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My husband was scheduled to attend a work conference in Ghent, so I thought I would come along for the ride and make a holiday of it. I had been dying to visit the beautiful historic city of Ghent for a long time, so I was super excited to finally be going, especially at Christmas. As well as being a beautiful city worth visiting in its own right, Ghent is also perfectly placed to visit the nearby Belgium cities of Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels.
I flew into Belgium via the smaller Charleroi Airport (cheap airline!) and caught the airport shuttle bus to Ghent which I booked quite easily in advance using the Flibco.com website. The bus was very modern and comfortable and thankfully warm, as it was heavily raining/snowing and a very cold 4ºC when I arrived. It took about an hour to get to Ghent and the bus dropped me off at the back of Ghent central train station, Gent-Sint-Pieters. The old town is actually about a 30 minute walk from the train station, but the modern, number 1 tram leaves regularly from the front of the train station and goes directly up to the old town centre in about 15 minutes.
Before jumping on the tram, I recommend visiting the nearby delicious bakery just outside the train station called Vandenbouhede (Kon. Astridlaan 207, 9000). During our stay in Ghent we visited there as much as we could, the staff were lovely and there was so much irresistible deliciousness to choose from, we ended up trying something different each day.
It was early afternoon, so after dropping my bag off at our accommodation, I headed out to explore whilst my husband, Shaun attended the final afternoon of his conference. Thankfully the weather was beautifully sunny in Gent, so perfect for exploring.
The first wonderful historic building I came across was the neo-classical court house on Koophandelsplein. I walked along Veldstraat, one of the main shopping streets, to check out the shops. Alongside the usual mainstream stores such as Zara and H&M, there were lots of other nice stores that I hadn’t seen before. Ghent was actually much bigger than I was expecting, and had a good sized shopping district with a really nice variety of shops. If I had had more time, I would loved to have spent a day just shopping.
I walked up Korenmarkt and came to St Nicholas’ church on my right, with an absolutely beautiful building being used as a shopping plaza on my left with a clock tower poking up behind it. St. Nicholas’ Church is one of the oldest landmarks in Ghent and dates from the early 13th century. As it was December, the Christmas markets were in full swing, and alongside a ferris wheel there were some lovely Christmas stalls. There were lots of bars and restaurants in this area too.
I continued my walk up to cross the canal at Kleine Vismarkt. On my left was an interesting 15th century Butchers Hall (Het Groot Vleeshuis – Groentenmarkt 7, 9000), which now sells East Flemish regional produce. If you’re a foodie, then this is a great place to shop for some authentic local food. It also has a restaurant serving food made from these local ingredients. As I had only recently eaten, I didn’t stop to enjoy the food, but if you do decide to visit, they are only open until 6pm, so make sure you head in there during the day.
From here, I headed up to the medieval castle, Gent Gravensteen which is open to the public to enter (fees apply). I love visiting castles, so was dying to go in and explore, but decided to wait until Shaun joined me after his conference, so continued on to explore the area around it instead. Across from the castle is a charming town square which features medieval-era facades and a baroque gateway to the Old Fish Market decorated with water gods and topped with a statue of Neptune. This building now houses the Tourist Information Centre, so stop in here if you need help with your holiday plans or if you are looking for some inspiration on how to spend your time here.
Whilst admiring the Old Fish Market, make sure you also take time to check out the set of street lamps on the kerb in front of it. These lamps are actually an art installation by Alberto Garutti entitled Ai Nati Oggi “For Those Born Today”. Every time a baby is born in one of Ghent’s maternity wards, parents are given the option to push a button connected to these street lamps, which in turn causes them to flash. In the Middle Ages, this square was used for executions, so I think it’s a nice way of changing the future of this space to a more positive one!
I was now craving something sweet as I had passed lots of delicious chocolate shops and bakeries on my walk. So I stopped in at Julie’s House (Kraanlei 13, 9000), a little café/bakery around the corner from the castle selling a gorgeous range of irresistible cakes to indulge in. I recommend dropping in for a sugar hit and a chance to rest your feet when you’re in this area, cobblestones really tire your feet out.
Suitably refreshed, I decided to wander along Kraanlei and came across these two really cute historic buildings being used as shops (#81). I then crossed the Zuivelbrugstraat 2 bridge and ended up in a square called Friday Market. I was surprised to find it so quiet, but I believe it gets busy during its Friday and Saturday morning markets. It was surrounded in really beautiful historic buildings and worth strolling over to see, even if the markets are not on. There are lots of cafes, bars and restaurants here too. Also, if you enjoy graffiti art, the Graffiti street is on nearby Werregarenstraat.
I then headed back across the canal via the Grasbrug bridge and walked along the waterfront on Korenlei. The historic buildings running along the river were amazing. Amongst them was the Guildhall of the Free Boatmen which has been recently restored. I walked down until I reached Saint Michael’s, a Roman Catholic church built in a late Gothic style. Unfortunately it is only open during the summer months, so I didn’t get a chance to go in. However, the bridge beside it is a really good spot to take photos of the canal and back across to St Nicholas’ church. It also looked amazing at night all lit up, so I recommend going back and visiting it again at night.
I next headed over to Ghent city hall which was built in several distinctive styles. On Hoogpoort road, it has a flamboyant Gothic style, but on the Botermarkt side it has a more sober Renaissance style. I explored further down Hoogport to the Ghent Conservatory / School of Arts which was in a cluster of interesting historic buildings, then returned to Botermarkt and turned up Sint-Baafsplein to visit the square where there were more Christmas markets stalls surrounded by historic buildings – Het Belfort van Gent, the Bell tower built in the 1300’s which you can visit (entry fee applies); the beautiful theatre building NTGent schouwburg; and the Gothic Saint Bavo’s Cathedral (free to enter).
Shaun had finally joined me and we decided to go for an evening cocktail at Pakhuis (Schuurkenstraat 4, 9000) bar which is in a really trendy converted warehouse. The restaurant is usually booked out for dinner reservations months in advance, but we thought we would try our luck, and thankfully they were able to get us a table as the restaurant opened. The food was really excellent and we were absolutely stuffed by the end of it, so decided to head out for an evening stroll to enjoy Ghent lit up in the evening.
Although I had hoped to visit the castle before it was due to close at 5pm (winter opening hours), Shaun had met me later than planned, so I thought our opportunity to visit that day had been missed. But we still decided to head over to look at it, as we knew it would be lit up at night. When we got there we were surprised to see that as part of the city Christmas celebrations, the castle was open to the public and entry was free. It was beautifully lit up for Christmas and they had carol singing in the courtyard. The castle was really fun to visit at night as it was kinda spooky lit up with blue lighting, which created lots of dark corners. The castle was built in 1180 by count Philip of Alsace and was modelled after the crusaders castles that he encountered whilst he participated in the second crusade. The castle served as the seat of the Counts of Flanders until they abandoned it in the 14th century. The castle was then used as a courthouse and a prison before falling into disrepair. It was eventually renovated by the city in the late 1800’s. There were some good exhibits including medieval weapons and armour as well as a rather gruesome torture room with devices on display.
By this time it was getting late in the evening, so we headed back to get some sleep so we could get up early the next day for our trip to Bruges, which you can read about here.
Places I Didn’t Get to Visit
The two Museums, SMAK Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum voor Schone Kunsten, a Neoclassical museum building which houses collections of European art dating back to the 1350s. Both museums are located in Citadel Park near the train station.
Practical Tips for Visiting Ghent
- How long should I visit for? I recommend spending a least an entire day in Ghent. Ghent also makes an excellent base to explore the surrounding cities of Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels.
- Language: Flemish Dutch. Although everyone we came across spoke perfect English. However, do try your hand at a few Dutch words:
- Yes = Ja (yah)
- No = Nee (nay)
- Please = Alstublieft (allst-oo-bleeft)
- Thank you = Dank je wel (dahnk yuh vel) (familiar – dank u vel is the formal form)
- Hello = Hallo (hah-low)
- Currency: Euro
- Tipping: Not required, but people usually round up.
- Electricity: The electrical current is 230 volts AC. Wall outlets generally take the European two round prong plugs. However, you are better off purchasing a worldwide adaptor that can be used in Belgium as well other countries. At least then you can potentially get some further use out of it on future vacations. If you’re taking a number of electronics with you, then I would recommend purchasing a couple of these adaptors.
- Navigating: We used Google’s free Offline Maps. Google Offline Maps allows you to access free maps for navigating that can be used offline i.e. you don’t need WIFI, data, or roaming to be able to use them. Follow this detailed guide on how to use Googles Offline Maps. Using your phone as a GPS will drain your battery quickly, so use a portable battery charger which you can use to charge your phone and any other USB chargeable devices. If you prefer a paper map, then your accommodation will likely give you a free tourist map or you could stop in at the tourist office and pick one up. Otherwise, you could purchase a Ghent city pocket map before you go. At least it’s reliable and won’t run out of battery or malfunction like the electronic options!
Accommodation Options in Ghent
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