Ghent

Ghent is an unassuming, un-touristy city filled with university students, linger-as-long-as-you-like cafes, well-priced restaurants and exudes vibrant energy. It is the fourth largest city of Belgium with about 250.000 inhabitants. It is not as big as Antwerp but bigger than Bruges. It is also less well known by tourists than the often praised Bruges.

Ghent combines stellar medieval and other historic sights with touches of gritty urban reality and the bustling character of a genuine, living city. You'll get to view some of the best of all these worlds on a stroll through the Old Center.

Under the watchful eye of Gravensteen Castle or Castle of the Counts, the city boasts an Opera House, 18 museums, 100 churches and over 400 historical buildings. The most visited site in Ghent is the famous St-Bavo Cathedral & its beautiful altarpiece, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by the brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432. During our guided walk we discover all the most famous sites and monuments of the city, including the Belfry and Cloth Hall, a superb gothic monument with a soaring bell tower that dates from 1425 and the Town Hall, a complex mix of architectural styles. At the Graslei and Korenlei, elegant facades along the waterways reflect different periods in history through a series of elegant gables and styles.