Six doors into one old town
Ghent is a city you enter by the side door. You come in off the ring at one sector, park, and the rest of the medieval centre is a walk: towers in a row, canals, trams sliding through. From the Sint-Michielsbrug you get the three towers of St Nicholas, the Belfry and St Bavo's in one look, which is why the bridge is never empty.
Resold tickets and the bag drop at the hotel door
I would not buy the Belfry or Gravensteen on a reseller's "skip the line" page. The official desk price is €13 for the Belfry, €15 for the Gravensteen, and both open every day at 10:00; the only queue worth skipping is for the altarpiece at weekends, and its own ticket desk handles that.
My second skip is the plan to "just drop the bags" at a hotel in the car-free area. Even that needs a free digital permit tied to your plate, and a camera does not care that you only stopped for two minutes. Ask the hotel for the permit before you arrive, or unload at the garage.
Mustard from the barrel at Tierenteyn
Tierenteyn-Verlent on the Groentenmarkt sells its mustard in an 1860s shop interior, ladled from a wooden barrel into a stoneware pot. It is open Monday 13:00–18:00, Tuesday to Saturday 10:00–18:00, closed Sundays and public holidays. Ask for the hot one and take a small pot; it travels better than chocolate.
Choose your sector before you choose your garage
Look at the map before you set off and decide which sector you need. Coming from Brussels or the E40, I stay on the R40 until I reach the right entry; cutting through is what the knips exist to stop. Passing a C3 no-entry sign is €58. Most of the medieval core is also car-free, and that needs the plate-linked permit even for a hotel drop. If you only want the sights, you never need to cross a sector at all.
Towers, a castle and a stolen panel
The Gravensteen is a real castle in the middle of town. €15 with the audio guide, daily 10:00–18:00, but last entry is 16:40. Go in the morning and finish on the battlements.
The Belfry has a lift from the first floor, so the climb is shorter than it looks. €13. The golden dragon on top has been there since 1377. On Sunday 11:00–12:00 the carillonneur plays.
St Bavo's Cathedral is for the Ghent Altarpiece. €12.50, or €16 with the augmented-reality tour. Book for weekends; the tourist board says tickets sell out.
The MSK has the restorers. Until 31 December 2026 the altarpiece's restoration studio is here, with the team at work Tuesday to Friday. €15. Park at Sint-Pietersplein.
The Graslei is best seen from the other bank. Stand on the Korenlei and look across at the guild houses; I prefer it after dinner, when the day crowd has gone.
The Patershol is a knot of lanes north of the castle full of restaurants. Walk it at dusk.
Cream, beer and a nose of sugar
Gentse waterzooi is the city's dish: a creamy stew, usually of chicken, with vegetables. Stoverij is beef stewed in beer. Both are on the menu at ’t Klokhuys in the Patershol, along with zurkelplets, mash with sorrel and sausage. That is where I would send a first-timer.
Cuberdons, the cone-shaped raspberry sweets locals call neuzekes, little noses, have a crust and a liquid centre that crystallises within weeks, so buy them here. Confiserie Temmerman has sold sweets since 1904; closed Mondays. And the mustard at Tierenteyn makes the stoverij worth taking home.
Ten days in July, and the winter squares
The Gentse Feesten run 16–25 July 2027: ten days of free street festival across the centre (2026's ran 17–26 July). Drive in only if you enjoy reversing.
The Christmas market runs 3 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, from the Sint-Baafsplein along the Botermarkt and Klein Turkije to the Korenmarkt, with an ice rink and a Ferris wheel. I would park at Het Getouw and walk.
The Lichtfestival returns in 2029, announced as the last big edition; no dates yet.
What's on
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 3 December 2026 – 3 January 2027 | Christmas market from Sint-Baafsplein along the Botermarkt and Klein Turkije to the end of the Korenmarkt, with an ice rink and Ferris wheel (Visit Gent) |
| Until 31 December 2026 | Ghent Altarpiece restoration studio at the MSK: restorers at work Tuesday to Friday |
| 16–25 July 2027 | Gentse Feesten, ten days of free street festival in the centre |
| 2029 | The next, and announced as the last big, Lichtfestival; no dates yet |