Must see attractions in Ghent

  • Top Choice
    The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

    Art enthusiasts swarm the Sint-Baafskathedraal to glimpse The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (De Aanbidding van het Lams God), a lavish representation of…

  • Top Choice
    Gravensteen

    Flanders’ quintessential 12th-century stone castle comes complete with moat, turrets and arrow slits. It’s all the more remarkable considering that during…

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    Top Choice
    Belfort

    Ghent’s Unesco-listed 14th-century belfry (91m) is topped by a large dragon weathervane: he's become something of a city mascot. You’ll meet two previous…

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    Top Choice
    MSK

    Styled like a Greek temple, this superb 1903 fine-art gallery introduces a veritable A–Z of great Belgian and other Low Countries' painters from the 14th…

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    St-Pietersabdij

    Once the country’s biggest abbey, St-Pieters was the original centre around which Ghent grew. Its fabulous wealth evaporated after French revolutionary…

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    Kasteel Ooidonk

    Thought to have been originally constructed around the 13th and 14th centuries, and reconstructed in 1595 after much savagery and repeated pillaging,…

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    Stadhuis

    Ghent’s magnificent and flamboyant city hall was started in 1519 but not finished until 1600, by which time it had transformed into a Renaissance-style…

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    Korenmarkt

    Ghent's best-loved waterfront square, the 'Wheat Market' is where you'll find some of the city's best architecture, including the former post office (now…

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    Graslei

    Ships have been docking on either side of the River Leie since the 11th century. The area on the east bank is known as Graslei; Korenlei is on the west…

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    Sint-Baafskathedraal

    This cathedral's towering interior has some fine stained glass and an unusual combination of brick vaulting with stone tracery. A €0.20 leaflet guides you…

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    STAM

    Shoehorned into a 17th-century former nunnery-hospital complex, this fabulous, architecturally striking, ultra-modern museum does a very thorough job of…

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    St-Jacobskerk

    The Romanesque twin towers of this iconic church date from the 12th century but the church itself has undergone numerous expansions, renovations and…

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    Vrijdagmarkt

    Once the city’s forum for public meetings and executions, this large square is named for its Friday market (still held). Tempting cafés sit beneath step…

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    Grasbrug

    To admire Ghent’s towers and gables at their most photogenic, stand just west of the little Grasbrug bridge over the Leie at dusk. It’s a truly gorgeous…

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    Huis van Alijn

    Set in a restored 1363 children’s hospice complex, this delightful museum examines everyday life from the 1890s to the present, with a fabulous emphasis…

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    Design Museum

    A vast toilet-roll sculpture humorously marks the back side of this museum, which has a collection specialising in furnishings including baroque, art…

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    MIAT

    In a five-floor 19th-century mill-factory building, this thought-provoking museum celebrates Ghent’s history of textile production and examines the social…

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    Museum Dr Guislain

    Hidden away in an 1857 neo-Gothic psychiatric hospital, this enthralling mental-health museum takes visitors on a trilingual, multicultural journey…

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    St-Annakerk

    The imposing and beautiful St Anne's church was designed by architect Louis Roelandt in 1851 but never completed in the true Byzantine-style he envisioned…

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    Patershol

    Dotted with half-hidden restaurants, enchanting Patershol is a web of twisting cobbled lanes. Its old-world houses were once home to leather tradesmen and…