Things to Do in Ghent, Belgium

Last Updated on April 4, 2024

If you’re looking for things to do in Ghent, Belgium, you’ll fall in love with the city…

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

By Jim Ferri

There are many things to do in Ghent, Belgium. Incredibly, like many travelers visiting Belgium, I never thought of visiting the city. Instead, like most others, I always set my sights on Brussels, Bruges, and other places.

Then, with an extra day to spend in Belgium, a country I greatly enjoy, I made a trip to Ghent. I there less than a half-hour when I began wondering how had I ever missed this spectacular city?

Given the beauty of both Bruges and Ghent, comparisons of the two are unavoidable. Suffice it to say that while Bruges’s reputation has been built on the romantic ambiance of its canals and intimate streets, Ghent showcases its beauty through its wealth of imposing architecture and broad open spaces.

In fact, there are more listed historic buildings in Ghent than in any other Belgian city.

And you know what? All of this beautiful architecture (and food, etc., of course) is less than an hour from Brussels by train – an incredibly easy day trip.

 

Ghent’s Well-Preserved Medieval City Center

In medieval times Ghent grew incredibly rich in the wool and cloth trade. It was, in fact, one of the largest cities in Europe, second only to Paris. Today it is a city of culture, with an abundance of museums, galleries, and assorted architectural gems.

In addition to its cultural offerings, Ghent’s primary attraction is its well-preserved medieval city center. It is, in fact, one of the finest in Europe.

Many of its most beautiful medieval buildings are in the historic areas around the old Graslei harbor. It’s the old merchants’ area, now a car-free area that is the largest in Belgium. It’s the perfect place to wander about and later relax in one of the area’s many restaurants and cafés.

A Two-Hour Walking Tour

After arriving, my first task was to seek out the city tourist office. I found it the Old Fishmarket off a little café-lined square right next to the Castle of the Counts.

The woman there was accommodating, providing me with some good information, including a map outlining a two-hour walk around the city’s old section.

I was quickly off, stopping immediately at the imposing Castle right across the street. Nowhere else in the world will you find such a massive castle right in the middle of a city, not on a hill above it. You would think that it would be out of place, but it fits nicely into its urban setting. Entry to the Castle is €10 per adult.

An Easy Walk Around Old Ghent

I continued on, turning here and there, wandering down side streets that looked interesting. It was an easy, quiet, relaxing walk, colorful and historical at the same time.

Walking down Jan Breydelstraat, I soon came to Appelbrugparkje, an old picturesque park shoehorned in between the old buildings. It was right across the street from the Design Museum, a modern museum with an 18th-century facade.

Its popular collection includes furnishings ranging from contemporary, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau all the way back to the Renaissance.

Not far beyond is the old St. Michael’s Church (its 500-foot tower incomplete for centuries due to a lack of funds) and, along the river, an old Dominican friary that’s now part of Ghent University.

Adjacent to it is St. Michael’s Bridge, the best place to get a superb view of the old city’s skyline, as evidenced by the numerous travelers on it taking panorama shots of the area with their phones and iPads.

St. Bavo Cathedral

Cross St. Michaels and you’ll be near St. Bavo, Ghent’s most famous cathedral. It’s one of the must things to do in Ghent, Belgium since it is nothing short of magnificent, as is its renown work of art, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Jan and Hubert van Eyck, the most important work in Flemish art.

Pay 4 Euros upon entry and you can view it in the rear of the cathedral (to your left as you enter).

Although St. Bavo was once a small parish church, nothing remains of the original. There are, however, several art treasures scattered about including a work by Rubens and a rococo pulpit dating from 1745.

Sint-Baafsplein(St. Bavo Square) in front of the cathedral is the historic center of the city, Ghent’s equivalent of London’s Trafalgar Square. Nearby is the city’s UNESCO-listed 14^th-century belfry, topped by a dragon weather vane.

Sikkel

Wandering on through the historic quarter, I passed the Sikkel, the home of an extremely wealthy 15th century Ghent family. (The family was wealthy since it had its own well when the city’s 65,000 inhabitants had to share only five wells).

What is interesting about the Sikkel has nothing to do with family history, however. Today you can walk along the street and at times hear music drifting from the windows, giving an ethereal ambiance to the neighborhood. The music is coming from students at a music academy which now occupies the building.

Continue on past the Sikkel, and you’ll soon come to Ghent’s Town Hall, a schizophrenic building, architecturally speaking, 16th-century Gothic on the right side, Italian Renaissance on the left.

The Best Views in Ghent

After wandering the historic center for an hour or two, you’ll find the best views of medieval Ghent to be had from a café table on either the Graslei and Korenlei sides of the river harbor. Or, perhaps, from a seat on one of the numerous tour boats that slip through the city.

The beautiful architecture on both sides of the harbor tells the story of Ghent’s astonishing rise to economic power during the Middle Ages.

Many travel guides – and travelers – laud it as one of the most beautiful city views in Europe. I agree. Go see for yourself.

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You may also enjoy: Traveling in Belgium – the Best Places to See / Why Bruges Is Better In the Off-Season / 15 Great European Day Trips by Rail

If You Go:

Visit Gent – Infokantoor

Oude Vismijn
Sint-Veerleplein 5
9000 Gent
http://www.visitgent.be
@ [email protected]
Tel: +32-92665660

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