• The Gentse Feesten (Festivities of Ghent)[3] 10 days of free festivals all around the historical centre of Ghent, during the second part of July. Millions of visitors are coming from everywhere to enjoy this big city party.

• Use-It Guide Use-It provides a great guide for young travelers. Stop by their office or print out a free guide at use-it.be.

• Take the boat trip with a historical commentary in most languages (one per boat) from the Graslei.

Unless you know what you are doing or have a good book, get the tour. There are a couple of walking tours which are great.

Great places are the three towers of Ghent: the cathedral of St. Bavo (with the famous medieval altarpiece painting 'Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'), the church of St. Nicholas and the Belfort (Belfry). The Graslei and Korenmarkt are fine places to walk and relax along the river while you admire 13th century trading houses. Also the Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) and Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market) are must-sees. Around the medieval core of the city, there is also lots of impressive 18th and 19th century architecture. Especially the 'socialist' Jugendstill/Art Nouveau buildings from around 1900 like Vooruit are unique in their kind.

Ghent has two castles, Gravensteen and Gerard de duivelsteen. Near Gravensteen you'll find very nice neighbourhood called Patershol. It has a sphere of small medieval town.

It also has a Museum of Modern Art, named S.M.A.K. (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst) Another museum which is outstanding in interest with a number of really unusual artefacts is the Kinderen Alijns Godshuis [2] it is now the museum of folklore. The buildings were originally somewhat akin to almshouses for old people - see the website for how children came into its name.

By Train

Ghent is only a 30-minute train ride away from Brussels and is on the line from Brussels to Bruges and the coast. If you're planning to visit Bruges and Brussels, definitely stop over in Ghent as well. There are also direct trains to Brussels Airport, Antwerp, Lille and Paris.

There are two train stations in Ghent, Gent-Dampoort and Gent-Sint-Pieters. To get from Gent-Sint-Pieters to the centre, take the tram 1. Journey time is ten minutes.

If you're visiting from Bruges, it's much cheaper to get a return ticket at weekends, when there's a special rate.

By Car

The dense highway network in Belgium allows you to access Ghent easily by car. Two main highways E40 (Liege-Brussels-Ghent-Bruges-Ostend) and E17 (Antwerp-Ghent-Kortrijk-Lille) cross at Ghent. Brussels and Antwerp are 40 min away, Bruges 30 min. During rush hour you can easily double these times.

On Foot

The center of Ghent is quite small, so you can walk around on foot.

By Bicycle

A bicycle is the recommended way to get around in Ghent. However, there are many roads with cobblestones that make cycling a shaking experience. Nevertheless, you will see you are not alone on your bike: many inhabitants are using bikes to get around. Even the former mayor uses his bicycle all day! There are many bike stands around to make it easy to lock your bike (important!). Many one-way roads are made two-way for bikes.

Public Transportation

The transport system is Ghent is excellent and always on time. A single ticket costs € 1.60 if bought in the bus/tram or € 1.20 if bought from ticket machines near stops, such ticket is valid for an hour's travel on all trams and buses. The trams are the quickest and most comfortable way to travel, especially from the railway station to the city centre.

Note that if the bus/tram stop has a ticket machine, you will have to buy the ticket there, as the bus/tram driver will not sell you one in this case.

Ghent has an unususal type of transport, trolleybus, that can be attraction on its own. It runs on rubber tires but gets its power from an overhead line as a tram. Trolleybus vehicles run through the town centre. Trolleybus is operated by the same company as bus and tram, so the same tickets are accepted.

The transportation company is De Lijn.

In the Lijnwinkel kiosk (located near Sint-Pieters train station), you can get free map of city and surroundings, with all bus, trolley-bus and tram lines.

Ghent provides an excellent and affordable sample of Flemish cuisine, which in the eyes of the locals is one of Europe's finest as it combines French delicacy with German sturdiness. Try some local specialties like mussels, spare ribs or 'stoverij' (a kind of tender meat cooked for three hours in dark beer with a brown gravy) with French fries - or, should I say, Belgian fries.

Another dish from Ghent is the "Gentse waterzooi" (litt. "boiled water from Ghent"), which was the food for the poor originally, a stew of cheap fish (usually turbot) and vegetables. Now it is often made with chicken as well.

The restaurants on Korenmarkt are a good deal, reasonably priced; the menus and 'menus of the day' at the Brasserie Borluut provide terrific value and this includes Gentse waterzooi. The real upmarket restaurants are to be found in the 14th century quarter called 'Patershol', near the Castle. There is also a big Turkish community in Ghent, centred around Sleepstraat a bit further north, which is home to numerous Turkish pizza places. They are amazingly cheap for the delicious food you get and sometimes even better than in Turkey.

For authentic pubs, go to St. Veerleplein (the square in front of the Castle), the pubs around St. Jacob's church (especially during weekends), or the student area around Blandijnberg (Mount Blandin), especially in the proximity of the School of Arts and Philosophy, recognisable from afar by the 64 metres tall art deco Library Tower.

• Waterhuis aan de bierkant (The Waterhouse on the beerside), Groentenmarkt 9 (near the Castle), Tel +32 9 225 06 80 waterhuis.aan.de.bierkant@skynet.be,[4]. Boasts about 400 different kinds of Belgian beer, but is fairly touristy.
• Het Galgenhuis (the Gallows house) near Waterhuis aan de Bierkant is a tiny tavern in a lean-to built on to the Gothic Butchers' Hall. A good selection of draught and bottled beers.
• 't Dreupelkot, Groentenmarkt 12 (near the Castle), Tel +32 9 224 21 20 dreupelkot@skynet.be, [5]. 200 kinds of Belgian Genever, a number of which is home made. Try the pepper genever if you are a tough guy/girl (be cautious!). Pol, the owner, is a friendly guy, altough it might look the other way at first sight. Around € 2 for a genever.
• Overpoortstraat is a street packed with 34 pubs and bars where during the week (especially Wednesday and Thursday nights) all the students go crazy. Because on Thursday it is so crowdy over there, dancing usually happens on the tables. Some notorious bars/clubs are the Cuba Libre [6] (commercial, R&B,...), Decadance [7] (house, techno, drum&bass), Twieoo [8] (alternative).
• Hemelsbreed Verschil, Stalhof 31-33 (near the Overpoortstraat). The official pub for Erasmus students from over Europe. Free internet access available.
• Hot Club de Gand is not a club, but a small, cracking little pub accessed down a narrow lane and has its own small courtyard. Barman told us it closes "when the last person leaves".
• On Korenmarkt, you'll find the live Jazz pub Damberd.