Ghent was the second stop of our Belgium tour. We had just left Bruges and were very excited to see what the next city had to offer. Slight nervousness filled our bodies that Ghent wouldn’t live up to our experience in Bruges, because it had been so magical, but we were happily mistaken. We spent Two Days in Ghent and it was enough to make us fall in love with the city.
Beautiful Ghent is the third largest city in Belgium.
It’s home to people of many different origins and nationalities but is still made up of 65% of Belgians.
The weather was between 11 degrees Celsius at night and 20 degrees Celsius during the day in April. It gets warmer in the summer months, but it also gets much busier with tourism, so take that into consideration when you plan your trip.
So here are our top 5 suggestions on what to do on your Two Days in Ghent.
Take the hilarious audio tour through Gravensteen Castle
The Castle of the Counts is at the top of my suggestions list for a couple of reasons.
- Who doesn’t love a good old medieval castle?
- The audio tour is hilarious. The Flemish comedian, Wouter Deprez, gives you the history, all the while making the audio guide engaging with his humour.
- It’s a castle that was built in 1180 and it is still surrounded by a moat!
Come on!
The castle has served many different purposes throughout the years. It has been a court house, prison, home, mint, and a cotton factory. Today it is a museum, where you can tour almost every room in the castle and surrounding property. The tour takes you around in a guided direction. It leads all the way up to the top of the castle and down into the depths of the dungeon.
It is normally open Monday through Sunday 10 am – 6 pm.
It’s only €12 to enter and there are concessions for large groups, student trips, seniors and children, as well. We pre-purchased our tickets for the next day as they were full up and we weren’t able to walk in. You can purchase these tickets on the link provided. We did go in late April, so if you are planning to go during the later summer months we would suggest you book in advance through their website.
Definitely put Gravensteen Castle on your list while you’re in Ghent.
The guide comes in all different languages so you will never miss out on its humour. You can spend hours here just wandering around listening to the guide. Take the time and imagine what it would have been like throughout the years.
Pay the fee in St. Bavo’s Cathedral to see the Ghent Altarpiece (LamGod).
This one will take your breath away.
We were pretty lucky that our hotel was right across the street from St. Bavo’s Cathedral. It was close and we got to take in its exterior beauty multiple times a day. Saint Bavo’s (also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral, or in Dutch, Sint Baafskathedraal) stands tall on the former site of the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, which was erected in 942! Construction of St. Bavo’s began in 1247.
When we walked into the cathedral and had no idea what we were about to lay our eyes on.
We always make a plan to go inside every cathedral that we can but we don’t often do much research beforehand. Ps. Entrance to the cathedral is free.
There was a sign on the wall stating that if you paid €12,50 you could see the Ghent Altarpiece and it kept referring to the ‘Lam God”. We didn’t know what the Ghent Altarpiece was, but because the entrance fee was reasonably priced and we were already there, we thought why not!
Both Trevor and I were very happy that we made this choice.
The interior of the cathedral is outstanding. We were thrilled that we had unknowingly stumbled across one of the most important religious paintings of all time. This religious painting is referred to as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, The Ghent Altarpiece & The Lam God.
This 15th Century painting has been marked as the “first major oil painting” in the world.
There is a lot of history that goes along with this painting. It’s been moved around the world so many times and has been the object of 13 crimes and 7 thefts. It was so important that during WWII Hitler decided that he had to have it and protect it (obviously). I won’t go into detail about what is on the panels so that you can enjoy that experience yourself, but know that you could sit and read about this painting for a very long time (grab the pamphlet explaining the panels from the front of the Cathedral).
We definitely suggest that you move this to the top of your list of things to see in Ghent.
Sit in front of the painting, and read about its history. Heck, we pulled up Wikipedia to learn more about it. You won’t be disappointed.
The Cathedral is open Monday through Saturday 8:30 am – 5:30 pm and Sunday 1 pm – 5:30 pm. The Ghent Altarpiece is available to see Monday through Saturday 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm. There is also an option to do a virtual reality tour but we did not do that (my depth perception is horrible and would almost certainly make me sick). But if that’s your jam, then it’s only a couple of Euros more!
Walk down Graffiti Street.
Taking a walk down Graffiti Street doesn’t take very long but it is a great thing to do while you’re in Ghent. The whole street is a public canvas for street art and changes on a weekly and even daily basis. This beautiful, artistic alleyway is only a 3-minute walk from the Belfry. You can easily plan it into any of your days in Ghent.
The creativity on Graffiti Street is incredible. It’s almost like walking into another dimension. Everything else in Ghent (like the cathedrals, for example) is so old and ornate, but then you find this bright and colourful alleyway, just right in the middle of it.
Tip: Be careful not to lean against the walls because the paint may be wet and you don’t want to get it on your clothes.
Seeing graffiti always brings a smile to my face, so I hope it does for you as well! When we walked down, there were people playing music and painting their hearts out!
Sit and have a coffee on Graslei & Korenlei canal.
The Graslei & Korenlei area is said to be one of the most beautiful places in the City of Ghent. I would have to agree. The canal is lined with cafes and restaurants, inside beautiful medieval port houses and buildings. The railings by the canal are lined with beautiful flower bouquets and it makes for some really beautiful scenery.
We sat on the Graslei side and had a cappuccino and a beer outside Restaurant De Graslei. They even gave us free corn chips to snack on! We could have spent hours here just watching the boats and people go by.
Graslei & Korenlei is only a 5-minute walk from Gravensteen, so it’s easy to make the stop before or after your tour of the Count’s Castle.
If you’ve been doing a lot of walking and a lot of sightseeing, this is your place to just sit and relax. Take in the beautiful Belgian City.
Climb up the Belfry and Cloth Tower.
Yes, I know… I’m giving you another tower to climb. It’s a unique tower though and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so be excited! The tower itself is 298.5ft tall (91 metres) and overlooks the beautiful city centre of Ghent. The Belfry is located 140m (2 minutes) away from Saint Nicholas’ Church and 110m (1 minute) away from Saint Bavo’s Cathedral. These buildings together make up the three medieval towers in the city centre and the Belfry sits right smack dab in the middle. Seeing these three incredibly beautiful and historic buildings all so close together, it feels like you’ve won the lottery of historic sites.
Construction on the Belfry began in 1313. It was completed by 1380.
The Belfry has served many functions over its time and the tour through the different levels of the Belfry explains everything to you. Normally with towers (not all, but most), it’s just one steep climb to the top with no breaks. This Belfry has different floors with information panels about the tower itself and starts at the very bottom! It is interactive and educational, both in terms of the city itself and the history of the Belfry.
We pre-booked our tickets for the Belfry.
You do have to select an entry time. One note, they ask that you print off the tickets before arriving as they don’t accept them digitally, so we asked the hotel to print them for us and they were more than happy to do so. They are open Monday through Sunday 10 am – 6 pm and the basic price for entry is €10. Of course, there are concessions for groups, students, the elderly, and children. It wasn’t busy when we were there, so we walked right in.
It is well worth the hike up the stairs; the view is outstanding.
As I said earlier about Gravensteen, if you’re travelling during the busiest months we would suggest you book your ticket to the Belfry in advance. I could have spent much longer up there, but Trevor struggles with heights and there is no netting in place at the top of this tower so he wasn’t having any of it.
Other things to make sure you see in Ghent;
Where we stayed in Ghent.
Ghent was the 5th stop on our Netherlands/Belgium trip. We booked all of our stays/train rides in one day and we booked them in order. Searching through dozens of hotels and reading hundreds of reviews can get overwhelming. COVID hasn’t been nice to hotels and we saw many negative reviews along the way, but we tried to remain positive and really only look for REALLY bad reviews (unclean, bed bugs, etc).
We saw many Ibis hotels across our search.
This was our first Ibis Hotel experience. We saw that it was a chain, and a budget hotel, so we were on the fence about what to expect.
The Ibis Gent Centrum St Baafs Kathedraal, Limburgstraat, Ghent, Belgium is a 30 minute walk from the Station Gent-Sint-Pieters, BUT it is right in the middle of all the action. As you walk out of the hotel, Saint Bavo’s Cathedral is right in front of you. There is only a small street in between you and one of the most beautiful cathedrals (that I’ve ever been to anyway).
I kid you not, the Cathedral is RIGHT in front of you.
The 30-minute walk is definitely worth it. You also step right out into the middle of the Het Belfort van Gent, Saint Nicholas’ Church, Ghent City Hall and the Stadshal. Needless to say, the location of the hotel is perfect.
We were a couple of hours early for check-in but the staff let us store our bags in a locked baggage room so we could venture out and see some sights. We came back at check-in time and the room was ready. Check-in was quick and easy; we did have to show our passports, so make sure you have those ready. There was an elevator for the 5 floors of the building, which was nice and gave our feet a rest. It is a decent-sized hotel with 120 rooms.
The hotel is modern and clean.
There was a strange smell in the room, but it was very clean and we couldn’t quite put our finger on what the smell was. We booked the standard twin room due to the cheaper price and slept next to each other, but in separate beds. The window was at the side of the hotel and looked out onto what looked like people’s apartments. There were small patios and balconies with bicycles and laundry out to dry. We weren’t there for the view but make sure your window is covered if you’re walking around in your birthday suit. The shower was a good size and overall, we were pleased with the bathroom, especially after staying in a hostel a couple of nights before, with no space; this felt like a castle!
Ibis Hotel Ghent served its purpose.
It was clean, spacious, and gave off a nice relaxed vibe while being right in the centre of some of the most historical buildings Ghent has to offer. We were very pleased with our stay and may even try another Ibis on a future trip!
Random Tips for Ghent
- The City Centre in Ghent is Belgium’s largest car-free area, so plan ahead if you’re driving!
- The beer scene is huge here. Ghent is home to over 250 different types of beer!
- Get up early. If you can wake yourself up early enough to see the sunset in this beautiful city I would. Start your walk at St. Bavo’s. Walk past the Belfry towards Saint Nicholas’ Church. Cross St. Michael’s bridge and just pause to take in the city’s beauty. With no one around (hopefully) it’s a magical moment that sends chills down your spine and puts a big smile on your face. Once you’ve taken that in, head over to Graslei & Korenlei for your morning cappuccino. I promise you, you won’t be upset about getting up early for this.