What You Won't Read in Guidebooks About Ghent: A Belgian Local Speaks
Sofie De Smet has lived in Ghent for 28 years — she was born here, studied here, and now runs a small graphic design studio in the Patershol quarter. She's 32, rides her bike in the rain (Belgian weather ensures this is most days), and has strong opinions about waterzooi, tourist boats, and why Overpoortstraat should come with a warning label. If you're exploring the region, is Belgium's other medieval canal city.
We met at Cafe Vooruit — a grand Art Deco cafe in a former socialist meeting hall — on a Thursday morning. Veggie Day.
Q: What do tourists always get wrong about Ghent?
Sofie: They come for a day trip. From Brussels or Bruges, they take the 30-minute train, walk the canal, see the Altarpiece, eat chocolate, and leave. They've seen the surface but they haven't felt the city.
Ghent is a university town — 70,000 students. It has the energy of a much bigger city packed into a medieval footprint. The student bars, the music scene, the independent shops, the street art, the food culture beyond waterzooi — you need at least one evening to discover any of that. If you're exploring the region, Amsterdam is the Dutch capital just hours north.
Stay overnight. See the illuminated skyline from St. Michael's Bridge at night. Walk Patershol when the restaurant windows are glowing. Then you'll understand why people who live here don't want to leave. If you're exploring the region, Paris is a quick train ride to the French capital.
Q: Speaking of Patershol — what's the story?
Sofie: It was a red-light district until the 1980s. Then the city cleaned it up and the restaurants moved in. Now it's the most atmospheric neighborhood in Ghent — narrow cobblestone alleys behind Gravensteen castle, intimate restaurants with 8-10 tables, wine bars in 17th-century cellars.
The key is going for dinner, not lunch. During the day, Patershol is quiet. At night, the streets glow with warm light from the restaurant windows, and the cobblestones reflect the lamplight, and it feels like you've walked into a painting. That's not an exaggeration. If you're exploring the region, London is connected by Eurostar via Brussels.
My favorite: Vrijmoed for a splurge (Michelin-starred, tasting menu ~85 EUR) or Marco Polo for casual Italian that's been there forever. For a drink, 't Dreupelkot serves only jenever (Belgian gin) — 200+ varieties in a room the size of a closet.
Q: The Ghent Altarpiece — is it actually worth the hype?
Sofie: I was in school when they started the restoration. We went on a field trip. I was 14 and honestly bored.
I went back last year as an adult, after the full restoration was complete, and I stood in front of it for 45 minutes. The detail — van Eyck painted individual blades of grass, reflections in gemstones, the veins in leaves. In 1432. With brushes he made himself.
The 16 EUR includes an excellent audioguide that explains the theology and symbolism. Without it, you'll admire the technique but miss the meaning. With it, the painting becomes a puzzle you can spend hours solving.
So yes. It's worth the hype. But you need the audioguide.
Q: What's the most overrated thing in Ghent?
Sofie: The canal boat tour. Don't hate me. It's fine — 8 EUR, 40 minutes, nice views. But you see the same buildings you'd see walking the Graslei waterfront, just from a lower angle. If you have 40 minutes, walk the canal instead. You'll see more, stop where you want, and save 8 EUR for a beer.
The most underrated? The Citadelpark in summer. Ghent's largest park, with a playground, a pond, and both SMAK (contemporary art museum) and MSK (fine arts museum) on its edges. Locals bring picnics and spend entire afternoons. Tourists never go there because it's not in the medieval center.
Q: What should tourists eat beyond waterzooi?
Sofie: Waterzooi is good — don't skip it. But also try:
Stoofvlees (Flemish beef stew braised in beer) — richer and more interesting than waterzooi, honestly. Best at Het Pakhuis or any traditional estaminet.
Frites from Frituur Jozef on Vrijdagmarkt — proper Belgian frites in a cone with stoofvleessaus. 3-4 EUR. This is as essential as the Altarpiece.
Cuberdons (neuzen) — purple, nose-shaped candies that are Ghent's own sweet. Raspberry-flavored, slightly gummy inside. Buy them at the Groentenmarkt from the candy cart. 2-3 EUR for a bag.
Belgian waffles — but the Liege waffle (dense, sweet, caramelized sugar) not the Brussels waffle (light, fluffy). The distinction matters.
Q: Overpoortstraat — tell us the truth.
Sofie: (laughs) Overpoortstraat is the student nightlife street. Cheap drinks, loud music, bars packed on Thursday and Friday nights. If you're under 25 and want to party until 4AM for 20 EUR, it's perfect. If you're over 30, you'll last about an hour before the noise sends you home.
For a better night out, go to the bars around Vlasmarkt and Groentenmarkt — more relaxed, better music, still cheap by European standards.
Q: Safety concerns?
Sofie: Ghent is extremely safe. The only real issue is bicycle theft — lock rental bikes securely. Overpoortstraat on weekend nights gets rowdy but not dangerous. Keep an eye on belongings at busy tram stops. That's honestly it.
Q: One thing every visitor should do?
Sofie: Walk across St. Michael's Bridge at blue hour — that moment between sunset and darkness when the sky goes deep blue. The three medieval towers light up — St. Nicholas', the Belfry, St. Bavo's — all in a perfect line. The reflection in the canal below doubles the image.
I've seen it a thousand times. It still stops me. The view is free, it takes 30 seconds, and it will be the photo that defines your trip.
Q: Best thing about living in Ghent?
Sofie: The scale. Everything is 10 minutes by bike. My studio, the market, the museums, the bars, the canal, the parks — all within a 2 km radius. I know the city intimately. I know which streets are beautiful in which light. I know which cafe makes the best coffee at 7AM (Cafe Labath, on Oude Houtlei). I know where to find parking at Gravensteen on a Saturday.
Ghent is small enough to master but big enough to keep discovering. After 28 years, I'm still finding new courtyards, new restaurants, new angles on buildings I've seen every day of my life.
That's what I want tourists to experience. Not the checked-box version — the lived version. Stay a night. Walk Patershol in the dark. Eat frites in the rain. Watch the three towers light up from the bridge. Then you'll know my city.
