothing remarkable, which is the point the night before.
No restaurant near the hall could be verified, so these are the dishes rather than the addresses, and they are widely available across the town.
Moules-frites
Mussels steamed with celery and onion, and a cone of chips beside them. The Belgian plate, and heavy enough that it belongs after your race rather than before.
Stoofvlees
Beef slow-cooked in dark beer with mustard and bread, served with chips. The Flemish winter dish and the better order on a wet March night.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- Waterproofs. It rains 54mm across March and the sky stays grey.
- Layers for 3°C (37°F) at dawn and 11°C (52°F) by the afternoon.
- Comfortable shoes. The last leg to the hall is unpublished and may be a walk.
Quick tips
- Buy a De Lijn day ticket at EUR 9 instead of singles at EUR 3.
- Work out the station to venue leg before race morning. No source publishes it.
The centre has supermarkets open through the week, and Belgian shops keep normal Sunday hours in a way Austria and Germany do not. Buy what you need the day before anyway.
The last race in Mechelen
Hyrox raced in Mechelen in March 2026. No source confirms which halls were used or how the course ran, so there is little local form to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- The main hall is pillar-free and divides into six sections, so check which one you are in.
- Brussels Airport is eleven minutes away by direct train, which is the shortest airport leg on this calendar.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- No source publishes a walk or a bus from Mechelen station to Plattebeekstraat. Plan that last leg yourself.
- A De Lijn day ticket is EUR 9 against EUR 3 a journey.
What else is on that weekend
A quiet week in a small city, which is the useful thing about it.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| The race itself | 3 to 7 March | Nekkerhal, Plattebeekstraat 1 | Hyrox lists a five-day window, longer than most races here, so confirm which day your division runs. |
| Nothing else confirmed | Race week | Across Mechelen | No other event of any size could be confirmed for these dates. That is an absence of evidence rather than proof the city is empty. |
| Brussels and Antwerp, half an hour either way | All weekend | Both ends of the line | Mechelen is small. Either city is a short train ride if you want more to do between waves. |
| The cathedral tower | All weekend | Grote Markt | St Rumbold's tower is climbable and open through the weekend, which is the one sight everybody here does. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
St Rumbold's tower
A 97-metre unfinished Gothic tower over the market square, climbable by 538 steps to a skywalk. On a clear day you can see the Atomium in Brussels.
Kazerne Dossin
The barracks used as the transit camp for deportations from Belgium, now a memorial and museum. Sober, careful and the most important building in the city.
The Groot Begijnhof
A whole quarter of brick houses built for lay religious women from the thirteenth century, now lived in and listed by UNESCO. Free to wander.
Antwerp or Brussels
Half an hour by train in either direction, with the trains running every few minutes. A real city for the afternoon without a real journey.
What to do
The Dyle path
The river runs through the middle of the town with a walkway along it, flat and quiet. The obvious shake-out loop from anywhere central.
Nekkerspoel, next to the hall
The recreation grounds beside the venue, with water and open paths. The closest ground to the race if you are staying out that way.
The Vismarkt in the evening
The old fish market by the river, now a line of terraces and the place the town drinks. Twenty minutes from the hall and the obvious place to end up.
Walk the whole town
Mechelen is small enough to cross on foot in half an hour, which is unusual on this calendar. A slow loop of the centre is a genuine way to spend a morning.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Hyrox. HYROX is a trademark of its owner, used only to describe the races discussed.
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Last updated November 7th, 2026.