My friend Bethany and I continued our trip through Belgium by visiting the fantastic city of Ghent. Ghent Belgium has all the Old Europe charm of Bruges without nearly as many tourists. It’s a university town that loves its beer but all of it is smack in the middle of an amazing historical center with some amazing architecture.
St. Bavo’s Cathedral, just outside our hotel
St. Bavo’s Cathedral
Our mission was to find one of Ghent’s many beer halls to sample some fine Belgian beers but we kept getting distracted by sudden and amazing architecture!
St. Nicholas Church
We found our way to a great beer hall where we had some lovely beers. A note, though: the beers are paid for in cash every round. I tried to pay with a card and was lectured for 15 minutes by our waiter about who knows what, leading me to go walk for 20 minutes to find a cash machine. Wasn’t the biggest inconvenience in the world, but holy geez I didn’t feel like I had earned that lecture. The better news, though: the beer was EXCELLENT. The waiter was as knowledgeable as he was rude and we ended up having some great beers. On our way back to the hotel we saw yet another random amazing building just sitting there on the street.
No idea what it was, but it looked great!
We stopped by the incredible Ghent Pavilion for some pictures. The Pavilion is a very modern installation that looks even more modern because it sits in the middle of so much Old Europe architecture. To me it kind of looks like a Viking ship was overturned and placed on pedestals. The wood decoration was a nice contrast from so much stone.
Ghent Pavilion
The underside of the Pavilion is beautifully lit with a wooden underbelly, it almost looks like a Viking ship was overturned.
Ghent Pavilion
I’ll end this (short, I know) post with one of my favorite pictures of the year: I got my tripod way down low and shot up against the wooden ceiling of the pavilion. I love the symmetry and the beautiful lighting. Ghent is near the top of the list of places I want to go back to in 2016 (a list which is coming soon, by the way). Hope this brief look at an amazing town piques your interest a bit!
Ghent Pavilion
Great photos! I love Ghent and want to go back!
Hi there,
I’m a student and living in Ghent. You’re pictures of Ghent are incredible! I’m happy to see that people from abroad are enjoying our treasure!
I can add some things to your article. The building you had no idea what it was, is the City Hall of Ghent. It’s indeed a little bit hidden.
Secondly, the building you say that it’s the St. Bavo’s Cathedral, is not the Cathedral. De Cathedral was in your back and it still contains the original and famous painting called ‘The Lamb Of God’ or ‘Adoration of the Mystic Lamb’. One part of this big painting got stolen and is still missing.
The building in your pictures is called ‘Belfry of Ghent’. It’s a tower used in the Medieval Ages to warn people for storms and a watch tower for fire in the city.
If you are coming back to Ghent it’s best to come during the Summer Street Festival. Or in winter there are some christmas markets and at the end of January, once every 2 years there is the light festival in the city center.
I hope you’ll enjoy your second time in Ghent.
Chris
Chris, thanks so much for clarifying! I took this trip back in March so it was hard remembering some of the details.
I’ll be in Ghent and got prematurely excited for this “review” that is not quite a review. Was hoping that someone writing a blog would take the time to verify the info rather than writing as if it was done after several of that good Belgian beers.
Thanks Christoph for the useful info.
Sorry I didn’t meet your expectations. I will try and do better next time.
Incredible photos!
Hey Andy, could you please check my written travel blog, and suggest me about the writing.
I went recently to Ghent and loved it! Your photos look amazing by the way. I will definitely checkout your camera recommendations. 😉