I accidentally stumbled upon Ghent while researching for the trip to Bruges. Lots of people made a “by the way… pleasantly surprised by Ghent” comment – Being curious by nature, I looked it up – and lo and behold, the location was perfect for a weekend travel visit from Brussels. It is on the same train line and a stop before Bruges , about 40 minutes arrival time if you come from Brussels Midi. The train station is called Gent-St-Pieters and the price of the Weekend Travel Ticket return trip is a pretty decent 10,20 Euros.

As with most things Belgium , they try to confuse you with the dual languages , so it is Gent(Dutch)/Gand(French) they all refer to the same place. Ghent is located in the Flemish region , therefore Dutch is widely spoken here. Everyone I met seems to understand and speak English here.

To get to the city, you would go to the main entrance / exit of the train station , walk about 200m in a north-west direction – you can see a tram station – The Tram #1 brings you to the direction of the city centre. I have read that the one-way ticket costs 3 Euros but we found that all Linjwinkels (ticket machines) were out of order and could not buy any tickets! Then we found out why..

There is a very big advantage to visit Ghent on the first Sunday of a month, the public transport is apparently FREE!!,  don´t know if it applies to every Sunday , but the Government encourages the smaller shops to be open and there are plenty of Markets around to occupy you.

They even have “People Movers” which is a small vehicle which can fit up to 8 people – driving people with limited mobility for FREE!!! to the pedestrianized streets in the city centre. I caught a photo of it (Barely)  – the vehicle in Blue with signs around. What a friendly city so far 🙂

 

Seeing Ghent:

1. On Sundays , the market scene is very happening , the best place to start is from the Flower Markt (Stop: Kouter) – Ghent has a very walkable, pedestrian friendly city center. If this is your first visit , everything is interesting to see and in my opinion, no need for a guided tour. Getting lost in the streets filled with market and shops and pretty sights is not the worst thing to happen to you. 🙂

There are many different markets around, a farmer’s market, bio-markt, you can hunt for antiques or browse through used books by the river. I found the walking map a very good guide for seeing the sights.

https://visit.gent.be/sites/default/files/brochures/marktwandeling_op_zondag.pdf

2.  The main square is KorenMarkt , a very large car-free area , lined with restaurants and cafes, surrounded by awesome architecture and serviced by trams, in other words a wonderful place to sip coffee while people watching.

3. The Saint Nicholas Church in Ghent (the majestic building on the left) is a prominent feature next to the Korenmarkt. It has a unique colouring that I later found out was the use of the blue-gray stone.

4. I was continuously awed by the sights in Ghent and it feels like having stepped back in time, especially the view taken in from the Saint Michael’s Bridge . You see Saint Nicholas Church on the left, behind it is the Belfry and further off to a distance is Saint Bavo Cathedral.

5. Saint Michael’s Church from the Saint Michael’s Bridge houses some paintings and sculptures from famous masters.

6. Saint Michael’s Bridge over the Leie River.  The Graslei on the river bank , with its row of historical buildings is arguably the most beautiful place in Ghent, or at least the most photographed! I could not do it justice unfortunately because of the gloomy skies and the work they are carrying out.

 

7. Behind the Saint Nicholas Church is the Belfry of Ghent. It is the tallest Belfry in Belgium and not very surprisingly is in the Unesco World Heritage List. Heck,  Ghent center should be on this list!  At the turn of the hour, the bell chimes from the Belfry made me pause and listen to the wonderful tones.

8.  Saint Bavo of Ghent is a Gothic Cathedral with a good looking exterior and interior and interesting of all , houses the Ghent Altarpiece, considered masterpieces in European Art. I did not get to see them but I have it on my list for next time 🙂

9.  All of Ghent Center much like Bruges, is extremely scenic and made me feel if I don’t have my camera on hand, I would miss out on something wonderful! – but this last one on my list , is my personal favourite.  The Gravensteen or Castle of the Counts. It is a castle surrounded partially by a Moat – what could be more awesome than that

Specialty Shops:

1. Came across this super clothing shop Yak & Yeti , they have high quality clothing, scarves and bags with fair trade prices. Produced in Kathmandu, Nepal , i got 2 very nice shawls to bring home with me. I like their business ethics to produce with natural materials and at the same time provide decent jobs and selling at fair prices. Check them out: www.fairlytradedclothing.com

2.      At the Yak & Yeti, the owner was relating a story regarding this feud between 2 Cuberdons sellers. They always stay side by side but fight incessantly for customers. It kind of reminded me of the Chendol stalls, in my beloved hometown of Penang.

As I had read about Cuberdons and asked for a recommendation from a local – where to buy them, since Ghent was the origin of these interesting looking normally raspberry flavoured candies. Try them! – the taste evoked childhood memories of Bubble Yum – but these can be swallowed 😀

The two Cuberdons carts side by side. It was difficult to decide!

3. When in Belgium , do as the locals do, eat Pastries! It is pretty hard to resist as you walk by and the smell of fresh bread wafts out to the streets. Just give in and sit down with some steaming coffee and enjoy every bite.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by Ghent and I feel as if I only scratched the surface of seeing this beautiful city. I’ll be BACK!

-The End-