(in random order)
If you are Belgian and you don’t know this, we would suggest checking your surroundings because you might have been living under a rock! 🗿 Blaarmeersen is a massive nature park, which has a giant lake in the middle of it.
It’s located right in between the inner and outer ring of Ghent, which makes it really easy to visit by car or by public transportation from the city center. It’s also only a half an hour walk away from the train station.
The main appeal of Blaarmeersen lies in the variety of activities that you can do over here. If you’re feeling adventurous, try out their height parkour. If you are feeling sportive, we suggest the tennis or basketball courts. ⛹️
Have we already talked about all the water activities that you can do at Blaarmeersen? Wait, we haven’t?? Okay hold on to your horse. You can swim here, canoe, dive, fish... and there is a giant beach here.
And what about the children, you may ask. Well, we’ll tell you about the kids. If they don’t like labyrinths, play yards or minigolf, they should definitely not come here. 🙃
Not convinced yet? Visit their website to read up on it even more.
"No need to worry about opening hours – it's open 24/7."
Our second recommendation is Citadelpark. It’s often referred to as a mini-Blaarmeersen, but closer to the city center. So, what’s the difference? Well on the one hand, it’s alive! We’re not talking about the monster of Frankenstein, we’re talking about the visitors.
While Blaarmeersen is very much alive during the summertime, mainly because of the beach. Citadelpark is alive throughout the entire year. You have students that come here to do tasks for their sorority, you have older couples who just want to enjoy the beauty of their city... In the Citadelpark you may or may not (SPOILER: you definitely may) start to wonder: how beautiful can life really get?
So, when we are assuming that you are still not convinced - which we find really hard to believe – here are some more arguments to visit Citadel.
For the smaller ones 👶, it’s really an adventure to come to Citadelpark. The park will definitely feel massive, because of the giant trees that will surround you at all times. But not in a scary way, more so it will trigger their sense of wonder and their sense of adventure. And before we forget, there is also a playground and a sandbox.
For grown-ups, we would recommend Citadelpark for a reason that can be defined in one word: stress free! ✨ Okay, maybe it’s two words, but still, we think we are speaking to most of our readers when we ask whether you could use a day or even an hour off. Well, in that case, this park is the place to detox. The fresh air, the distractions (in a good way), the animals by the small lake and nature in general ...
It really has a certain familiarity that a lot of other parks in Belgium do not have. And by the way, right in the center of the park there is an awesome bar (if you want to take your chillaxing to a whole other level).
Not done reading yet? Read some more on their website.
"This one is also open around the clock, 24/7."
We also recommend visiting a library in Ghent, called ’The Krook! But what we would first like you to do, is throw all your prejudices about libraries right out of the window.
First prejudice: it’s a cold boring grey or white building. False! The Krook is a modern building in a beautiful shade of red. It’s a real architectural masterpiece and it is as beautiful inside and out. The view is also phenomenal (you can see our next location ‘Sint-Baafs’ from here). It definitely can’t be called boring, it’s a real tourist attraction.
Second prejudice: libraries are dead. Also, false! ☝️ This place is crowded with people. Especially on the third floor. It feels like every student in Ghent comes here to study. We are not even joking, you literally need to reserve a place in advance in order to have a spot to sit down when you arrive there! It’s so popular in Ghent. If you ask 100 residents of Ghent, what would you recommend visiting, the Krook always comes up.
Third prejudice, libraries are books, books, books ... 📚 You literally could not be more wrong. The Krook is really up to date with the 21st century. They have conference rooms that you can reserve, there is a bar for breakfast, brunch, lunch, pie, there is a bike rental. There is even VR and 3D that you can try.
So, leave your prejudices at home and come to the Krook!
We acknowledge here and now that there is something missing in our blog: culture! Sint-Baafscathedral really makes up for the lack of culture by giving you an overdose. It just feels like a piece of history. An important one at that. When you visit, you can’t help but feel a deep sense of respect for the devotion that was put into the creation of this landmark. ⛪
We actually feel like the cathedral is hard to describe on paper. Visually, it’s a lot like any other huge cathedral in Belgium or around the world for that matter. It’s the emotional element that will really catch you off-guard.
When we visited, we rediscovered something something deeply hidden inside ourselves. We rediscovered our inner child that was told by our parents to be quiet, respectful and look around. 👼 We rediscovered a time before all the allegations towards priests, that damaged the image of Christianity. Words just can’t describe the experience.
Soooooooo, you remember how we mentioned in our title that these are all free suggestions? We were not lying, Sint-Baafs is absolutely free to visit BUT the ‘Lam Gods’ is not. We suggest visiting it though. It really elevates this location to the next level. In the cathedral you’re walking through history, with the ‘Lam Gods’, you’re a part of history.
Check out their website for more details.
Save the best for last... last but not least... we are not going to start this off with some clichéd oneliner. You’re welcome by the way.
As you probably noticed, we believe that the strength of Ghent lies in its nature. Blaarmeersen offers scope, Citadelpark offers vibrance. We believe however that the essence of nature is captured best in the Botanical Gardens. 🌺
Tranquility and delicacy on the one hand, but even more so purity and honesty. It’s just a very welcome sight in a city filled with buildings, cars and just noise in general, to spend some time in these gardens.
These gardens offer all kinds of plants. Approximately 10 000 different species can be found here from all over the world. The main attractions though are the indoor pond and the outdoor pond, with all the water plants. These really give this location sort of an exotic feel to it.
Out of this top 5, this is the one that’s by far the least known. All the better for it. It’s really unexplored gem, just waiting to be discovered. You’re going to want to explore every inch of this place until it’s time to say goodbye. 👋
You can find more detailed information here.
❗ Beware that you need to make a reservation in advance to visit the Botanical Gardens.
All good things must come to an end. 😥 If you are still here, we want to encourage you to not just move on after reading this article. Act on it, try some of our spots out if you haven’t already. Get off your couch, get off your phone and start planning. We did our part, now it’s time for you to do yours.