Advice on trip to Ghent please

[MissyB1]

Off to Ghent next week for a 3 night break. I’ve been making a list of activities to do, I’ve got
castle
cathedral and /or St Nicholas church
Boat tour
St Micheal’s bridge
Am I missing anything that is a “must do”?

Do I need to book tickets in advance for the Castle and Cathedral? If so is there an official website? Also I would love some recommendations for cafes and restaurants please.

Go by train to Bruges, it’s much bigger, prettier and has more to do. We went to Ghent for the afternoon from Bruges.

I deliberately didn’t choose Bruges as no offence but everyone goes there and lots of people recommended us to try Ghent instead. It looks great to me.

We visited Belgium last year - had a day trip to Ghent - we did the boat tour and also visited the cathedral - we had a wander about and there was actually a music festival on at the time, with lots of pop up venues all over the city, which was great.

We didn’t visit the castle - you can buy tickets on the day, but we found it to be quite expensive so decided against going - it may be cheaper if you buy in advance, or get a deal. The boat trip goes past the castle, which gives great views.

In Ghent we ate lunch at an Irish pub of all places, as everywhere was so busy and we also got some food from a street vendor at the music festival, so I’m sorry I can’t recommend places to eat.

I know you mentioned that you weren’t planning on visiting Bruges, but I would definitely recommend a day trip if you have time, it is really beautiful and easy to get around - direct trains are quick and frequent. We much preferred it to Ghent and would return there, but not Ghent. Although busy and touristy, it was so pretty and had such a lovely feel to it, whereas Ghent didn’t have as nice a vibe.

Hope you have a lovely trip.

There's some good youtube videos of Ghent. Look at By the Curb.
Ds1 visited Ghent Brussels and Bruge. Ghent was his favourite.

Thanks! A video is a good idea, will watch it.