When to go to Ghent?
→ The detailed month-by-month page, with real weather records
Best time: May to September
At a glance
Why go to Ghent?
In the 14th century, Ghent was the second-largest city in northern Europe after Paris, with 60,000 inhabitants living off the cloth trade. That wealth left behind a dense, intact medieval centre: the guild houses of the Graslei, a 91-metre civic belfry, a counts' castle right in the middle of town and a cathedral that holds the Van Eyck altarpiece. The difference from Bruges is that Ghent never stopped working: it is a lived-in city, with an industrial port to the north and 80,000 students.
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb alone justifies the trip. Completed in 1432, it ushered in oil painting as Europe would practise it for four centuries, with a precision of detail that copies fail to capture. The restoration begun in 2012 removed 16th-century overpainting and revealed colours, and a lamb with a frontal gaze, that nobody had seen for five hundred years. The work has also been stolen thirteen times, including one panel never recovered since 1934.
Then there is the atmosphere, which is the real surprise. The centre has been closed to cars since 1996 and the 2017 traffic plan pushed through traffic out of town: people walk, cycle and hear the carillons. Ghent has the highest density of vegetarian restaurants in Belgium, a brewing tradition that holds its own, and the Ghent Festivities in July, ten days of free stages all over the city. It doesn't need to be high season for the place to buzz.
Map of Ghent: what is where?
The map shows the 6 places covered in this guide, to picture the distances and plan your route.
- Gravensteen
- St Bavo's Cathedral
- Graslei and Korenlei
- Belfry of Ghent
- Small Beguinage
- Patershol
How much does a trip to Ghent cost?
Ghent costs less than Bruges or Amsterdam for the same standard, especially for accommodation on weekdays and outside July. The museums are numerous and charge admission, so a three-day pass quickly pays for itself if you visit more than three.
| Style | Per day | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Backpacker | €60-90/day | Hostel or small hotel, chip shops and sandwich bars, walking and tram, two museums |
| Comfort | €130-190/day | Central hotel, Patershol restaurants, museum pass, boat tour and bike hire |
| Premium | €300+/day | Boutique hotel on the quays, fine dining, private viewing of the altarpiece and beer tastings |
The euro is the currency and cards are accepted everywhere, even for small amounts and at chip shops. Many businesses have stopped taking cash altogether since 2020. The CityCard Gent pass, at €38 for 48 hours or €44 for 72 hours, covers the main museums, the Belfry, the castle, a boat tour and public transport.
Is Ghent safe?
Ghent is a safe city, including at night in the pedestrian centre and around the quays. The main nuisance is bike theft, which is very common: use a D-lock and attach the frame to a fixed point. Pickpockets operate mostly on crowded trams and during the Ghent Festivities in July, when the squares are packed. Watch out too for the cobbles, slippery as soon as it rains, and for the Graslei quays, which have no railings and where people sit with their legs dangling over the water. Local cyclists ride fast and take one-way streets in both directions, so look both ways before crossing. Finally, emergencies are handled at the university hospital, 3 km from the centre, and the European Health Insurance Card covers treatment for EU nationals.
What to see and do in Ghent
- Castle of the Counts of Flanders
- St Bavo's Cathedral and the Mystic Lamb
- Graslei and Korenlei
- Belfry of Ghent
- Small Beguinage of Our Lady ter Hoyen
- The Patershol quarter
- Werregarenstraat
- STAM, the city museum
Castle of the Counts of Flanders
The Gravensteen, a fortress of bluestone built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace on his return from crusade, planted right in the centre rather than on a height. It served as a court, a prison and then a cotton mill before being saved by the city in 1887. You climb to the rampart walk for the view over the rooftops, cross the great hall, the cellars and a room of judicial instruments. The audio guide, written by a Flemish comedian, is one of the few that actually makes you laugh.
St Bavo's Cathedral and the Mystic Lamb
The Van Eyck brothers' polyptych, completed in 1432, is the turning point of European painting: twelve panels painted on both sides, a mastery of oil that allowed glazes and unprecedented detail. The restoration begun in 2012 removed old overpainting and gave the panels back their colours. The visitor centre opened in 2021 puts the work back in its original chapel through augmented reality. The Just Judges panel, stolen in 1934, is still missing.
Graslei and Korenlei
The two quays of the Leie, on the site of the medieval port where grain passed through. The Graslei lines up the Romanesque Grain Staple House, from around 1200, the House of the Grain Measurers from 1698 and that of the Free Boatmen from 1531. Opposite, the Korenlei shows off Baroque and neoclassical façades. St Michael's Bridge gives you the line-up of the three towers: St Nicholas, the Belfry and St Bavo. Students settle on the steps as soon as the first fine days arrive.
Belfry of Ghent
Ninety-one metres, begun in 1313 and completed in 1380, listed as a World Heritage Site along with the other belfries of Belgium and France. The tower kept the charter of civic liberties in a room secured by three locks. A gilded dragon has turned at the top since 1377 and the carillon has 54 bells. A lift goes up to the floors, and the gallery looks out over the rooftops of the centre and the port to the north. The bells ring every quarter of an hour, at close range.
Small Beguinage of Our Lady ter Hoyen
Founded around 1235, this beguinage brings together some sixty white gabled houses around a church and a meadow, behind a wall. The beguines lived in community without taking permanent vows, kept their property and were free to leave, a women's organisation with no equivalent in medieval Europe. The present houses date from the 17th and 18th centuries and are still lived in. A World Heritage Site since 1998, the complex is free to visit, as long as you stay discreet.
The Patershol quarter
Behind the castle, a tangle of cobbled lanes still following its medieval layout, named after the Discalced Carmelites who settled here in the 17th century. A tanners' quarter, then a very poor enclave threatened with demolition in the 1970s, it was listed in 1980 and restored house by house. Around forty restaurants now occupy its old façades, in streets too narrow for traffic. Tables should be booked the day before from Thursday to Saturday.
How many days, and which itinerary?
Two full days cover the medieval centre, the altarpiece and the main museums without rushing. A third day opens up the beguinage, STAM, the Prinsenhof quarter and a bike ride along the Leie towards Deurle and the Dhondt-Dhaenens museum.
🗺️ Day-by-day itinerary · 📓 Free printable Ghent guide (PDF)
A weekend (2 days)
Day 1: the Belfry at opening time, St Bavo's Cathedral and the altarpiece in a booked slot, lunch in the Patershol, the Castle of the Counts in the afternoon, drinks on the Graslei steps and a waterzooi dinner. Day 2: the Vrijdagmarkt market in the morning, Werregarenstraat on the way, the Museum of Fine Arts or SMAK in Citadel Park, then the Small Beguinage late in the day before the evening train. Two nights there are enough, as the city empties of visitors after 6pm.
Ghent in depth (4 days)
The two-day base, plus a morning at STAM to read the city from its aerial photo laid out on the floor, the ruined St Bavo's Abbey and the Prinsenhof quarter where Charles V was born in 1500. Add a day cycling along the Leie towards Sint-Martens-Latem and Deurle, fifteen kilometres away, home of the landscape painters of the Laethem school, and an evening of tasting in a brown café on the Vrijdagmarkt.
A Flanders loop (1 week)
Three nights in Ghent, two in Bruges for the canals and St John's Hospital, two in Antwerp for the cathedral, the Rubens House and the diamond quarter. The three cities are less than an hour apart by train and can be done without a car. In season, add a day on the coast at Ostend, for the Mu.ZEE museum and the beaches, or towards Ypres and the cemeteries of the Great War. A regional day rail ticket covers all these journeys for around fifteen euros.
Getting there and getting around
By train, the easy way in is via Brussels-Midi, where Eurostar and other high-speed trains arrive: a direct intercity reaches Gent-Sint-Pieters in 30 minutes. A car is pointless, as the centre is closed to traffic.
Gent-Sint-Pieters station is 2.5 km from the centre. Tram 1 gets there in ten minutes and serves the Korenmarkt every six minutes. A ticket costs €2.50 on board, less if bought in advance. Bikes can be hired at the station for €12 a day.
The centre has been pedestrianised since 1996 and the 2017 traffic plan did away with through traffic. Everything is within walking distance in a one-kilometre radius. Cars park in underground car parks at €20-25 a day, or in free park-and-ride sites on the outskirts.
On the water, sightseeing boats leave from the Graslei and the Korenlei for a 40-minute tour at €10, from April to October. You can also hire self-drive electric boats, no licence needed, for about €60 for two hours.
Where to stay in Ghent?
Youth hostels and budget hotels: €40-80 a night. Several occupy former guild houses overlooking the Leie, which is rare at this price. Book early for July, as the Ghent Festivities fill the city for ten days.
Mid-range hotels around the Korenmarkt and the cathedral: €110-160, often in old buildings with a lift added. Location matters more than comfort in Ghent, as everything happens within ten minutes' walk.
Guesthouses and apartments in the Patershol or the Prinsenhof: €100-180, with exposed stone, small courtyards and sometimes a bike on loan. A good option from three nights and for families, with a kitchen and a market close by.
Boutique hotels in patrician mansions or the old post office on the Graslei: €190-300. These are the only addresses that look directly onto the historic quays. Rates drop markedly from November to March, outside the end-of-year holidays.
Our places to stay, stop by stop, at three budgets →
What to eat in Ghent?
Ghent waterzooi is the local dish: chicken or fish simmered in a broth thickened with cream and egg yolk, with leeks, carrots and potatoes. Allow €22-28 in a Patershol restaurant. It is mostly served in autumn and winter.
Stoverij, a beef stew made with brown beer and gingerbread, comes with twice-cooked chips. The chip shops on the Vrijdagmarkt and Sint-Baafsplein serve it for €8-12. Tierenteyn mustard, ground since 1790 in its shop on the Groentenmarkt, goes with it.
Ghent claims the highest density of vegetarian restaurants in Belgium and since 2009 has held a meat-free Thursday in public canteens. Plant-based places are therefore plentiful and good, at €15-25 a main course, without being niche.
As for drinks, Gruut is brewed in the city without hops, using a medieval blend of herbs, and is sampled at the Great Beguinage brewery. Brown cafés serve Trappists and gueuzes. Cuberdon, a purple sweet with a syrupy centre, is sold by the paper cone on the squares.
Entry requirements
Schengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
Rules change: check your own government's travel advice before you go.
Frequently asked questions about Ghent
How many days do you need to visit Ghent?
Two full days are enough for the Belfry, the cathedral and its altarpiece, the castle, the quays and the Patershol. A third day allows for STAM, the Small Beguinage and the art museums, or a bike ride along the Leie. Many people come on a day trip from Brussels, but a night there changes everything: the city empties of visitors after 6pm.
Ghent or Bruges, which should you choose?
Bruges is more photogenic and more compact, Ghent livelier and less overrun. Ghent has 80,000 students, bars open late and a real restaurant scene; Bruges empties in the evening. If you only have a weekend and want atmosphere as much as heritage, choose Ghent. The two are 25 minutes apart by train.
Do you need to book to see the Mystic Lamb?
Yes, visits are by time slot and weekend slots go several days in advance. The ticket, around €16, includes the visitor centre and the augmented reality headset. Allow an hour there. The cathedral itself remains free to enter outside services, but the altarpiece is in a separate space.
When is the best time to visit?
From May to September for café terraces and long days, with a peak of activity during the Ghent Festivities, ten days of free stages in July. December is also worth the trip for the Ghent Light Festival, a trail of light installations held in odd-numbered years. Avoid November and February, grey and rainy, except for hotel prices.
How do you get around Ghent?
On foot for the most part: the whole historic centre fits within a kilometre and has been closed to cars since 1996. Tram 1 links Gent-Sint-Pieters station to the Korenmarkt in ten minutes for €2.50. Bikes rent for €12 a day and are well suited to trips to the beguinage or STAM. Leave the car in a free park-and-ride.
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