Travel information – getting to Ghent

Ghent lies at the intersection of the E17 and the E40 motorways and is therefore easily accessible by car or coach. With two railway stations in the city and the international ‘Brussels Airport’ at Zaventem less than an hour’s drive away, arrival by train or plane are certainly easy options.

By train

Ghent is easy to reach by train from all Belgian and European cities and is only half an hour from Brussels South Station. The two main stations in Ghent are:

• Gent-Sint-Pieters Station
  From here tram no. 1 will take you direct to the city center. Visitors arriving in Ghent by train at the Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station can browse information at a digital 3D information point.
• Ghent-Dampoort Station
  From here, buses 3, 17, 18, 38 and 39 will also take you direct to the city. From Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station you can reach the station Brussel Zuid in half an hour (by ‘IC’ Inter City or ‘IR’ InterRegio train). Here the Eurostar and Thalys high-speed trains can rush you to Paris (1½ hours) and London, Amsterdam or Cologne (2½ hours).

By air

Ghent is only 45 minutes from the international airport of Zaventem ‘Brussel Airport’, where flights arrive from and depart to more than 70 destinations.
On the lowest level you will find the airport’s own railway station, Brussel-Nationaal-Luchthaven, accessible by lift and escalator from the arrivals hall. There are several connections to Ghent.
Brussels South/Charleroi airport is 70 minutes from Ghent. There are more than 20 bus connections from the airport to the capital every day. From there, frequent train connections to Ghent are available. There are also bus connections from the airport to Charleroi-Sud railway station. Trains for Ghent can also be boarded there. A ticket that combines the bus and train services can be purchased at the Airport Ticket Desk.

The other Belgian airports (Ostend, Antwerp and Liège) receive flights from various European cities and have easy direct connections to Ghent.

By car

Ghent is located on the intersection of two major European motorways: the E17 connects Northern Europe to the South, and the E40 runs from the North Sea right across to Eastern Europe.
From the E17 you take the ‘Gent Centrum’ turnoff. On the E40, from the motorway intersection in Zwijnaarde you first follow ‘Antwerpen’ (E17) and then take the ‘Gent Centrum’ turnoff.
The center of the city of Ghent is a pedestrian area. The P-route leads you to the various car parks that give access to the city center. As soon as you enter the city, the digital signs of the P Route parking guidance system will quickly and conveniently direct you to the parking facility of your choice. If you wish to enter a pedestrian zone with a motorized vehicle between 11 am and 6 pm you will need a permit to avoid getting a fine. Parking on public property in a pedestrian zone is not permitted.

Shuttle bus to and from Charleroi Airport

Nine times a day a shuttle bus travels between Charleroi Airport and Bruges via Ghent, making our city more accessible to tourists visiting Flanders via Charleroi Airport.
The bus service is offered by Flibco.com, a company specialized in transport to city-trip destinations from transport hubs. The bus stops near the Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station, where you can easily hop onto tram no. 1 and head to the historical city center. You can book a seat via www.flibco.com