Things to Do in Ghent, Belgium: Walking Guide

Ghent is a historic city in Flanders, Belgium, celebrated for its medieval towers, winding canals and lively student culture. The city blends grand landmarks such as the Belfry and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral with contemporary art, bustling markets and canalside cafés. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Ghent with 199 narrated places, letting you explore at your own pace.

Explore Ghent’s highlights

Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts)

Gravensteen is a medieval fortress whose defensive system remains almost completely intact. Dating from 1180, it was originally called the “new castle” and served as the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1353. Visitors can walk through the gatehouse, curtain wall, keep, former comital residence and stables. Inside the museum you’ll find weapons, armour, a crypt, a torture chamber, dungeons and the rooms once used by the counts. Over the centuries the building has also been a courthouse, a prison, a mint and even a cotton mill.

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK)

Located on the east side of Citadelpark, the MSK is one of Belgium’s oldest museums. Its collection spans medieval works to the first half of the twentieth century, ranging from Bosch to Magritte. Flemish art forms the core, complemented by French paintings and a substantial sculpture group. The museum originated in 1798 when Ghent became the capital of the French department of the Scheldt and the state opened a public art collection. The current building was designed around 1900 by city architect Charles van Rysselberghe and reopened in 2007 after a four‑year restoration.

Belfry of Ghent

The Belfry rises beside Saint Bavo’s Cathedral and Saint Nicholas’ Church, forming Ghent’s famous three‑tower skyline. Construction began around 1314; by 1338 four levels were in place before work halted. A temporary wooden crown held the legendary dragon weather vane from 1377. In 1851 a neo‑Gothic cast‑iron spire by Louis Roelandt replaced the wood, and in 1911 Vaerwijck installed the present structure, inspired by the original Gothic form. Four stone guardian figures from 1339 (now represented by copies) stand on the corner turrets. The belfry is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Belfries of Belgium and France.

Saint Bavo’s Cathedral

Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, or Sint‑Baafskathedraal, reaches 89 metres and is the seat of the Diocese of Ghent. It is named for Saint Bavo of Ghent and houses the celebrated Ghent Altarpiece, also known as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, by Jan and Hubert van Eyck. The building began as a thirteenth‑century parish church dedicated to Saint John, became a collegiate church in 1536 and was elevated to cathedral status in 1559.

Arnold Vander Haeghen Museum

This museum occupies the former Hotel Clemmen on Veldstraat. Built in 1746 to designs by David ’t Kindt, it was bought in 1771 by textile baron Josse Clemmen, who added a Classical‑Baroque façade and a rear wing for a cotton‑printing workshop. The Chinese salon displays eighteenth‑century silk wall coverings and wall paintings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1836 the house passed to the Vander Haeghen family, who bequeathed it to the city on the condition it become a museum; it opened to the public in 1953.

Caermersklooster (Kunsthal Gent)

The Caermersklooster is a monumental thirteenth‑century monastery in the city centre. Today it houses Kunsthal Gent, an experimental institution dedicated to presenting and developing contemporary art through exhibitions and other programmes, set within the historic monastic walls.

Huis van Alijn (Cecilia Jaime Gallery)

Huis van Alijn is a museum of everyday life and popular culture in Ghent. Set in a medieval former almshouse arranged around an intimate inner courtyard, it traces daily life from the early twentieth century to the present. The courtyard features eighteen small houses standing in rows around the patio, a layout that dates back to the fourteenth century when the Rijm family built the almshouse as part of a pardon after a killing in the cathedral. The condition was to provide shelter for eighteen elderly women without means; later patrician families added eight more houses and a chapel.

Lakenhalle (Cloth Hall)

The Lakenhalle is a defining Gothic building that recalls Ghent’s prosperous cloth industry before the seventeenth century. Standing in the city centre, its monumental style reflects the wealth once generated by textile trade. Adjacent to the hall stands the Mammelokker, a former jailer’s residence whose tympanum bears a sculpture from around 1741 by David ’t Kindt depicting the Roman story of Cimon and Pero. The monument has been protected since 1999 and forms part of the UNESCO Belfry site.

Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde

Founded in 1886, this academy was Belgium’s first official institution to study Dutch scientifically. It promotes the Dutch language and literature in Flanders, advises the Flemish government and awards literary and scientific prizes. Its secretariat and library are located on Koningstraat in Ghent.

Hotel d’Hane-Steenhuyse

Set on Veldstraat, this elegant eighteenth‑century townhouse once belonged to the D’Hane de Steenhuyse family. The building is now managed by Historische Huizen Gent and offers a glimpse into Ghent’s historic urban residences.

Bisschoppelijk Paleis Gent

The Episcopal Palace of Ghent serves as the administrative headquarters of the Diocese of Ghent and the residence of its bishop. Situated on Bisdomplein, it remains a working centre of diocesan life.

Kasteel Potuit

Although called a castle, Kasteel Potuit in Sint‑Amandsberg is a neoclassical country house. Built in the first half of the nineteenth century, it was remodelled and enlarged in 1866. The original core is visible in the three right‑hand bays that project slightly forward; the estate also includes an orangery in the same neoclassical style.

Sint‑Annakerk (Church of Saint Anne)

Sint‑Annakerk displays an eclectic mix of Romanesque, Byzantine and Gothic elements. Designed in 1851 by Lodewijk Roelandt, construction began in 1853 and, after Roelandt’s departure in 1855, was completed in a simplified form by Jacques Van Hoecke. The church was inaugurated on June 12 1866, even though work was still unfinished. It replaced an older chapel from 1644 and is regarded as Ghent’s finest example of Rundbogenstil; inside, wall paintings by Théodore‑Joseph Canneel (finished after his death by Théophile Lybaert) adorn the nave, while the intended west tower was never built.

Sint‑Coletakerk

Located between Heuvelpoort and the railway, Sint‑Coletakerk presents a neo‑Gothic façade that is easy to miss but worth a closer look. The church has three aisles and five bays; its crossing tower was added in 1911 following a design by Gerard De Meyer. Over its 124‑year history the building has had only two organists, the second of whom, Edgard Guns, played for more than seventy years.

Royal Dutch Theatre (Koninklijke Nederlandse Schouwburg)

The Royal Dutch Theatre on Sint‑Baafsplein was erected between 1897 and 1899 in an eclectic style with strong Renaissance influences, to a design by architect Edmond De Vigne. It became the new home of the Nederlandsch Tooneel van Gent. The façade stretches over three storeys and five bays; its central section is highlighted by four statues of men in seventeenth‑century clothing representing the city’s rhetoric chambers. Above the entrance rises a monumental pediment containing a nine‑metre‑wide, four‑metre‑high mosaic made from 70 000 ceramic pieces in 500 shades, designed by Constant Montald to depict Apollo in his sun chariot accompanied by the nine Muses.

Explore Ghent with Neywo

Neywo’s free audio guide for Ghent includes 199 narrated places and a selection of self‑guided tours. You can choose from four walking routes, one bus line and one bike route:

• Ghent’s Three Towers: Cathedral, Belfry and Cloth Hall – 1 km, 109 minutes, 11 stops
• Quays, Bridges and Merchant Houses – 1.34 km, 103 minutes, 11 stops
• Counts, Cannons and Cobbles: Gravensteen and Patershol – 1.34 km, 104 minutes, 10 stops
• Museums, Book Tower and Saint Peter’s Hill – 2.81 km, 108 minutes, 11 stops
• Bus 70: Station, Fine Arts and Saint Anne’s – 7.2 km, 31 minutes, 7 stops
• Ghent North‑South: From the Rabot Water Gate to the Peperbus – 5 km, 25 minutes, 6 stops

Each story starts automatically when you reach the associated spot, allowing you to move at your own pace with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages. Download the Neywo app, pick a tour that interests you, and let the city’s history unfold as you walk.