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i'm off to Ghent for a few days, what would you recommend i do once i land?
Try not to be too disappointed. Or take a train somewhere else, like Antwerp or Bruges.
Take your road bike and enjoy some great cycling.
Better than chocolate box Bruges, nice city with good shops, architecture and lots of decent restaurants.
[url= http://www.inyourpocket.com/data/download/Ghent.pdf ]click here for a good guide[/url]
We used this guide in January for a weekend. If you're there on a Friday I would imagine the vrijdagmarkt is good, unfortunately we missed it.
There's a fair few cathedrals which are very impressive from the outside. We didn't go inside as we did it on a shoestring budget and it's a few euro's to get in. If i remember right St Bavo's has a tower you can go up and see the whole city.
Go to the canalside and spend a bit of time there, and generally walk the backstreets, there's a lot going on all around.
Beer - I would recommend:
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.055526,3.721416,3a,75y,289.17h,104.08t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s_wqpfZD74vpsRLiC0XWE_w!2e0!3e5]good beer, cool atmosphere[/url] really nice surroundings and great beer
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.056712,3.725366,3a,75y,205.12h,89.2t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1su75Km2Zuug1-q1ZYoXFXeg!2e0]amazing beer variety (250 varieties all with specific glasses!) and cool place[/url]
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.056152,3.727404,3a,75y,233.95h,89.76t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sJLBOl-BetvUpgPELpFuNjg!2e0]pub full of trolls - not kidding! but service was carp[/url]
Cheap lunch at a [url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/ @51.057628,3.724184,3a,75y,326.97h,89.8t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1seCZ14Fk-NLBPbaJYJFCtHg!2e0!3e5]soupkitchen[/url]
It's a really cool place. Bruges is beautiful, but is actually boring as ****.
In Ghent, you should definitely go to Plum bike shop. They have a mini-museum downstairs with beautiful old road bikes (no mountain bikes though).
As Crikey says, good shops and restaurants.
I'm not a massive gallery person, but there's a brilliant one there too.
See the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Het Lam Gods) in St Baaf's Cathedral
Go to the Design Museum on Jan Breydelstraat
Have a beer or two in Der Waterhaus an der Bierkant
Eat in t'Klokhuys in Patershol
Eat in Amadeus
Go to the fantastic travel bookshop Atlas and Zanzibar on Kortrijksesteenweg and have a walk in the Citadelpark nearby - two of the art galleries is just off the park
Go out to the nature reserve at Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen
Go to Het Gravensteen
Buy chocolates from Chocolaterie De Graslei (the proprietor is one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet)
Take a boat trip
Go to the Industrial Archaeology Museum
Have a coffee and a waffle on Graslei and watch the world go by
Gave a look in the lovely shop which is Dille and Camille
Take a tram ride
Apart from that there's hardly anything to do in what has to be one of Belgium's most beautiful cities...
thanks all.....
When are you going?
(I live there so can perhaps advise on some things or events going on during your stay)
Julian's list is quite a good start though.
Belfort tower is quite cool & not just for the best views of the city...
But be careful about Olleke Bolleke - not sure what sort of services they offer! Perhaps Marge can tell us?
I absolutely love Gent and would happily live there.
there's a cool little motorcycle museum near the centre.
We found Bruge was a bit crap and very dissapointing. Ghent was the opposite, great place. Go on a canal boat too, I thought it would be rubbish but was actually pretty good.
...and if you're there with a roadbike, you really should try the quintessential Flandrian training route down the side of the Schelde to Oudenaarde and back, following in the tyre tracks of just about every Euro pro cyclist ever.
http://inrng.com/2014/01/schelde-river-path-fietspad/