Surroundings

- Blaarmeersen
- City of Ghent

City of Ghent

Description

View on the Leie in Ghent

Ghent is is the heart of a region with 350,000 inhabitants. The mother tongue of the inhabitants is Dutch, but the friendly people of Ghent speak French and English fairly well. The weather in Ghent is rather whimsical: sunny days are often disturbed by a hefty shower. The clever tourist, bearing this in mind, is always prepared to both circumstances. Extremely high or low temperatures however, are seldom.

Ghent is situated at the intersection of the E17 and E40 motorways and can easily be reached by car. National and international trains stop in Ghent (stations "Sint-Pieters" and "Dampoort"). The city has an extensive public transport network serving the city centre and surrounding areas.

It can be no coincidence that Ghent, the capital of East Flanders, was given several pretty names: historic heart of Flanders, a city of all times, one of the most beautiful historic cities in Europe.

The city combines an impressive past with a vivid present. Numerous tourists visit Ghent, whose citizens are nicknamed "stroppendragers" or noose-bearers, and use the city's extensive accommodation.

The historic heart of the city offers many places of interest. From St Michael's Bridge, there is a wonderful view of the skyline of Ghent, with the three impressive towers of St Nicholas' Church, the Belfry with its bell tower and St Bavo's Cathedral with the world-famous painting "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan van Eyck. Traces of the Middle Ages were preserved at many places. The old port with its guildhalls on the "Graslei" and "Korenlei" is merely one example of the beautiful views this town has to offer. Not far from the "Graslei" arises the Castle of the Counts, once the medieval fortress of the Count of Flanders. Nowadays it is a major tourist attraction.