Ghent is a beautiful city located 37 miles (60 km) from Brussels and 32 miles (52 km) from Bruges. You can find historical buildings and culture. But Ghent has more, it`s also an university city which makes this a vibrant city. There is shopping, chocolate and gastronomy, everything to have a nice city visit in Belgium.
Taking the train from Brussels South Station takes you about half an hour. After arriving at the station, you can take a tram (Tram 1 to “Justitiepaleis”) or ask for directions, as they are doing construction work at the moment. The tram I took was about a 15 minute ride to drop you off close to the major shopping street: Veldstraat. Here you can find the bigger chains like H&M, Inno, Zara,… But try to fight the temptation to get to the historic center to see so many highlights.
I met up with Jeanine also known as @JCreatureTravel on Twitter. That`s what I love about Twitter. Even though some people think you`re just talking in 140 characters, you still get to ‘meet’ the real people behind it! I`ve met a few tweeps already and I hope to meet much more in the future.
Afterwards I made a boat trip along a few sights. (Sadly it was cloudy and a very cold day, I can imagine it being a real treat in the summertime! But this way I got to see Ghent from the water.)
Walking around in the city, I saw the Belfry, the St Bavo`s Cathedral (which houses The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb), the Graslei and Korenlei with the St Michael`s Bridge.
For more Top Sights visit the official website: www.visitgent.be.
For more tourist information and a map, swing by the Ghent Tourist Office, nicely located in the basement of the Belfry, across from St Bavo`s Cathedral.
Belfry (basement), Botermarkt 17A, Ghent
T. + 32 9 266 56 60
Open: 15/03 – 14/10: 9:30 > 18:30
15/10 – 14/03: 9:30 > 16:30 (Closed on 1 January and 25 December)
Want to stay in Ghent longer? Find a hotel.
TIP: Nice and cheap lunch spot for soup or a sandwich is Soup`r, located at Sint-Niklaasstraat 9 – 9000 Gent.
And if you want to try something unique from this region, try the ‘cuberdon’ which is a candy made of sugar in the shape of a little hat or nose, filled with thick syrup. Because it has a limited time of remaining fresh (3 weeks), it`s not exported and can only be bought in Belgium!
Learn some Dutch phrases and visit other places in Belgium: Brussels and Bruges.
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