Ghent is a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in Belgium. The ten-day-long Ghent Festival is held every year and attended by about 1–1.5 million tourists. Last year I traveled in this beautiful Belgian city for the first time and since then I have been dreaming of going back. I have 7 reasons why I love Ghent that I would like to share with you!
#1 History
If there’s one thing you can do to win my heart, it’s history. I love it when a city breathes history, when you see that a lot has happened and that it is honored. Ghent’s city center is beautifully historic, with many old buildings, traditional interiors and imposing churches. Here you can really explore the past and that is one of the reasons why I love Ghent.
#2 Good food
Flemish people know what good food is! This is once again proven in Ghent. The food is delicious. It is striking that in Ghent they are really busy with ecologically responsible food and that you will find many organic and vegetarian shops there. Big plus for me!
#3 Cozy cafes
Ghent is not only great for food, you have also come to the right place for a drink. The city is bursting with cozy cafes. Sometimes very small and cosy, sometimes very large and full. You will also find a number of nice beer cafes where they sometimes have 350 different beers.
#4 Friendly people
Gentenaren are very friendly people. We had barely been in town for an hour when we were approached by an older man at a food truck festival. He asked what we were doing in Ghent and immediately gave us some nice tips. After this first acquaintance with a resident of Ghent, I couldn’t go wrong. Later, most people turned out to be so friendly and helpful.
#5 Original initiatives
In Ghent they don’t like half work, that became clear to us during our weekend here. Where in the Netherlands we have a National Street Play Day once a year, where it is usually not even clear where children can play safely on the street, in Ghent they approach it very differently. During our visit, half of the neighborhood in which we stayed was made car-free (via Airbnb). And no, this was not for one day, but for a whole month. Green carpets, picnic tables, and streamers marked the outdoor play area. Very cool to see.
#6 Beautiful museums
Unfortunately I was only in Ghent for one weekend, so I only visited the design museum. This museum is highly recommended for the art lovers among us. On a next visit I would like to visit more museums in Ghent. So I would like the Dr. See Guislain Museum. This is located in the oldest psychiatric hospital in Belgium and the exhibition is, indeed, about psychiatry. De School van Toen, about education in the past, and SMAK (modern art) are also high on my wish list.
#7 A well maintained city
This sounds a bit silly, but I really enjoy it when a city is well maintained. When I think of Antwerp, for example, the first thing I see in front of me are those grey, almost black facades. Dirty and not well maintained. This is not the case at all in Ghent. Everything is neat and tidy. To me, this is a sign that the administration cares for the city with love.
Ghent is really a wonderful city where you can easily enjoy yourself for a weekend. Even if you don’t want to do anything specific, you can wander around and just enjoy all the beauty around you.
