How to reach Ghent: https://visit.gent.be/en/good-know/practical-information/how-reach-ghent

Arriving at Brussels airport
The airport trains leave from within the airport building (floor -1) and take you to one of the main stations in Brussels (subsequently Noord/Nord, Centraal/Central and Zuid/Midi), where you can switch to one of the many intercity trains (IC) to "Gent-Sint-Pieters", Ghent's main railway station (trains direction Brugge, Knokke, Blankenberge, or Oostende all stop in Ghent; total travel time around 70 min). Some trains run directly from the airport to "Gent-Sint-Pieters" (trains direction De Panne; total travel time 60 min).

From Charleroi airport (Brussels South)
Every hour a shuttle coach leaves the airport to take you to the main Brussels railway station (Brussels South) where you connect to the direct trains to Ghent (see above).

From Lille-Lesquin airport
Take he shuttle bus to Lille Flandres railway station where you will find train connections to Ghent via Kortrijk

By Train from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, London, Amsterdam, or Köln
Eurostar and Thalys trains connect in Brussels to direct trains to Ghent (trains direction Brugge, Knokke, Blankenberge, or Oostende all stop in Ghent)

Visiting Ghent

Ghent by car: https://visit.gent.be/en/good-know/practical-information/how-reach-ghent/ghent-car

Low Emission Zone Ghent: rforeign cars always have to be registered: https://visit.gent.be/en/low-emission-zone-ghent

Lonely Planet World Cities ranking 2011: Place 7. Ghent

Here’s a secret within a secret: Ghent might just be the best European city you’ve never thought of visiting, in a country that continues to be criminally overlooked. Ghent hides away in the middle of Belgium’s big three – Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp. Most Belgium-bound visitors rushing between these see nothing more than the stately fortifications of Ghent’s St Pieter’s Station. Those who do hop off the train and stroll along the Leie River to the historic centre will have their eyes out on stalks. Here hides one of Europe’s finest panoramas of water, spires and centuries-old grand houses. But this is no place to simply kick back: Ghent has one of Europe’s most dynamic festival scenes, which vies for visitors’ attention. This year the entire centre will emerge from a major program of rebuilding designed to show off the huge pedestrianised squares.

If you ask a Belgian where they like to travel within their own country, many will tell you about the friendly city of Ghent. With most of the town center closed to cars, they will probably also tell you that Belgium’s third largest city is best explored on two wheels or by boat along the elegant canals.

Ghent is an unassuming, un-touristy city filled with university students, linger-as-long-as-you-like cafes, well priced restaurants and vibrant energy. It’s a city with great mustard, Stropke beer (which is Flemish for noose), and the ten day Ghent Celebrations held every year in July where the inhabitants go all out with theater performances, concerts, singing, dancing, and drinking.

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 & beautiful polyptych, Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by the brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432.

• "An interesting range of cultural experiences: churches, medieval castle museums, and rich painting collections, well-preserved and -presented."
• "A gloriously eclectic city, with an excellent mix of old and new buildings. Needs to work on interpretation and signing to explain and thus help conserve its treasures. Much improved fabric."
• "Unlike its neighbour Bruges, Ghent has retained the character of a functioning city rather than an open-air museum."
• "Aesthetic appeal is high particularly because the city has not turned into a mono-economy of tourism."

Ghent Belgian gem playing host to a B&B revolution: Ghent's coolest bars and boutiques are opening their own bed and breakfasts, giving guests the inside track on the city's cultural life. By John Brunton of The Observer (18 January 2009; Photograph: Alamy)

Medieval city ... the elegant facades along the Graslei and the Korenlei in Ghent.

Visit Ghent online (English) and/or Gent Bezoeken/Toerisme (in Dutch)

Ghent, the capital of East Flanders is one of Belgium's oldest cities. Dotted wit canals, gabled houses and cobblestones, the bustling university town with around 230,000 inhabitants is also one of Belgium's prettiest cities. Review the Top-10 best things to do in Ghent such as:

• Discover the town by foot, in a horse-drawn carriage, by boat or bicycle starting from downtown Graslei
• Visit Ghent’s three medieval skyscraper skyline and buildings – the Belfry, Saint Nicholas’ Church and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, and the 12th-century Gravensteen (‘Castle of the Counts’)
• Enjoy the vibrant nightlife, typical of this student-filled town; Belgian beers and other food specialties
• Visit the leading museums such as SMAK, the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, and the fascinating world of psychiatry at the Dr Guislain Museum
• STAM, the newly opened (2010) city museum. The new museum on the Bijloke is be the gateway to the city