Ghent
Checked 31 August 2026 · 5 official sources
EUROPE · FIESTA SIDE
Bruges' bigger, brasher sibling: the same canals and gables, but with 70,000 students, a car-free core and a real night scene.
The plan
The Ghent Altarpiece
Van Eyck's restored Mystic Lamb in St Bavo's Cathedral, shown with an augmented-reality centre. Book a slot ahead.
📍 Map & photos · $$ · Website ↗
Gravensteen castle
A moated 12th-century keep right in the centre, with a famously deadpan comic audio guide and rooftop views.
📍 Map & photos · $$
Graslei and Korenlei
The guild-house quays on the Leie, best at dusk when the facades light up and locals drink on the steps.
Design Museum Gent
Reopens 3 October 2026 after a four-year rebuild, adding the new DING wing beside the historic town house.
📍 Map & photos · $$ · Website ↗
Patershol quarter
A knot of medieval lanes behind the castle, now Ghent's best restaurant district and mercifully coach-free.
Getting there
Train from Brussels
Direct IC trains take about 30 minutes to Gent-Sint-Pieters; tram 1 covers the last stretch into the centre.
Fly Brussels (BRU)
Change at Brussels-Midi or Brussels-Airport for Ghent; around an hour and a half in total, running often.
From Bruges or Antwerp
Bruges is 25 minutes away and Antwerp about 50, both on frequent direct services with no changes.
When to go
Best time to go
May, June and September; add mid-July if you want the Gentse Feesten
Cheapest months
January to March, when student-city hotel rates bottom out
Priciest & busiest
Gentse Feesten in July, and the Ghent Film Festival in October
If you've got one day
Morning
St Bavo's Cathedral for the Van Eyck altarpiece, on an early pre-booked slot before the tour groups arrive.
Late morning
Cross to Gravensteen for the castle circuit and the rooftop view over spires and stepped gables.
Lunch
Ghent waterzooi, or a vegetarian plate in Patershol: the city has an unusually strong meat-free tradition.
Afternoon
Walk Graslei and Korenlei, then the Design Museum or a browse around the Vrijdagmarkt square.
Evening
Dulle Griet for a Max in the shoe-deposit glass, then free live music at Charlatan on the Vlasmarkt.
Nearby & day trips
Bruges day trip
Twenty-five minutes by direct train. Go late afternoon and get the canals after the coaches have left.
Oudenaarde
Half an hour south for a Flemish tapestry museum and the Tour of Flanders cycling centre.
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