Ghent, Belgium, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)

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Top 10EuropeBelgium

Top 10 Things To Do in Ghent

Country

Belgium

Best months

May · Jun · Sep

Population

~270K

Language

Dutch

Budget / day

€110–170

Quick answer

The best things to do in Ghent are the Van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo’s Cathedral, the Gravensteen, the Belfry and the medieval quays at Graslei and Korenlei, all within a ten minute walk of one another. Give the city two days, arrive by train rather than by car, and book the cathedral’s timed slot before you travel.

Best of Ghent

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Ghent got rich on cloth, and by the fourteenth century it was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in northern Europe, rich enough to argue with its own counts and lose. That history is the shape of the place: a castle built to overawe the citizens, a belfry built to store their charters, and a cathedral holding a Van Eyck.

The 10 best things to do in Ghent

See the Van Eyck altarpiece in St Bavo’s Cathedral

Cathedral· Sint-Baafsplein, Ghent

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb was finished in 1432 by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, and it is the reason most first-time visitors come to Ghent at all. Restorers have worked through it panel by panel since 2012. The visitors' centre in the crypt hands you a headset and walks you through the theft and the iconography. Allow an hour rather than twenty minutes.

Time1.5 hr

CostTicketed

Best atFirst slot of the morning

TipBook the timed entry online before you travel

Map ↗ Website

Walk the ramparts of the Gravensteen

Castle· Sint-Veerleplein 11, Ghent

Philip of Alsace raised the stone castle in 1180 on the site of an older motte-and-bailey. He had seen crusader fortresses in the Holy Land, and the moat, curtain wall and keep were aimed less at foreign armies than at the citizens below them. Inside are an armoury, a room of judicial instruments, and a walkway with the closest view of the rooftops.

Time1 hr

CostTicketed

Best atLate afternoon

TipThe rampart walk is the point, so leave time for the top rather than the armoury

Map ↗ Website

Climb the Belfry for the line of the three towers

Landmark· Sint-Baafsplein, Ghent

Ghent began its belfry in 1313, at the height of the cloth boom, and the tower reaches 91 metres. It was a strongbox as much as a symbol: the city's charters were locked in the chamber known as the Secreet, proof in stone that Ghent answered to itself. From the gallery the other two towers line up along the same medieval spine.

Time45 min

CostTicketed

Best atClear afternoons

TipGo up before the light drops; the gallery view is what you paid for

Map ↗ Website

Stand on the Graslei at dusk

Waterfront· Graslei, Ghent

The Graslei and the Korenlei face each other across the old inner harbour, and the gabled fronts on both banks were the guild houses of a port built on the grain trade. The stone building on the Graslei is the Romanesque staple house of around 1200. In the evening the quay steps fill with students, which is the most accurate picture of Ghent available.

Time30 min

CostFree

Best atThe hour before sunset

TipThe photograph is taken from the Korenlei side, looking across at the Graslei

Map

Take the boat along the Leie

Boat trip· Graslei jetty, Ghent

The 40-minute guided trip is the quickest way to understand the shape of the centre: the Leie and the Lieve did work the streets could not, and half the buildings turn their best face to the water. Boats leave from jetties on the Graslei and the Korenlei, every fifteen to twenty minutes in high season. Covered boats run when the weather turns.

Time40 min

CostTicketed

Best atMid-morning

TipCheck which quay your operator leaves from

Map ↗ Website

STAM Stadsmuseum Gent, Ghent, Belgium (Wimup)

Read the city at STAM

Museum· Godshuizenlaan 2, Ghent

The city museum occupies the Bijloke, a fourteenth-century abbey and a seventeenth-century convent joined to a twenty-first-century building, which is itself an argument about how Ghent grew. The centrepiece is a walk-on aerial photograph. Go early in a trip: the centre makes far more sense once you have seen how the rivers were moved.

Time1.5 hr

CostTicketed

Best atDay one

TipWalk out along the Coupure canal rather than taking the tram

Map ↗ Website

Give an afternoon to the Museum of Fine Arts

Museum· Fernand Scribedreef 1, Ghent

The MSK sits in the Citadelpark and runs from the Flemish Primitives to the twentieth century, with Bosch, Rubens and a deep holding of Ensor. Its conservation studio is where the Ghent Altarpiece has been restored behind glass since 2012. S.M.A.K. stands across the park, so the two make one afternoon rather than two.

Time2 hr

CostTicketed

Best atRainy days

TipPair it with S.M.A.K. across the park and do both on one walk

Map ↗ Website

Look at ordinary life in the Huis van Alijn

Museum· Kraanlei 65, Ghent

The museum occupies the old Alijn children's hospital, a courtyard of low whitewashed houses off the Kraanlei. The collection is family photographs, home movies, funeral cards and toys, arranged by ritual rather than by date. It is the least imposing museum in Ghent and the one visitors talk about afterwards.

Time1.5 hr

CostTicketed

Best atAny weather

TipThe home-movie rooms are the reason to come, so leave time for them

Map ↗ Website

Werregarenstraat, Ghent, Belgium (Wimup)

Find whatever is on the wall in Werregarenstraat

Street art· Werregarenstraat, Ghent

The city opened this 120-metre alley to painters during a festival in 1995, partly to make something of a dead lane and partly to keep spray paint off the listed buildings around it. Anyone may paint here and everyone does, so nothing you photograph will survive the season. It runs a minute from the Belfry and costs nothing.

Time15 min

CostFree

Best atDaylight

TipPhotograph what you like when you see it; it will be painted over

Map ↗ Website

Look up at the Boekentoren

Architecture· Rozier 9, Ghent

Henry van de Velde, one of the founders of Belgian Art Nouveau, was commissioned in 1933 to design a library tower for Ghent University and finished it in 1942, by which time he had left ornament behind entirely. The Book Tower is 64 metres of concrete laid out as a Greek cross: a modernist fourth tower answering three medieval ones.

Time45 min

CostTicketed

Best atWeekday afternoons

TipCheck the opening arrangements before you walk out; access to the upper floors is limited

Map ↗ Website

All 10, mapped

Ghent · 10 spots

AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Ghent travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Ghent?+

Two. The first covers the cathedral, the Belfry, the Gravensteen and the quays, all within ten minutes of each other on foot; the second covers the museums in the Citadelpark and the Bijloke, the Patershol and a boat trip. One day works if you accept seeing the altarpiece and skipping the museums.

Is Ghent better than Bruges?+

They answer different questions. Bruges has the more complete medieval centre and far more visitors; Ghent has the greater single artwork, fifty thousand students and a city that is lived in rather than looked at. They are twenty-five minutes apart by train, so the honest answer is to see both and sleep in Ghent.

Do you need to book the Ghent Altarpiece in advance?+

Book the timed entry online rather than queueing on the Sint-Baafsplein. The visit starts with an augmented-reality tour in the crypt that runs about an hour before you reach the polyptych itself, so allow more time than a painting normally needs.

How do you get from Brussels Airport to Ghent?+

By train from the station under the terminal. A direct service to Gent-Sint-Pieters runs roughly ten times a day and takes about an hour; otherwise change at Brussels, which costs about ten minutes. From Gent-Sint-Pieters, tram 1 runs into the centre.

Is Ghent walkable?+

Yes. The car-free core covers about 70 hectares and everything in this guide except the Citadelpark museums is within a walk of the Korenmarkt. The streets are flat and cobbled, so bring shoes rather than a car, and use tram 1 for the run to and from the station.

Where to eat

Best restaurants in Ghent

Five kitchens, from two Michelin stars to a brasserie under a glass roof.

Two stars

Vlaanderenstraat

Vrijmoed

Modern Belgian

Michaël Vrijmoed holds two Michelin stars for cooking that puts vegetables at the centre of the plate. The most ambitious table in the city and the hardest to book.

Map

One star

Ham

Publiek

Modern Belgian

Olly Ceulenaere cooks a short set menu built on Flemish produce, in a loft-like room on the Ham. One Michelin star, and the least formal room in Ghent that holds one.

Map ↗ Michelin Guide

One star

Hoogstraat

Oak

Contemporary

Marcelo Ballardin cooks one tasting menu of sharp, unexpected combinations in a small room on the Hoogstraat, west of the tourist centre. One Michelin star.

Map

Michelin listed

Patershol

Roots

Seasonal

A small kitchen in the Patershol working from whatever the season delivers, listed in the Michelin guide without a star. Book it: the room does not hold many.

Map ↗ Michelin Guide

All day

Schuurkenstraat

Pakhuis

Brasserie

A nineteenth-century warehouse turned brasserie, iron columns and a glass roof, serving oysters, steak and Flemish standards from lunch until late.

Map

Where to drink

Best beer bars in Ghent

Five rooms that explain why Ghent argues with Bruges about beer.

Classic

Vrijdagmarkt

Dulle Griet

Beer café

A dark tavern on the Vrijdagmarkt with a beer list in the hundreds. Order the house Max and you surrender a shoe until you hand back the 1.2-litre glass.

Map ↗ Website

Canal side

Groentenmarkt

Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant

Beer café

On the water at the Groentenmarkt, with a long draught list and terrace tables facing the Gravensteen. The view competes with the glass.

Map

Trappist

Bij Sint-Jacobs

Trollekelder

Beer café

A cellar bar beside the church of St James, heavy on Trappist and abbey beers, with a quieter room upstairs. The flea market sets up on the doorstep.

Map

Craft

Dok Noord

Dok Brewing Company

Brewery taproom

Thirty taps in an old industrial hall in the Dok Noord docklands, brewing on site beside a barbecue kitchen. Where Ghent drinks when it is bored of abbey beer.

Map ↗ Website

Herb beer

Rembert Dodoensdreef

Gruut Stadsbrouwerij

City brewery

Gruut brews with a mix of herbs instead of hops, the way Flanders brewed before hops arrived, and the results taste properly unfamiliar.

Map ↗ Website

Culture

Best museums in Ghent

Six collections, from contemporary art to what psychiatry used to do.

Major

Citadelpark

S.M.A.K.

Contemporary art

The municipal contemporary art museum, across the Citadelpark from the MSK, built on the collection Jan Hoet assembled from the 1970s. Check what is on before you go.

Map ↗ Website

Major

Citadelpark

Museum of Fine Arts (MSK)

Old masters to 1950

Bosch, Rubens, the Flemish Primitives and a deep run of Ensor, plus the glass-walled studio where the Ghent Altarpiece has been restored in public since 2012.

Map ↗ Website

Hands on

Minnemeers

Industriemuseum

Industry and labour

A cotton mill near the Vrijdagmarkt, kept as a museum of the industry that made and then unmade working Ghent.

Map ↗ Website

Unusual

Jozef Guislainstraat

Museum Dr. Guislain

History of psychiatry

In the hospice of 1857, the first building in Belgium put up specifically to treat mental illness, and now a museum of the history of psychiatry. A serious hour.

Map

Free gardens

Sint-Pietersplein

St Peter’s Abbey

Abbey and exhibitions

A Benedictine foundation whose roots run back to the seventh century, now an exhibition centre. The church and the gardens are free, and the fruit garden grows vines.

Map ↗ Website

Reopens Oct 2026

Jan Breydelstraat

Design Museum Gent

Design, 1860 to now

The design collection, from 1860 to now, in an eighteenth-century house on the Jan Breydelstraat. It closed in 2022 for a rebuild and reopens on 3 October 2026.

Map ↗ Website

Veggie capital

Best veggie tables in Ghent

Ghent made Thursday meat-free in 2009, and the kitchens followed.

Vegan

Reep

Komkommertijd

Vegan buffet

An all-vegan buffet on the Reep, with a big room and a small terrace. The easiest place in the city to eat well without deciding anything.

Map

Lunch

Zandberg

De Warempel

Flexitarian

A long-running vegetarian kitchen off the Zandberg that has since added fish and meat, which widened the table. Lunch is the main event.

Map ↗ Website

Vegan

Sint-Pieters station

Lekker GEC

Vegan, organic

Across the square from Gent-Sint-Pieters station, cooking vegan and organic from local suppliers. The right first or last meal of a trip.

Map ↗ Website

Cheap

Nederkouter

Greenway

Vegetarian fast food

Soups, burgers, salads and curries on the Nederkouter, served fast and priced for students. The everyday answer to Veggie Thursday.

Map

Organic

Near the Gravensteen

Avalon

Organic vegetarian

An organic vegetarian kitchen in a warren of small rooms in the shadow of the Gravensteen. The quietest of the five, and the one with a garden.

Map

Where to base yourself

Best neighborhoods in Ghent

Four quarters, and what each is actually like after dark.

Dining

North of the Gravensteen

Patershol

Medieval quarter

Ten streets of narrow brick houses behind the castle, settled by leather workers in the tenth century and rebuilt from the 1980s into the restaurant quarter.

Map

Quiet

West of the Gravensteen

Prinsenhof

Quiet historic

Charles V was born here in 1500, in a walled court with hundreds of chambers and its own zoo, and almost none of it survives.

Map

Summer

East of the centre

Portus Ganda

Marina

The old meeting of the Leie and the Scheldt, reopened as a marina, with an outdoor pool and quays that fill on a warm evening.

Map

Nightlife

North docklands

Dok Noord

Industrial

A working dock turned into halls of breweries, food and studios, ten minutes north of the Vrijdagmarkt. The quarter that looks least like a postcard.

Map

Beyond the city

Best day trips in Ghent

Five destinations, each an hour or less from Gent-Sint-Pieters.

Wimup guide

West Flanders

Bruges

25 min by train

The medieval centre UNESCO listed in 2000, twenty-five minutes away by train and busier than Ghent. Go on the early train and come back late.

Map Wimup guide

City

Antwerp province

Antwerp

About 50 min by train

Rubens, the diamond quarter, the Plantin-Moretus printing house and the best fashion shopping in Belgium, about fifty minutes up the line.

Map

Capital

Brussels-Capital

Brussels

About 30 min by train

The Grand Place, the Magritte museum and the European quarter, half an hour away on trains that run several times an hour.

Map

Cycling

Flemish Ardennes

Oudenaarde

Under 40 min by train

A tapestry town on the Scheldt, under forty minutes south, with a late-Gothic town hall and the Tour of Flanders centre at the foot of the climbs.

Map

Seaside

The coast

Ostend

On the Bruges line

The North Sea, a working fishing port, Ensor's home town and a long beach at the end of the same line. Worth the trip on a clear day.

Map

What to buy

Best shopping in Ghent

Four places to spend, from a mustard shop of 1790 to a weekend flea market.

Food

Groentenmarkt

Tierenteyn-Verlent

Mustard since 1790

Mustard ground on the premises since 1790 and ladled out of a wooden barrel into a stoneware pot. A souvenir with a use.

Map ↗ Website

Vintage

Bij Sint-Jacobs

Flea market at Bij Sint-Jacobs

Fri, Sat, Sun mornings

Belgium's longest-running flea market, on the square in front of the church of St James on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Map ↗ Website

Fashion

City centre

Veldstraat

High street

The main shopping street, chains and department stores, running from the Korenmarkt towards the Kouter. The boutiques worth a detour are on the side streets.

Map

Market

Vrijdagmarkt

Friday morning market

The Friday morning market has been held on this square for centuries, under the statue of Jacob van Artevelde. The square doubles as the city's political stage.

Map

What's on

Festivals & annual events in Ghent (2026)

Eight dates that fill the squares, from the March marathon to the winter market.

Feb

Ghent Light Festival

A trail of light installations and projections through the historic centre, staged every three years. The next is due in 2027.

Mar

Ghent Marathon

The city marathon, half marathon and shorter distances, run through the centre and out along the water.

Jul

Gent Jazz Festival

Two weeks of jazz and adjacent music on the Bijloke site, the same abbey grounds that hold the city museum.

Jul

Gentse Feesten

Ten days that take over the whole centre with music, street theatre and stalls.

Sep

OdeGand

One night of classical concerts staged in venues along the canals, with boats moving the audience between them.

Oct

Film Fest Gent

Belgium's largest film festival, built around film music, with more than a hundred features and shorts.

Nov

Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Gent

Six days of track racing at the wooden velodrome in the Citadelpark, in front of a crowd that treats it as a night out.

Dec

Ghent Christmas market

More than 150 wooden huts spreading from Sint-Baafsplein along the Botermarkt to the Korenmarkt, with the streets decorated.

Getting around

Ghent transport & airports

How to arrive from Brussels Airport, and why nobody drives into the centre.

BRU

Brussels Airport

The country's main airport, with its station directly under the terminal and a direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters roughly ten times a day, taking about an hour.

Map ↗ Website

NMBS

Trains

Gent-Sint-Pieters sits about two kilometres south of the centre, with Bruges 25 minutes away, Brussels about 30 and Antwerp about 50, several times an hour on each route.

Map ↗ Website

De Lijn

Trams and buses

Tram 1 runs from the station through the centre every few minutes and is the ride most visitors need. De Lijn also covers the docklands and the outer districts by bus.

Map ↗ Website

Centre

On foot and by bike

The car-free core covers about 70 hectares, the largest in Belgium. Everything in this guide except the Citadelpark museums is a walk, and the flat streets make a rented bike better still.

Map ↗ Website

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Ghent, Belgium

The stews, the sweets and the mustard to order before you leave.

Paling in ’t groen

Eel in a green sauce of sorrel, chervil and parsley, a dish of the Leie and the Scheldt. Order it in spring.

Ganda ham

Dry-cured ham named for Ganda, the old name of the city: pork leg salted and left in the air for months.

Gruut beer

Beer brewed with a herb mixture rather than hops, the way Flanders brewed before hops took over.

Gentse waterzooi

A creamy stew thickened with egg yolk and cream, made with chicken today and with river fish before that.

Gentse stoverij

Beef stewed slowly in dark Belgian beer with mustard and bread, served with fries.

Cuberdons

Cone-shaped raspberry sweets, called neuzekes here, made in Ghent since 1873.

Mastellen

Ring-shaped rolls flavoured with cinnamon, eaten at breakfast and around religious feasts.

Tierenteyn mustard

Ground on the Groentenmarkt since 1790 from mustard seed, vinegar and salt, and sharp enough to clear a head.

Ghent fact sheet

Ghent at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.

Country

Belgium

Region

East Flanders, Flanders

Population

About 270,000 (municipality, end of 2024)

Founded

Abbeys on the Scheldt, seventh century

Nickname

Arteveldestad, after Jacob van Artevelde

Language

Dutch

Currency

Euro (€)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

Calling code

+32 9

Airports

Brussels (BRU), Ostend-Bruges (OST)

Power

230V, type E

Emergency

112

Ideal length

2 days

Getting around

On foot, by tram, by bike

Tourism board

Official site

Interesting facts

One panel of the Ghent Altarpiece, the Just Judges, was stolen in 1934 and never recovered. A 1940s copy stands in its place.
Charles V was born at the Prinsenhof in 1500. In 1540 he made the city's notables walk barefoot in nooses: hence stroppendragers.
The car-free heart of Ghent covers about 70 hectares, the largest such zone in Belgium, and a low emission zone surrounds it.
Ghent declared Thursday a vegetarian day in 2009 and put it into municipal schools. Fifteen restaurants here are now entirely vegetarian.
Ghent University had 50,936 students in 2025/26, about one for every five residents. That ratio is why the terraces are full on a Tuesday.

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