Flemish Region · Belgium
Where to stay in Ghent
Ghent is a city in Flemish Region, Belgium, home to about 273,000 people. This guide covers 2 hotels in Ghent, with about 277 rooms between them.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 2
- Best months
- May to September
- Nearest airport
- ANR54 km · Antwerp International Airport (Deurne)
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Brussels
- Language
- Dutch, French, German
About
About Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality in the East Flanders province of the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the province and the third largest in the country, after Brussels and Antwerp.
Ghent was once considered the second largest city north of the Alps, after Paris. It has a relatively high proportion of young people, and a significant seasonal student population. Unlike Leuven, another university town in Flanders, youth is not the only category of people living there. There is an interesting mixture of foreigners who came to live there, professionals working for major international firms, and artists among the people of Ghent. This mixture makes the people more tolerant and open-minded.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Ghent
See
- Belfort en Lakenhalle
- Sint-Baafskathedraal
- Het Gravensteen
- Sint-Niklaaskerk
- Vooruit
- Groentenmarkt, Korenmarkt & Vrijdagmarkt
- Leie
- Graslei
- Groot Begijnhof Sint-Elisabeth
- Begijnhof Sint-Amandsberg
- Begijnhof Ter Hoye
- City Hall
Do
- De Bootjes van Gent
- Jan Plezier Boottochten
- Go Swimming at Badhuis Van Eyck
- Blaarmeersen sports grounds
- KAA Gent
- hot air balloon flight Ghent
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Places to stay in Ghent
2 places to stay from the chains this guide covers, each linked to its own website.
| Place to stay | Rooms |
|---|---|
| Hotel Drongen - Gent hotel | 17 |
| Hotel Gent hotel | 260 |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
More hotels in Ghent
11 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Den Groenen Staek | 4.0 km | |
| Flandria Palace | 1912 | 2.1 km |
| Posthotel | 12.4 km | |
| 1898 The Post | 0.3 km | |
| Auberge du Pêcheur | 10.2 km | |
| d'Ouwe Hoeve | 10.0 km | |
| Guesthouse PoortAckere | 0.6 km | |
| Hotel de la Poste | 1814 | 0.5 km |
| Hotel Erasmus | 0.5 km | |
| Marriott Ghent Hotel | 0.4 km | |
| Van der Valk Hotel Nazareth - Gent | 11.8 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Ghent
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Ghent are May to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; October is the wettest, with about 84 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Ghent: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Antwerp International Airport (Deurne) (ANR), about 54 km from the city centre in a straight line; Brussels Airport (BRU, 56 km) and Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST, 62 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
Ghent is a 30-minute train ride away from Brussels and is on the line from Brussels to Bruges and the coast. If you're planning to visit Bruges and Brussels, definitely stop over in Ghent as well. There are also direct trains to Brussels Airport (BRU), Antwerp, and Lille. The main station is Gent-Sint-Pieters. It is the main station, to go to the centre, take tram (until Korenmarkt). Journey time is ten minutes. Gent-Dampoort is closer to the center (about 15 minutes walk), but only trains coming from the direction of Antwerp stop there.
Getting around
The centre of Ghent is quite small, so you can walk around on foot. However, the main station (Gent Sint-Pieters) is not in the city centre, but takes a walk of about half an hour. The best option is to take the tram, which takes you directly to the centre in 10 to 15 minutes. A bicycle is the recommended way to get around in Ghent. However, there are many roads with cobblestones that make cycling a shaking experience. Also make sure you stay clear of the tram rails. Nevertheless, you will see you are not alone on your bike: many inhabitants use bikes to get around.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
ANR · Antwerp International Airport (Deurne)
BRU · Brussels Airport
OST · Ostend-Bruges International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Ghent
Eat
Ghent provides an excellent and affordable sample of Flemish cuisine, which in the eyes of the locals is one of Europe's finest as it combines French delicacy with northern European sturdiness. Try some local specialties like mussels, spare ribs or 'stoverij' (a kind of tender meat cooked for three hours in dark beer with a brown gravy) with Belgian fries. Another dish from Ghent is the "Gentse waterzooi" (litt. "boiled water from Ghent"), which was the food for the poor originally, a stew of cheap fish (usually turbot) and vegetables. Now it is often made with chicken as well. Belgian waffles are available from a number of street stalls around the town.
Drink
For authentic pubs, go to St. Veerleplein (the square in front of the Castle), the pubs around St. Jacob's church (especially during weekends), or the student area around Blandijnberg (Mount Blandin), especially in the proximity of the School of Arts and Philosophy, recognisable from afar by the 64-m-tall art deco Library Tower. Ghent is known for its many pubs and clubs and most have friendly staff. If you visit Ghent for its great nightlife, be sure to check out the bars listed in the "Off the beaten path" section.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Ghent: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Ghent?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Ghent are May to September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 23 °C; October is the wettest, with about 84 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Ghent?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Antwerp International Airport (Deurne) (ANR), about 54 km from the city centre in a straight line; Brussels Airport (BRU, 56 km) and Ostend-Bruges International Airport (OST, 62 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Ghent?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Ghent
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.