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Bargiekaai 35, Ghent, 9000, Belgium
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Now Heading For "Flanders Expo"
Citadel Park Sculpture #1 - Lions
The Belfry and the Hallen at St Baafsplein
Hi all,
I'm travelling to Gent by Eurostar from london in a couple of weeks and have 2 questions regarding my journey:
1) I understand I have to change trains at Brussels (I think) - is it then obvious which platform to go to for the Gent Train?
2) I am staying at a hotel on Waaistraat. I see it is quite a long walk from the station so was thinking of getting a taxi (there are 4 of us) however, someone has suggested we could take the tram - is this much cheaper, and how will i know which one to get?
Any tips would be much appreciated - thanks! :)
Fairly obvious (I did the same, but went to Bruges..same train as the Gent one).
Basically you exit the Eurostar terminal and then turn right into the Brussels Centraal station (allthe same building in reality). There are clear signs for platforms, trains etc and you'll have no problem finding your way. As I recall it was quite a trek to the right platform..almost at the opposite end of the building to the Eurostar section. There are cafes and shops to occupy you if you have to wait.
You will find train times and details on the Belgian railway site, in English:
http://www.b-rail.be/main/index.html
You don't need fares, because your Eurostar ticket covers onward journeys in Belgium for the day of travel and the day of rerutn travel (which is good).
It is indeed a long walk from Gent Sint Piters station (where you will get off) to the town centre (around 3/4 mile, I'd guess). Tram will indeed be cheaper than taxi (around 2 euro each, at a guess) so may well be worth taking. Turn left as you exit the station, and you will find trams (and ticket machines) under the railway lines.
However, I'm not sure which tram goes near your hotel. The hotel website may tell you (or another VT-er). Have a look at the official tourist info site too:
http://www.visitgent.be/eCache/VGG/3/114.dmdfbGFuZz1FTg.html
*Gent Sint Pieters*
You do NOT "turn into Central Station", the Eurostar arrives at Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel Zuid/Brussels SOUTH: Eurostar uses platforms 1 and 2 of that station, Thalys uses the next 2 or 3, so you will be walking towards the higher number platforms. Gent IC trains have as final destination Oostende or Knokke/Blankenberge. You will find monitors and a departure board indicating next trains as well as yellow timetables both on the platform and in the main concourse giving all departures and arrivals at the station concerned.
If you are staying at the Ghent River Hotel, I suggest you take a taxi anyway, it is not far from the Vrijdagmarkt but from the station you would have to take line 1 (direction Wondelgem/Evergem, not Flanders Expo) to the Gravensteen stop and still have 500m to walk, which is a lot if you have luggage: with 4 of you it is worth taking a taxi.
Sorry, but I did point out is all the same building (or seems to be).
You just go down the escalator and turn rightfor ttrains to Bruges, Gent etc. what the actual platform/station is called does not feature in one's consciousness at the time. It is all one the same straight run after the right-hand turn at the bottom of the eurostar escalator.
It's about 2 and half kilometres from St Pieters into the city proper. Tram #1 runs every 5 minutes from the station forecourt with a journey time of about 10-15 minutes and costs 1.20 Euro per person (buy your tickets from the machine at the tram stop or from the De Lijn ticket office and validate them on the tram).
Have a good trip!
Thanks everyone!
Mosquito Coast is what we call in Belgium a 'reizigerscafé': indeed, a cafe for travelers!
Mix a great interior, yummy cocktails and food and a library full of travel guides and maps and you get a small idea of what Mosquito Coast is.
Every now and then, travelers are invited to give an information evening about their trips.
New address (as from mid-February 2005:: Hoogpoort 28, 9000 Gent
The low-budget guys from "use-it" have opened up a shop in Gent. For usefull information about eating, lodging, sightseeing, ... you can now also check http://www.use-it.be/
Check it out - it's a great non-comercial site full of information, mostly focused on students and backpackers, but I'm sure everyone will find some nice tips in there ... I did. And I live in Gent myself!
visit a market.
Gent has a lot of markets and they can be very 'cosy'.
And it is also a good way to get a less ' I am a tourist' feeling. Here are the dates of the markets:
- secondhand bikesmarket: Oude beestenmarkt; sunday from 7 a.m till 1 p.m
- foodmarket: Sint-Michielsplein ; sunday from 7.30 a.m till 1 p.m
- carmarket : Groothandelsmarkt ; sunday from 7 till 1
1
- antique and flee-market: Sint-Jacobs; every friday, saturday and sunday from 8 till 1.
-animalmarket: Oude beestenmarkt; sunday from 7 till 1
- flowermarket: Kouter; daily from 7 till 1
- birdmarket: Vrijdagmarkt; sunday from 7 till 1
- Farmermarket: Vogelenzang; thursday from 2.30 p.m till 6 p.m
Especially in Winter, the city is very nice in the evening. The picture attached was taken in January 04, on a walk through the very centre of Gent. It was snowing quite hard and we decided to go and take some pictures of monuments while the effects were so magical. Of course, it stopped snowing (or became weaker anyway) when we arrived, but I managed to take two very nice pictures.
The one here shows the St.Michielshelling seen from the Graslei, with to the left the clock of the Post Plaza (former Post office) and to the right a church the name of which I will look up and definitely tell you! Snow pouring down, city lights lit, seeing the shadow of the snow flakes on the ground :-)...
The Graslei is one of the loveliest old city quaysides of Ghent. The spectacular medieval guildhouses reflect beautifully in the water. From here you can also take a boat trip to explore Ghent by water.
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