Mystic Lamb, lights and delicacies!
Why choose Ghent for a weekend trip?
©Stad Gent - Dienst Toerisme
Ghent is full of charming history and modern-day fun. Vibrant Ghent is well worth a weekend trip. It’s ideal for a last-minute city trip as well. Quirky Ghent offers a fascinating cultural cocktail brimming with trendy, modern urban life. Ghent is a city where people enjoy life: a chilled-out place where anything goes and a city that feels human. Its friendly, welcoming people love the good life. Don’t miss the chance to admire the world-famous masterpiece—the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers—during your weekend trip.
Lam Gods, een wereldwijd artistiek hoogtepunt
Het Lam Gods of ‘De Aanbidding van het Lam Gods’ van de gebroeders van Eyck, onthuld in 1432, is één van de meest invloedrijke schilderijen ooit gemaakt. De 18 panelen vertonen een Bijbelse evocatie met onder andere het portret van opdrachtgever en kerkmeester Joos Vijd en zijn echtgenote Elisabeth Borluut. Het meesterwerk lijkt een innerlijke gloed over zich te hebben en is bijzonder microscopisch gedetailleerd wat het heel uniek maakt.
In het bezoekerscentrum van de Sint-Baafskathedraal kan je de gerestaureerde panelen van het Lam Gods en verschillende andere authentieke kunstschatten in al hun pracht en praal bewonderen. Met behulp van een augmented reality bril kan je in de crypte van de kathedraal diep in het verleden reizen en de bewogen geschiedenis van het Lam Gods en de Gentse kathedraal beleven alsof je er zelf bij bent.
Fairy-tale culture with worldwide fame
If you have never experienced an overnight stay in Ghent, you have never really experienced the city. Ghent shines day and night. When night falls, Ghent is transformed. Discover the fairy-tale lighting that bathes all of Ghent’s architectural gems in beautiful light. Walk through a magical, sparkling city until midnight. Every three years, Ghent is set ablaze with lights during the free Ghent Light Festival, with exciting light art by national and international artists.
The Ghent Festivities, a party for the people
Have you ever experienced a real party for the people? Come to the Ghent Festivities, held every year in July. The Festivities are the top event in Ghent, taking over the entire city centre for ten days. Get ready for 765,000m² of party mayhem. After 200 years, the Ghent Festivities have grown into one of the biggest cultural festivals in Europe, with national and international artists, free music on more than ten squares, fun for kids at various places around the city and hundreds of indoor and outdoor activities.
The gastronomy rocks, mix & match
There’s always something to do in Ghent. Ghent is the historic heart of Flanders where you can shop, discover and taste to your heart’s content. Do you love great food? You’re in luck: Ghent is the veggie capital of Europe (according to Ghent’s inhabitants, of course), and its young, rock-star chefs are causing a sensation on the international food scene.
Ecotourism: pure Ghent
Cities are doing more and more to limit their impact on the environment. In Ghent, ecotourism isn’t just a fashion: it’s a way of life. Ghent is committed to the environment. Ghent has been proclaimed a vegetarian capital and has the largest low-traffic pedestrian zone in Europe. So experiencing Ghent on a bike is a really good idea: the city loves cyclists and cyclists love the city. Ghent is a manageable size and the sights are easy to find, even on foot.
