Local information

Travel information

Getting to Ghent

(https://visit.gent.be/en/good-know/practical-information/how-get-ghent)

Take a train to Ghent St-Pieters station. For information about train time tables, click here.

From Brussels South Charleroi Airport, you can take either public transport (bus and trains) or the Flibco bus.

  • Public transport: Bus A (TEC) to Charleroi Sud station (20 minutes) + direct train to Brussels-Midi (50 minutes). From there, a second direct train will take you to Ghent-Sint-Pieters in about 30 minutes.
  • Flibco shuttle bus: every 2 to 3 hours, a shuttle bus goes straight from Charleroi airport to Ghent-Sint-Pieters in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

 

Getting around in Ghent

(https://visit.gent.be/en/good-know/practical-information/getting-around)

There is a good bus and tram network throughout the city. Tickets cost €2,5 from the ticket machine or selling point and in the app (valid for 60 minutes). A ticket valid for 10 rides costs €17 (€1,70 per 60 minutes of validity). You will find the ticket vending machines outside the station, on the tram platform. There are also day tickets (24h; app or vending machine) for €7,5 and 3-day tickets (72h; vending machine only) for €15.

However, Ghent is pretty manageable on foot (or bicycle) as well. All hotels suggested on this website are in the center of town, as is the conference venue. For a map of the city, click here (or many other websites).

For the city’s touristic brochures (in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish), please visit https://visit.gent.be/en/good-know/practical-information/publications.

UPDATE 31/08: As of September 1st, construction works on the tramline entail that Line 4 between the main station and the city center will not operate as usual. Please consult the Route Planner again if you had planned on using Line 4 to reach your hotel. However, the main tram line from the station to the city center and to the conference venue (Line 1) will operate us usual, but it now departs from Platform 18 (right opposite the main entrance to the station).

Accommodation

(https://visit.gent.be/en/overnight-stay)

There is a special agreement for conference participants with the following hotels. Please be advised: Ghent is one of the most touristic cities in Belgium and hotels are usually quite full; book your accommodation well in advance!

 

In addition, nice rooms are available for more convenient prices at the Youth Hostel. Another alternative, often also cheaper than a hotel room, could be one of the many B&B’s spread across the city.

Restaurants

(https://visit.gent.be/en/eat-drink/restaurtants-pubs)

A good place to be inspired when looking for a restaurant, is the Vlaanderenstraat or the Oudburg; there are simply too many good restaurants there, of very different styles and cuisines, to mention them all here.

Ghent is Europe’s Veggie Capital (e.g., all official canteens have one vegetarian day per week, and a vegetarian option every day).

In general, booking a table in advance is always a good idea.

 

So, there are plenty of cafés and restaurants known especially for their vegetarian and/or vegan dishes:

 

More generally, these restaurants are particularly popular among tourists as well as locals: