Much like you might save the best bite of food for last, I saved my favorite Belgian city for last, Ghent. I’m dividing Ghent into three parts, following this one will be “The Booze” and finally “The Food”. Ghent was such a charming, friendly city…just amazing. We had a great time there, and I highly recommend you adding it to your Belgium tour. It is quite compact which makes it so easy to navigate, but there is still plenty to do and see. Taking a look below to see why it was pretty much love at first sight:
The Gravensteen (“Castle of the Count) was built in 1180 (12th Century)
One of the things that struck me was how old the buildings were; it is like stepping back in time but with all the modern conveniences. We learned that many of the fronts are from the 1800 or earlier but most are only the facades and the remaining of the building is new. We took a boat tour that was quite informative. Our tour-guide did the guide in three different languages (he could have facilitated it in even more if needed).
Ghent looks lovely. I actually drove through there on the weekend, en route to Amsterdam! I will have to make a stop next time.
Ghent looks amazing! I would love to visit.
seriously, amazing, gorgeous, stunning pictures. thank you so much for sharing! i have goosebumps now, i so want to go!!! i had no idea of this place (im embarrassed, and were considering Belgium for our Europe trip – now, definitely!)
What a lovely castle! And I love boat tours. My last one was in Copenhagen and it was fantastic. Would love to visit Ghent as well!
Beautiful photos of Ghent. I live close by, in Brussels. Are you from Belgium too, or were you just traveling through.
Oh, I wish 🙂 no, we were just traveling. We fell in love with Ghent! Such a charming city and we thoroughly enjoyed Belgium.
Ghent is beautifully! All of these photos are definitely fueling my travel bug. I need to get out ASAP.
I know doing these posts makes me want to go back to Europe ASAP…oh wanderlust has so set in 🙂
This spotlight made me miss Europe! All the other cities you visited were pretty, but I can see why Ghent is special to you. It’s gorgeous! I love cities that are near water, rivers included. This looks like Amsterdam, which is another awesome city. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be daydreaming all day now 🙂
I have not been to Amsterdam but P thinks I would love it since I loved Ghent so much. I’ve heard they are very similar. I love the look of cities build around water as well (naturally) 🙂 I can’t wait until we can plan another trip to Europe!
SO GORGEOUS!!!! i have never been to belgium but it’s definitely on my bucket list!
-kathy | Vodka and Soda
We loved it…I highly recommend Ghent, we had such as good time there. Belgium was pretty much top of P’s list when we were planning our trip and I’m really glad we went. It is really an easy country to get around and almost everyone speaks English (half the time you are greeted in three languages French, English, and Dutch) so that makes it even easier.