Ghent
9am
Meet and greet with your English-speaking guide / driver in the hotel lobby (in Bruges or Brussels), from where you will be taken for an hour drive by luxurious private vehicle to historic Ghent, for an interesting walking tour of the historical city center.
Ghent is an unassuming, un-touristy city filled with university students, linger-as-long-as-you-like cafes, well-priced restaurants and exudes vibrant energy. It is the fourth largest city of Belgium with about 250.000 inhabitants. It is half as big as Antwerp and twice as big as Bruges. It is also less well known by tourists than the often-praised Bruges.
Ghent
Ghent combines stellar medieval and other historic sites with touches of gritty urban reality and the bustling character of a genuine, living city. You’ll get to view some of the best of all these worlds on a stroll through the Old Center. Under the watchful eye of Gravensteen Castle or Castle of the Counts, the city boasts an Opera House, 18 museums, 100 churches and over 400 historical buildings.
St-Bavo Cathedral
One of the highlights is a guided tour of the famous St-Bavo Cathedral and its beautiful altarpiece, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by the brothers Jan and Hubert van Eyck in 1432.
During your guided walk you discover all the most famous sites and monuments of the city, including the Belfry and Cloth Hall, a superb gothic monument with a soaring bell tower that dates from 1425 and the Town Hall, a complex mix of architectural styles. At the Graslei and Korenlei, elegant facades along the waterways reflect different periods in history through a series of elegant gables and styles.
Ghent
During the tour there is leisure time for lunch. Your guide will give you several restaurant suggestions.
2.30pm
From here you will be taken back to your hotel in Bruges or Brussels, where you will have the remainder of the day for your own leisure. You will arrive back around 3.30pm.