Ghent: medieval power and youthful energy
Ghent blends a grand past with a defiantly individual present like no other city. In the Middle Ages it was, after Paris, the largest city north of the Alps, grown wealthy on the cloth trade. Today its large university gives the city a young, rebellious energy. Unlike Bruges, Ghent is not an open-air museum but a living city where history and creativity go hand in hand.
Gravensteen Castle and the historic core
In the heart of the city rises the Gravensteen, the castle of the counts built in 1180 by Count Philip of Alsace, modelled on crusader fortresses. With its battlements, torture chamber and collection of weapons, it is one of the best-preserved moated castles in Europe. From the ramparts you can see Ghent's striking row of towers: Saint Nicholas' Church, the belfry (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Saint Bavo's Cathedral.
The Ghent Altarpiece
Inside Saint Bavo's Cathedral hangs the most famous work of art in Flanders: the Ghent Altarpiece, also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed in 1432 by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck. This polyptych of twelve panels is regarded as the starting point of Flemish painting and as one of the most stolen artworks in history — one panel, The Just Judges, was taken in 1934 and remains missing to this day. After years of restoration, the colours shine as vividly as new.
Graslei, Korenlei and street art
Along the river Leie stretch the Graslei and the Korenlei, two quays lined with magnificent guildhalls from the 12th to the 17th centuries. This was once Ghent's medieval harbour and is now the most convivial spot in the city for a drink. Wander too through Werregarenstraat, popularly known as the Graffiti Alley, where street artists have free rein and the walls change constantly.
Antwerp: port, diamonds and fashion
An hour and a half to the east lies Antwerp, Belgium's second city and one of the largest ports in Europe. Antwerp brims with self-assurance: it is the city of Rubens, of the diamond trade and of world-renowned fashion.
The cathedral and Rubens
The Cathedral of Our Lady, whose 123-metre tower is the tallest in the former Low Countries, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and houses four masterpieces by Peter Paul Rubens, including The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross. Rubens was the city's most illustrious resident; his home and studio, the Rubens House (Rubenshuis), offers an intimate glimpse of the Baroque master. On the Grote Markt, admire the splendid town hall and the Baroque guildhalls.
The diamond district and Antwerp Central
Around the central station lies the historic diamond district, where for centuries more than eighty percent of the world's rough diamonds have been traded. Antwerp Central station itself, opened in 1905, is considered one of the most beautiful in the world: a monumental domed hall of stone and steel, nicknamed the railway cathedral.
Fashion, MAS and the port
Antwerp is a fashion capital thanks to the Antwerp Six, a group of graduates from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts who conquered international fashion in the 1980s, with names such as Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester. The MoMu fashion museum tells their story. On the banks of the Scheldt stands the MAS (Museum aan de Stroom), a ten-storey tower of red sandstone with a free panoramic rooftop over the city and the port.
- Ghent and Antwerp are barely 50 minutes apart by train — perfect to combine in a single trip.
- In Antwerp, taste a Bolleke, the copper-coloured beer of the De Koninck brewery.
- In Ghent, visit the Sunday flower market on the Kouter, a tradition more than two centuries old.
Together, Ghent and Antwerp reveal the confident, creative face of Flanders: proud of its past, yet always looking ahead.