Ghent: A Medieval City with a Modern Appetite

7 hours ago

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This is a paid for article.

Swans with a secret, a masterpiece stolen more times than any other, and some of the finest cooking in the Low Countries. Bill Murray takes Le Shuttle to Flanders and finds a city that feeds the senses and the soul.

Tour boats on the Lys — Canal boats glide between the Graslei and Korenlei. — **Tour boats on the Lys** — Canal boats glide between the Graslei and Korenlei.

Some journeys begin at the departure gate. Ours began in a queue of cars at Folkestone (a minor delay was had but the end result was still great). There is something quietly liberating about driving onto a train: no luggage limits, no security trays, just a ramp, a brightly lit carriage and around half an hour later, France.

Le Shuttle isn't glamorous, and it doesn't pretend to be. But it is simple, reliable and, for anyone travelling by electric vehicle, the most relaxed way to cross the Channel I know. From Calais, the road runs easily up the coast and over the border into Flanders.

My advice is not to rush it. Pull off at Veurne, a small Flemish market town with a main square so handsome it looks like a film set. We stopped for a bite at 't Torentje, a small, welcoming restaurant on the corner of the square. We ate a pork cheek stew to die for, delicate fillets of sole and a crown of lamb I'm still thinking about. It set the tone for everything that followed.

A room with a view

By late evening we were in Ghent, pulling up on the Korenlei, the quayside that graces almost every postcard of the city. The Ghent Marriott sits right on the water, looking across the River Lys to the gabled guildhouses of the Graslei. I have stayed in a great many hotels over the years. Very few have made me stop at the front of the venue and simply stare.

The location is incredible. The hotel is built into historic merchants' houses, and inside it is a clever marriage of old and new: original timber beams, a soaring glass atrium and rooms that are properly comfortable. It celebrates its 20th anniversary next March, and wears it well.

Look up at the façade & you’ll spot two gilded swans swimming in opposite directions. There's a story here. In old Ghent, a swan facing one way advertised drink; facing the other, it meant female company. The building, it's fair to say, has lived a little.

The hotel has embraced that history with a smile. Tucked away inside is SOAN, pronounced "swan", a New York-style speakeasy from the team behind Manhattan's Raines Law Room and Dear Irving. Low lighting, beautifully made cocktails, and nobody in any hurry to leave.

For fellow EV drivers, one practical note: parking and charging were excellent. The car was plugged in, topped up and forgotten about for the whole stay, which in a medieval city centre is no small thing.

Graslei terraces — Café tables beneath the Graslei's gabled guildhouses. — **Graslei terraces** — Café tables beneath the Graslei's gabled guildhouses.

Dinner on the Lys

If the location drew us in, the food kept us there. The hotel's restaurant offers a celebration of contemporary Flemish cooking, spreads across three elegant dining rooms overlooking the water. At its heart is a Josper charcoal grill, and you can taste it.

The beef fillet was one of the finest I have eaten in years, charred outside and tender within. The deboned chicken was a revelation too, full of flavour and effortless to enjoy. Service throughout was warm, attentive and quietly precise. I'm told further changes might be afoot in the kitchen; more details will follow, and I'll be first in the queue.

Breakfast deserves a mention of its own. The buffet is excellent and can get busy, but Louisa and Funda run it like clockwork, with Antonio making sure every table is looked after. With the river outside the window, you'll linger longer than you planned.

A landmark reopening

In Early October after a great deal of transformation, Design Museum Gent reopens its doors, barely a hundred metres from the hotel.

Founded in 1903, the museum has long been housed in the Hotel de Coninck, an elegant 18th-century mansion. A striking new wing now links the old and newer buildings, and the forgotten heart of the site has become a garden courtyard. The result is Belgium's largest design museum, with 2,500 square metres of galleries showing more than 450 pieces from a collection of some 24,000.

Under director Katrien Laporte, it starts from a simple, inspiring idea: everything around us has been designed, so everything can be redesigned. The opening programme includes a fresh look at the collection, an exhibition on design and democracy, and a presentation on the late Belgian designer Maarten Van Severen. The opening weekend is free, with a 60-stall makers' market and brunch in the courtyard, before Design Fest Gent spreads across the city until 11 October.

Fittingly, the building itself has been engineered to run without fossil fuels. It is sustainable design in practice, not just on display.

Gravensteen — Kayakers pass a floating sculpture to promote the Design Museum below. — **Gravensteen** — Kayakers pass a floating sculpture to promote the Design Museum below.

A city made for walking

Ghent is wonderfully compact, and exploring it on foot is a joy. When your legs need a rest, the trams are frequent and easy to use.

Within a few minutes of the hotel stands the Gravensteen, the Castle of the Counts, a moated medieval fortress straight out of a storybook. Choose the comedy audio guide; it's great fun. Then climb the Belfry for a view across the city's rooftops and three famous towers. Both are included in the CityCard Gent, which I'd recommend to anyone staying more than a day.

The highlight, though, is St Bavo's Cathedral and the Van Eyck brothers' Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, one of the most important paintings in European art. It is also said to be the most frequently stolen artwork in history. The augmented-reality tour brings its story vividly to life, and you'll never look at the Lamb's famously startled restored face in quite the same way again.

This is no museum-piece city, though. The restored Wintercircus is now home to restaurants and bars, the city library is a destination in its own right, and the film festival is one of the most respected in Europe. It's no surprise the international press has taken notice: The New York Times has given the city its celebrated "36 Hours" treatment, and Vogue has recently sung its praises too.

From the Belfry — St Nicholas' Church and the Korenmarkt, seen from the top of the Belfry. — **From the Belfry** — St Nicholas' Church and the Korenmarkt, seen from the top of the Belfry.

Waffles, fries and beer, but gourmet

Yes, you can happily live on waffles, frites and Belgian beer here. But Ghent's real secret is how seriously it takes its food.

Whatever else you do, visit Hendrik and Mia at Maison 12 on Onderstraat. Hendrik is a pastry chef chocolatier like his father before him, and together they create pralines and cocoa-dusted truffles with the care most people reserve for fine wine. Book one of their workshops if you can. And do raise a glass while you're in town, because Ghent also produces an incredible gin Da Da Chapel - go drink it at DaDa bar which is the most cool, cozy and fantastic cocktail bar near the distillery. If you have room, visit Tartelette run by an imaginative couple one being a former student of Mia and Hendrik. The tarts were simply out of this world.

Maison 12 — Mia and Hendrik with me at their chocolaterie on Onderstraat. — **Maison 12** — Mia and Hendrik with me at their chocolaterie on Onderstraat.

Winter Circus

After five years of painstaking restoration, Ghent’s extraordinary Winter Circus reopened in 2024, transforming a former circus and workshop complex into one of the city’s most imaginative new spaces. Its spectacular central arena is now a covered public square, while start-ups occupy the old workshops and a 500-capacity concert hall lies below ground. It’s also becoming a foodie destination, with artisan bakery Bakker Klaas, sushi at Sakas by Chef Yoshi, seasonal cooking at Tribune and drinks at Bar Bougie or rooftop bar Bassie.

Take to the water

A boat trip is essential. Seeing the city from the water gives you a whole new perspective, and the CityCard includes a guided canal tour plus a day on the hop-on, hop-off water tram. The canal tours through the historic centre are lovely, but for something special, hire your own electric boat from Booot and glide quietly up the Lys to Sint-Martens-Latem, with its villas and lawns sloping down to the river. Think of it as the Hamptons of Ghent.

If Latem is the Hamptons, then Knokke on the coast is Belgium's St Tropez. And Bruges is just half an hour away.

The 'not so' long way home

On the way back we stopped at Dunkirk and spent a very pleasant afternoon on its vast sandy beach. It was the perfect pause before the Shuttle home.

My thanks go to Anita Rampall from Visit Flanders and to Lisa-Marie Bauwens and her colleague Victoria Goethals, whose care and planning made our stay possible. But the real credit belongs to Ghent itself. A city that doesn't shout about how good it is. It simply shows you. And I have a feeling this won't be my last visit.

Fact box

Getting there:

Le Shuttle runs from Folkestone to Calais, and the crossing takes around half an hour.
From Calais it is roughly two hours' drive to Ghent. Break the journey at Veurne.
Ghent city centre is a low emission zone, so check your car is allowed before you travel.

Staying:

Ghent Marriott Hotel, Korenlei 10, 9000 Ghent (marriott.com). It has EV parking and charging, a fabulous restaurant and SOAN cocktail bar
NH Collection Gent, Hoogpoort 63, 9000 Ghent. The hotel enjoys an enviable position in the historic heart of the city, moments from its medieval landmarks, shops and restaurants. Behind its grand façade it combines contemporary comfort with a sense of place, offering spacious rooms and a relaxed base for exploring on foot. There's also secure underground parking, a real advantage in largely car-free central Ghent. Book directly through the NH Collection website or call +32 9 233 3331.
JAM Ghent, Gaspar de Craeyerstraat 2, 9000 Ghent. JAM brings a splash of contemporary cool to the city's Arts Quarter, occupying part of the impressive former Leopoldskazerne military barracks. Inside, industrial heritage meets playful Belgian design, with 108 individually styled rooms, the Asian-inspired Kaiju restaurant, the rooftop Neko bar and, unusually for a city hotel, an outdoor rooftop pool. Rooms from around €79 per night; check-in from 3pm, check-out by 11am. Private parking from €19 per night (advance reservation recommended). Reservations: +32 9 493 09 90, ghent@jamhotels.eu or the JAM Hotels website.

CityCard Gent - the essential buy:

Price: €49 for 48 hours or €55 for 72 hours. The clock starts the first time the card is scanned, and each card covers one person.
Where to buy: the card is not sold online. Pick one up at the Visit Gent tourist office on Sint-Veerleplein, at many hotels or at participating museums. Every sales point is listed at visit.gent.be/en/citycard-gent-buy.
Free entry, once each, to: the Castle of the Counts (Gravensteen), the Belfry, the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK), S.M.A.K. contemporary art museum, STAM Ghent City Museum, the Museum of Industry, St Peter's Abbey, House of Alijn, the Dr Guislain Museum, Ghent University Museum (GUM), Kina: House and Kina: Garden, Hotel d'Hane-Steenhuyse and the Arnold Vander Haeghen House. All temporary exhibitions in the city's museums are included too.
The Ghent Altarpiece: cardholders get €10 off a ticket to see the Van Eyck masterpiece at St Bavo's Cathedral. You must book online in advance at sintbaafskathedraal.be and choose the CityCard option.
No booking needed for the Castle of the Counts or the Belfry; cardholders can get in even when tickets are sold out.
Getting around: unlimited De Lijn trams and buses within the city, one day's bike hire (€40 refundable deposit) and a day on the hop-on, hop-off water tram.
Boat trip: one guided canal tour is included. Don't miss it.
Under-18s already get free entry to most Ghent museums, so children may not need a card.

On the water:

Guided canal tours of around 40 minutes leave from the Graslei and Korenlei. Operators include De Bootjes van Gent (Rederij Dewaele), Gent Watertoerist and Rederij De Gentenaer.
To explore the River Lys to Sint-Martens-Latem yourself, hire a self-drive electric boat at booot.be. No licence or experience needed.

Design Museum Gent