Itineraries

Ghent in a Day: 24 Hours, Well Spent

Ghent, BelgiumApril 4, 20262 min read

The Gothic tower of Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent rising out of thick morning fog, with the Belfry a pale silhouette behind it and the empty square below.Photo: Eduard Delputte / Unsplash

A castle, a van Eyck masterpiece, a belfry and a river full of guild houses — all inside one walkable square kilometre. Here is the order that makes it work.

Ghent is the rare city where a single day genuinely works. Everything of consequence sits inside one walkable square kilometre, the crowds are a fraction of Bruges', and the evening — when the whole centre is lit by a famously careful lighting plan — is the best part of the visit rather than the leftovers.

Key facts

Arrive at Gent-Sint-Pieters and take a tram into the centre; it is a long walk otherwise.
Book ahead for the Ghent Altarpiece, which usually requires a timed ticket. Check the cathedral's official site for the current viewing arrangement.
It is flat, compact and made for walking.
Thursday is Veggie Day, a city initiative running since 2009 — expect excellent meat-free menus everywhere.

09:00 — Gravensteen before the queue

Start at the Castle of the Counts, a moated twelfth-century fortress dropped in the middle of the city. Its audio guide is famously irreverent and worth listening to in full. Go at opening; by midday the spiral stairs are a bottleneck.

Sunlit stepped gabled guild houses along Ghent's Graslei canal, with the Belfry tower behind and people strolling below.Photo: Ngoc Hoang / Unsplash

10:30 — Graslei, Korenlei and Patershol

Walk down to the old harbour, where the guild houses of Graslei face the Korenlei across the Leie. This is the postcard, and it deserves the ten minutes. Then loop into Patershol, the medieval knot of lanes behind the castle, which is where Ghent keeps its restaurants.

11:30 — The Ghent Altarpiece

Saint Bavo's Cathedral holds the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed by Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432 and one of the most consequential paintings in European history. Restoration in recent years transformed how it looks; the visitor experience now includes augmented reality, and it is better than that description suggests.

Sunlit Ghent canal seen over a wrought-iron bridge railing, tour boats passing gabled guild houses and a distant spire.Photo: Raphael Ferraz / Unsplash

13:00 — Lunch

Waterzooi, the creamy Ghent stew, is the local claim. So is stoverij, beef slow-cooked in dark beer. Or use the city's vegetarian tradition, which is deeper here than almost anywhere in Europe.

14:30 — The Belfry

Climb the UNESCO-listed belfry for the view over red roofs and the three towers, with the gilded dragon above you. There is a lift for part of the way.

Gothic guild houses along Ghent's Graslei quay in warm afternoon light, with people relaxing by the water and a bridge beyond.Photo: Gaëtan Spinhayer / Unsplash

15:30 — Choose your museum, or the water

Either take a boat along the Leie for the guild houses from below, or pick a museum: STAM for the city's own story, the Museum of Fine Arts for old masters, S.M.A.K. next door for contemporary.

17:00 — Vrijdagmarkt and a beer

Finish the daylight on the Vrijdagmarkt, the market square that has hosted riots, executions and, these days, terraces. Nearby, Dulle Griet still asks for a shoe as deposit against its enormous house glass. Pick up cuberdons, the cone-shaped raspberry sweets known as Ghent noses, and mustard from the shop that has been making it since the eighteenth century.

A cyclist in a red scarf crosses the bridge in front of Ghent's turreted Gravensteen castle in soft autumn light.Photo: Madura Hettiarachchi / Unsplash

19:00 — Dinner, then the lights

Eat in Patershol, then walk the centre after dark. Ghent's lighting plan has won awards, and the reflected towers on the Leie are the image you will keep.