Ghent

Despite being one of Belgium's oldest cities, Ghent remains small enough to feel cosy but big enough to be a vibrant, relevant centre for trade and culture. There's a wealth of medieval and classical architecture here, contrasted by large post-industrial areas undergoing urban renewal that give Ghent a gritty-but-good industrial feel.

Best Things to Do

01 / Attractions

Must-see attractions

The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
Ghent
Art enthusiasts swarm the Sint-Baafskathedraal to glimpse The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (De Aanbidding van het Lams God), a lavish representation of…
Gravensteen
Ghent
Flanders’ quintessential 12th-century stone castle comes complete with moat, turrets and arrow slits. It’s all the more remarkable considering that during…
Belfort
Ghent
Ghent’s Unesco-listed 14th-century belfry (91m) is topped by a large dragon weathervane: he's become something of a city mascot. You’ll meet two previous…
MSK
Ghent
Styled like a Greek temple, this superb 1903 fine-art gallery introduces a veritable A–Z of great Belgian and other Low Countries' painters from the 14th…
Sint-Baafskathedraal
Ghent
This cathedral's towering interior has some fine stained glass and an unusual combination of brick vaulting with stone tracery. A €0.20 leaflet guides you…
St-Pietersabdij
Ghent
Once the country’s biggest abbey, St-Pieters was the original centre around which Ghent grew. Its fabulous wealth evaporated after French revolutionary…
Kasteel Ooidonk
Ghent
Thought to have been originally constructed around the 13th and 14th centuries, and reconstructed in 1595 after much savagery and repeated pillaging,…
STAM
Ghent
Shoehorned into a 17th-century former nunnery-hospital complex, this fabulous, architecturally striking, ultra-modern museum does a very thorough job of…