Ghent delivers three Gothic towers above a Romanesque quayside, the most important painting in Northern European art and a street food culture built around sweets that exist nowhere else on earth.
What to see
- Sint-Baafskathedraal and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb — the Van Eyck altarpiece of 1432 is considered the most important painting in Northern European art
- The medieval waterfront — the Graslei and Korenlei quaysides are lined with Romanesque and Gothic guild houses of the 12th to 16th centuries forming the most beautiful urban waterfront in Belgium
- The Gravensteen — a 12th-century moated castle of the Counts of Flanders rising from the centre of a living city with complete implausibility
What to eat
- Gentse waterzooi — a cream and vegetable stew of chicken or fish unique to Ghent, the city's signature dish since the Middle Ages