What to see in Ghent in three days, where to eat and drink excellent Flemish beer, what to visit for a low cost weekend.
With its long and romantic canals, between the Leila and Shenda rivers, Ghent is a lovely town in the heart of the Flanders with the scent of chocolate, french fries and craft beer. Easily accessible from Brussels Charleroi Airport by bus or train, it is one of those destinations that manages to surprise you and has nothing to envy to the Belgian capital.
Wide streets with gothic profiles and equipped quays that are always crowded, characteristic craft breweries, chocolatiers and small design shops, 18 museums and about 100 churches: Ghent (or Ghent) is a small jewel that can be visited even on very few days. And among the things to do I chose the 5 which made it even more enjoyable the short trip.
Where to eat and where to drink
Food and wine exploration is certainly inevitable on every trip and in Ghent the possibilities to taste good dishes are numerous; mandatory stop at the restaurant Amadeus Gent where ribs at will is the key word for a good feast at a good price. As well as the frieten, the Belgian fries, are to be tried in one of the many fry shops in the city.
In every corner of Gent it is possible to taste excellent homemade beers, often in interesting and fascinating locations: the brewery Gentse Gruut in Rekelingestraat 5, in a place with a post-industrial taste and minimal furnishings, is managed by an entrepreneur who has studied to recover an ancient medieval tradition of the place, the beer without hops but with a balanced blend of herbs, produced in the restaurant even in the presence of customers. With 10 € you can have a tasting of three beers with a full explanation by one of the young waiters.
What to visit
Strolling through the streets of Ghent letting yourself go to the beauty of the canals and the architecture is perhaps the best way to enjoy this clean town teeming with people. If you decide to visit some particular place, the choice could fall on three in particular: the civic tower Beffroi Gent, the Market Hall and the two districts Beguinages.
Going up on the Beffroi tower, one of the three medieval bell towers of the historic center, you can enjoy an exciting view over the city and the long network of navigable canals (also for tourist visits); 95 meters high and 54 bells, a real gem.
The Market Hall, on the other hand, is home to a large multifunctional pavilion designed by Robbrecht & Daem / Marie-José Van Hee architects, and home to concerts, markets, performances and a vast bike-sharing point. An engaging architecture, a perfect and respectful mix of materials, shapes and functions, an ideal subject to portray.
The Beguinages neighborhoods, UNESCO heritage, are located to the east and in the center of Gent and are pretty green parts of the city, home to the beguines in the Middle Ages, now an oasis of peace and an opportunity to discover a city not very well known: Old St Elizabeth Beguinage, Great Beguinage St-Elizabeth, Small Beguinage Our Lady of Ter Hoyen.
For the lucky ones who have the opportunity to extend their stay beyond the weekend, the university district awaits you on Wednesday and Thursday evenings with parties and crowded clubs. A Gent to be photographed and tasted!
