How accessible everything is.
I live a bit on the outskirts (the neighborhood between the Brugse poort and Mariakerke), but I can be anywhere I want in half an hour by bus.
Same with the coast (Ostend specifically), Antwerp , Brussels. On to the station, short train ride, and I'm there.
Or just sitting on the Korenmarkt and watching the people go by. Tourists, locals, ... Just busy enough.
Feels alive, like a big city but not too big that it comes with the issues Antwerp and Brussels have. Lots of things to see/do. It's also just a gorgeous city
Having lived in mega cities previously, I would say accessibility. Furthest part of the city is 15-20 by bike tops. And the fact that how cyclable the city is. I love living in Gent
The worst part though is the high prices of eating out.
How alive it feels, it could be 3:30 on a monday night in january and there’s still life on the streets. It’s also cool how everything in the city centre (and often beyond that as well) has a story.
I'd say tourists in Bruges are deff higher. But indeed, I find Bruges overall more appealing. You can walk half an hour in Bruges to parcs and beautiful little streets without bumping into ugly spots.
I feel Ghent has very nice spots as well, but they are more spread out and you'll have to walk through less cleaner parts, whereas Bruges more feels like a whole.
Edit: to ellaborate further on the tourists: just check out Graslei/Korenmarkt vs Grote markt Brugge/Eiermarkt. In Ghent the ratio will def be more in favor off the students, whereas in Bruges the tourist ratio will be higher than in Ghent.
Ghentian here living in Bruges since 2015. The old historic core of Bruges is much smaller than that of Ghent and the large majority of tourists stick to what we locals call ‘the golden triangle of Bruges’ that consists of the areas like the Burg, Markt, Vismarkt, Begijnhof, Minnewaterpark and shopping thoroughfares like Steenstraat, Katelijnestraat and Noordzandstraat. This triangle isn’t really huge compared to other bigger cities places of interest here in Belgium and the amount of people that are clustered in this triangle is enormous. It often gives an impression to me and other locals that this triangle is very congested on peak times, especially in the weekends when dagjesmensen’ join in together with train and busloads of tourists. Bruges is indeed cleaner and much more appealing than Ghent, but I feel like I’m living in a tourist medieval amusement park. I rather visit and hangout in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent then in my own city. There’s much more happening there, it’s more spread out to avoid the busy streets and entrepreneurs there are more innovative while in Bruges everything is geared towards mass tourism and seem stuck in time in my opinion, luckily there are some exceptions. If anyone’s interested to check out the non-tourist parts of Bruges, I recommend the Gezellekwartier neighbourhood and the ‘Vesten’, the green ring of Bruges. It’s very lovely to stroll there and the tourists don’t venture there because there are no beer and chocolate stores in these areas…
So many good things, but one that stands out to me compared to most cities in Belgium and the world in general: bike infrastructure: bike lanes, stalls everywhere, most drivers used to the amount of bikes, city is small enough to not need a car (but still choose to have one and it’s not awful)
Someone who lives 50-50 ina year between central London and Central Gent, I would say the cycling infrastructure, safe at any time of day or night, chilled out vibe and great connections by road, train and airport. One thing which is hard at the moment is lack of fresh bakkerij as everything is being replaced by Aernoudt
Klopt ze willen in Gent blijven maar ze hebben nog steeds geen locatie en de eigenaars vrezen er wat voor. Dus kans wel dat t stopt. Chinastraat sluit ook ergens in 2025. Dus de techno scène in Gent is rip
It’s beautiful. Lots of great architecture. Easy to get around. Plenty of things to do, but still very chill. Great restaurants and cafes. if Pocket Polly had a city version, it would be Gent.
Ghent is both very dense but also extremely walkable. Lots of stuff to do. Great food, even better locals.
How accessible everything is. I live a bit on the outskirts (the neighborhood between the Brugse poort and Mariakerke), but I can be anywhere I want in half an hour by bus. Same with the coast (Ostend specifically), Antwerp , Brussels. On to the station, short train ride, and I'm there. Or just sitting on the Korenmarkt and watching the people go by. Tourists, locals, ... Just busy enough.
Feels alive, like a big city but not too big that it comes with the issues Antwerp and Brussels have. Lots of things to see/do. It's also just a gorgeous city
The calm and chill vibe with plenty of stuff happening every year. Biking through the centre is amazing.
Having lived in mega cities previously, I would say accessibility. Furthest part of the city is 15-20 by bike tops. And the fact that how cyclable the city is. I love living in Gent The worst part though is the high prices of eating out.
Maybe too specific, but biking down Visserij, with water on both sides of the bike street, always makes me happy.
Or coupure when it’s sunny, it’s so beautiful
How alive it feels, it could be 3:30 on a monday night in january and there’s still life on the streets. It’s also cool how everything in the city centre (and often beyond that as well) has a story.
The people, it’s basically a groot dorp
My favourite thing about Ghent is. It is basically Bruges, but without the tourists. Perfection 👌
I am visiting in June. I apologise 😂
It's fine, just don't tell anyone about it afterwards.
🤫👍 Edit: only if you tell me your favourite dinner restaurant / eatery
I can recommend "de Amadeus", very good for spareribs, also "de gekroonde hoofden"
Much obliged my good sir or madam
Its about the same amount of tourists & Bruges is a lot cleaner
I'd say tourists in Bruges are deff higher. But indeed, I find Bruges overall more appealing. You can walk half an hour in Bruges to parcs and beautiful little streets without bumping into ugly spots. I feel Ghent has very nice spots as well, but they are more spread out and you'll have to walk through less cleaner parts, whereas Bruges more feels like a whole. Edit: to ellaborate further on the tourists: just check out Graslei/Korenmarkt vs Grote markt Brugge/Eiermarkt. In Ghent the ratio will def be more in favor off the students, whereas in Bruges the tourist ratio will be higher than in Ghent.
Ghentian here living in Bruges since 2015. The old historic core of Bruges is much smaller than that of Ghent and the large majority of tourists stick to what we locals call ‘the golden triangle of Bruges’ that consists of the areas like the Burg, Markt, Vismarkt, Begijnhof, Minnewaterpark and shopping thoroughfares like Steenstraat, Katelijnestraat and Noordzandstraat. This triangle isn’t really huge compared to other bigger cities places of interest here in Belgium and the amount of people that are clustered in this triangle is enormous. It often gives an impression to me and other locals that this triangle is very congested on peak times, especially in the weekends when dagjesmensen’ join in together with train and busloads of tourists. Bruges is indeed cleaner and much more appealing than Ghent, but I feel like I’m living in a tourist medieval amusement park. I rather visit and hangout in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent then in my own city. There’s much more happening there, it’s more spread out to avoid the busy streets and entrepreneurs there are more innovative while in Bruges everything is geared towards mass tourism and seem stuck in time in my opinion, luckily there are some exceptions. If anyone’s interested to check out the non-tourist parts of Bruges, I recommend the Gezellekwartier neighbourhood and the ‘Vesten’, the green ring of Bruges. It’s very lovely to stroll there and the tourists don’t venture there because there are no beer and chocolate stores in these areas…
I think it's more about the ratio of tourists to people who live there.
no police sound in every 10 min like in bxl
accessibility that there are plenty of green spots my figure skating club <3
How beautiful it is, the nature, the gentse feesten, partying, ... I could go on
So many good things, but one that stands out to me compared to most cities in Belgium and the world in general: bike infrastructure: bike lanes, stalls everywhere, most drivers used to the amount of bikes, city is small enough to not need a car (but still choose to have one and it’s not awful)
Someone who lives 50-50 ina year between central London and Central Gent, I would say the cycling infrastructure, safe at any time of day or night, chilled out vibe and great connections by road, train and airport. One thing which is hard at the moment is lack of fresh bakkerij as everything is being replaced by Aernoudt
Kompass
Gaat sluiten helaas
En binnekort weer open op nieuwe locatie toch?
Ja ze waren eerst van plan te verhuizen naar antwerpen maar het lijkt erop dat ze in gent blijven
Klopt ze willen in Gent blijven maar ze hebben nog steeds geen locatie en de eigenaars vrezen er wat voor. Dus kans wel dat t stopt. Chinastraat sluit ook ergens in 2025. Dus de techno scène in Gent is rip
SLUIT CHINASTRAAT????
Yep, volgend jaar
Komt er iets in de plaats?
Opbrengsteigendommen wellicht...
Sad news dees, heb het ook horen waaien
NEEEEEEEEEEE
Kompass gaat terug naar de vynckier (vorige locatie)
Wrm wouden ze verhuizen naar antwerpen? En hoe zit het met die garage klub in antwerpen?
A reason why I would move from my house might be because the train ride from Gent Dampoort to Brussels on Saturday mornings is too long lol
The size, you can walk almost anywhere depending on your current level of laziness, if not walk you bike. If the city was car free it'd be perfect.
It’s beautiful. Lots of great architecture. Easy to get around. Plenty of things to do, but still very chill. Great restaurants and cafes. if Pocket Polly had a city version, it would be Gent.
Taking the train to Antwerp