From Bruges, Brussels or Antwerp, you can easily take the train to Ghent, about an hour ride. A lot of people choose Ghent as a base because it’s a good mix of small city with quaint little touches. I liked Bruges better, though, because Bruges feels smaller and I thought it was less crowded than Ghent, which was surprising. The train station in Bruges is also more accessible. It was about a 15 minute walk from where we were staying in Bruges whereas when we got to Ghent, you either needed to take a bus or taxi to get to the “downtown” area. Still, there is a lot of cool things to see in Ghent.
We started at the Gravensteen Castle, where you are provided a free audio guide. The audio guide was a little strange, as it made a lot of random jokes and went off on a lot of tangents so we eventually ditched the audio guide. The Gravensteen Castle was a really beautiful medieval castle from the 12th century and abandoned over time after stints as a home for royalty, a courthouse and a prison. The castle also has an awesome rooftop terrace with beautiful views around the city.
The town has many bridges and waterviews, the most famous of those being Sint Michielsbrug Bridge because of the views.
From there, we made our way to the top of the Belfry. You can actually take an elevator most of the way unlike the Belfort in Bruges and there wasn’t a long wait either. I liked the views better as well because you get a good view of the Sint Bavo and St. Michael’s Church from the top.
The town has a lot of cute shops as well. The Temmerman is well-known as being a really good chocolate/candy shop. It was really busy when we were there. Another unique place is The Great Butchers’ Hall, where there is meat hanging all over the ceiling. This hall, which dates back to the 15th century, was the central place where meat was inspected and traded. This was partly because selling meat door-to-door was forbidden in the Middle Ages. Ganda Ham is now hung up to dry in the magnificent exposed wooden rafters. This ham is still salted and dried by craftspeople following an age-old traditional recipe.
Ghent was a really great day trip from Bruges. I would recommend staying there for people who want more of a city feel than Bruges. I preferred Bruges but a lot of people like Ghent better. I found Ghent bigger and more crowded than I expected but definitely nice to see.
