13 Free Things to Do in Ghent, Belgium: My Favourite Sights & Local Finds

Looking for free things to do in Ghent, Belgium? Here’s my guide to the best free sights, walks, churches, gardens, street art, quiet corners and local finds to add to your trip—from someone who’s visited Ghent twice and explored beyond the obvious.

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One of the best things about Ghent is that you can have a genuinely beautiful day here before you’ve spent a cent on attractions.

The city does have paid sights worth considering, especially Gravensteen Castle, the Ghent Altarpiece and a good Ghent boat tour. But the free side of Ghent is quite a gem too.

You can stand on St Michael’s Bridge, sit beside Graslei and Korenlei, walk through Graffiti Street, step inside St Bavo’s Cathedral, wander through abbey gardens and browse Sunday markets without turning every hour into another chance to tap your contactless.

I’ve been to Ghent twice now, and while I absolutely think some paid experiences are worth it (especially if it’s your first trip to Bruges and Ghent or you’re coming from Brussels to Ghent by train) the free things really did make the trip.

With that said, here’s my guide to all the free things to do in Ghent I’d save for your itinerary.

Shall we?

About the Author

Hi, I’m Candace — a London-based travel writer and content creator who traded the East Coast of the US for the charm of the UK back in 2016. London’s been my home ever since.

On this blog, you’ll find hundreds of thoughtfully crafted London, UK, Europe and Worldwide travel guides alongside lots of insider London tips, honest hotel and restaurant reviews and advice for content creators.

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🗞️📺 As featured on the BBC, USA Today & Recipe.TV.

Quick Overview: Free Things to Do in Ghent

Free thing to do	Best for	Area	What to know
St Michael’s Bridge	A classic & free Ghent view	Historic centre	Start here for the best views of Ghent’s towers and waterfront in one sweep
Graslei and Korenlei	Waterfront sitting, photos and people-watching	City centre	One of the easiest free things to do in Ghent at any time of day
St Bavo’s Cathedral	Free church visit and historic interior	Sint-Baafsplein	The cathedral is free; the Ghent Altarpiece is paid
St Nicholas’ Church	A free church stop on the three-tower route	Korenmarkt	Easy to add between St Michael’s Bridge and the Ghent Belfry
Graffiti Street	Street art and a quick colourful detour	City centre	A legal street art alley with ever-changing walls and art
Arnold Vander Haeghen House	Free museums in Ghent and city-palace interiors	Veldstraat	Its opening hours are a bit odd—check before your visit!
St Peter’s Abbey	Cloisters, quadrangle and abbey garden	Sint-Pietersplein	The ground floor, cloisters, quadrangle and garden are free
St Bavo’s Abbey	A quieter abbey ruin	East of centre	Free, but only open to visitors for a few hours a week
Ghent’s beguinages	Quiet streets and UNESCO heritage	Various	Free to wander, peaceful and better for slower trips
Ghent University Botanical Garden	Greenhouses, plants and a break from cobbles	Near Citadelpark	More than 10,000 plant species across gardens and greenhouses
Ghent’s Sunday markets	Browsing, flowers, books and local Ghent vibes	Various	Free to browse…
De Krook Library	Architecture, reading and a free indoor pause in Ghent	Miriam Makebaplein	Useful on rainy days or between foodie stops on your trip
Free Ghent city walk	Self-guided route through the main sights	City centre	Be sure to pick up the free walking map from the tourist office or online pre-trip

Book Your Ghent Trip

Where I recommend staying: For your trip, I’d stay at the stylish and central NH Collection Gent (Ghent), right next to the historic centre. You can also compare more hotels in Ghent here.

Getting to Ghent: Compare train times and prices for Brussels to Ghent, Bruges to Ghent and Antwerp to Ghent, plus Eurostar and onward train connections from London, Paris and Amsterdam.

The tour I’d book for a first trip: I’d choose this 50-minute guided boat trip. It’s scenic, packed with history and short enough that you’ll still have most of the day to explore on foot.

Visiting from Brussels and want to see Bruges too? I’d choose this full-day Bruges and Ghent tour, which includes a guided walk and free time in both cities, plus the option of a canal cruise in Ghent. It’s a packed day, but a useful one when your Belgium itinerary is tight and you’d rather leave the transport, timings and city introductions to someone else.

For food lovers: I’d book this 2.5-hour Ghent food tour. It pairs five local tastings at independent food stops with a walk through the city, so you’ll get plenty of Ghent history along the way too.

Stay connected: Set up your Europe eSIM before your trip. It takes less than five minutes, and you’ll have mobile data ready to use when you arrive.

For extra peace of mind: Take a look at SafetyWing’s travel medical insurance before your trip (it’s the one I personally use and recommend).

Before You Start: What “Free” Means in Ghent

Most of the best free things to do in Ghent are genuinely free: bridges, waterfronts, street art, gardens, churches, markets and self-guided walks.

But a few places have free parts and paid parts, which is worth knowing before you plan your day. Specifically:

St Bavo’s Cathedral is free to enter, but the Ghent Altarpiece visitor experience is paid.
St Peter’s Abbey has free areas, including the ground floor, cloisters, quadrangle and abbey garden, but exhibitions or special experiences may cost extra.
Arnold Vander Haeghen House is free of charge, but you’d pay for a guided city-palace tour here, for example.

In other words, Ghent can be very free-friendly, but if you don’t mind spending a few euros, the option’s there too!

1. Start With the Free View From St Michael’s Bridge

Best for: your first Ghent view & photos

If you only have time for one free thing in Ghent, make it St Michael’s Bridge.

This is where Ghent pulls itself together for you: the guildhouse façades along Graslei and Korenlei, the River Lys below, and the towers of St Nicholas’ Church, the Ghent Belfry and St Bavo’s Cathedral rising through the city centre.

It is touristy, obviously. But some places are touristy for a very real reason.

I’d start or end my one-day Ghent itinerary here, especially if you’re visiting on a day trip and want the best ‘free’ version of Ghent.

2. Sit Along Graslei and Korenlei

Best for: waterfront views & resting your feet in the city

Graslei and Korenlei aren’t just places to walk past on the way to something else.

This stretch was once part of Ghent’s medieval harbour, and today is one of the easiest places to enjoy the city without paying for anything.

Here your job is simple—sit beside the water, watch the boats pass, and do a little bit of nothing. Enjoy!

Also…if you want to keep the day cheap and cheerful, I’d pair it with lunch from Mi Garba or Panotto, then eat by the water instead of booking a sit-down meal.

P.S. – For more food stop options, read my Ghent cafés guide and Ghent restaurants guide.

3. Step Inside St Bavo’s Cathedral

Best for: a free historic interior, church architecture and a central sightseeing stop.

St Bavo’s Cathedral is one of the most important sights in Ghent, and basic entry to the cathedral is beautifully free.

That makes it one of the best free things to do in Ghent city centre, especially because it sits directly on Sint-Baafsplein, beside the Ghent Belfry and close to De Rechters if you’re planning a proper Belgian meal afterwards.

The big caveat: the Ghent Altarpiece, also known as the Mystic Lamb, is not part of the free visit. If seeing it matters to you, budget for that separately.

If not, you can still step inside, slow down and enjoy one of Ghent’s defining interiors without paying for a full museum visit.

4. Pop Into St Nicholas’ Church

Best for: another free church interior, the three-tower walk and a quick central stop.

St Nicholas’ Church is the middle tower in Ghent’s famous three-tower skyline, sitting between Korenmarkt and the Ghent Belfry.

It is easy to dismiss as “just another church” (given Ghent has quite a few…) but trust me, you won’t think the same once you step inside.

Brought into existence by wealthy 13th-century merchants and traders, this Ghent church is famous for its striking Scheldt Gothic architecture.

I’d pop in and combine it with St Michael’s Bridge, Graslei and Korenlei and St Bavo’s Cathedral for a lovely free walk through Ghent’s city centre.

5. Walk Through Graffiti Street

Candace Abroad walking on graffiti street Ghent

Best for: street art, a colourful detour and something different between medieval sights.

Graffiti Street, officially Werregarenstraatje, is one of the easiest free things to do in Ghent, and it takes nearly no effort to add to your itinerary.

It’s a legal street art alley in the city centre, which means the walls are ever-changing. Tags cover tags, murals appear and vanish, and the whole place feels much more alive than any neatly preserved attraction.

I’d fold it into a central walk between Korenmarkt, Sint-Baafsplein and a browse at Giftshop Gent if you’re also saving my unusual things to do in Ghent guide for your trip.

6. Visit Arnold Vander Haeghen House

Arnold Vander Haeghen House

Best for: free museums in Ghent, historic interiors and a grand townhouse

If you want something that feels more like a free museum in Ghent, save Arnold Vander Haeghen House to your list.

It’s an elegant city palace on Veldstraat, linked to the famed Arnold Vander Haeghen family and known for interiors that feel much grander than you’d expect from a quick peek.

P.S. – Bear in mind their hours can be a bit odd (see here) and they charge a few euros for guided tours; otherwise, it’s free to enter.

7. See the Free Parts of St Peter’s Abbey

St Peter’s Abbey

Best for: abbey gardens, cloisters, quiet time and a more spacious Ghent detour.

St Peter’s Abbey is one of the best free places to visit in Ghent if you want to step outside the tightest historic-centre loop.

The abbey has roots going back to the 7th century, and the free parts include the ground floor, cloisters, quadrangle and the Garden of St Peter’s Abbey.

That garden is the bit I’d especially save for a sunny day, with vines, a quieter city pace and the very pleasant feeling that accompanies getting out of the tourist loop.

I’d add this if you’re spending 2 days in Ghent or want a Ghent stop that goes beyond a quick photo.

8. Wander St Bavo’s Abbey

St Bavo’s Abbey

Best for: historic ruins and a lovely green space in Ghent

St Bavo’s Abbey is not the same as St Bavo’s Cathedral, but it’s just as incredible.

This abbey site sits east of the busiest city centre streets, with the shape of the old Romanesque church marked out in green and hornbeam columns, giving you a peek into what once stood there.

It’s free, but the important caveat is that it is only open to visitors for limited hours each week (see here)—so plan wisely!

9. Potter Through Ghent’s Beguinages

Best for: peaceful streets, heritage Ghent and a slower free city walk.

Ghent’s beguinages are perfect if you like your free things quiet, historic and slightly removed from the city centre.

Beguinages were communities for women who lived religious lives without taking formal monastic vows, and Ghent has three of them. Two are UNESCO-listed, and all give you a different atmosphere from the towers, waterfront and restaurant lanes.

I wouldn’t necessarily rush across the city for every single one on a first day trip. But if you’re here for longer, or if you love quiet heritage walks, it’s exactly the kind of free Ghent stop that makes the city feel deeper than its central postcard route.

10. Visit Ghent University Botanical Garden

Best for: plants, greenhouses, a break from cobbled streets and free things to do in Ghent with kids.

If you need green space in Ghent, look no further than the Ghent University Botanical Garden.

It sits by Citadelpark and has gardens, an arboretum, rock garden, Mediterranean garden and greenhouses with more than 10,000 plant species.

This is one I’d save for a slower Ghent itinerary, especially if you’re mixing central Ghent with the museum quarter around Ghent University Museum, MSK Gent or S.M.A.K..

P.S. – The museums themselves are paid, but the garden is a lovely budget-friendly pause around them.

11. Browse Ghent’s Sunday Markets

Best for: browsing, local Ghent life, flowers, books and a Sunday morning in the city.

If your trip lands on a Sunday, make time for Ghent’s Sunday markets.

Browsing is free, and it gives you a much more lived-in feeling for the city than simply moving between attractions.

The Sunday market route here includes a flower market, book market and flea-market-style browsing, and yes, it’s worth popping into them all.

Of course, “free” becomes a little theoretical when it comes to resisting old books, flowers or snacks. But I’ll leave that between you and your suitcase…

P.S. – For nearby food stops, save Le Bal Infernal, Boekjes en Koekjes or Café Labath for your market visit—all from my best cafés in Ghent guide.

12. Use De Krook as a Free Rainy-Day Stop

De Krook

Best for: architecture, reading and working in Ghent

De Krook is Ghent’s city library, but it goes well beyond just a place to read books.

Free to enter, architecturally interesting and very handy if you need an indoor pause in Ghent—De Krook is where I’d come on a rainy day, between food stops in the city, or if you need a practical place to read, plan your next move or simply enjoy being fully immersed in the local Ghent scene.

It also pairs nicely with a more bookish Ghent day, especially if you’re already planning to visit favourite bookish hotspots in the city like Le Bal Infernal, Bookz&Booze or De Kaft.

13. Follow a Free Self-Guided Walk

Best for: first-time visitors, day trips and seeing more of Ghent without paying for a tour.

If you want structure without a paid walking tour, you can always use Ghent’s official free map.

Visit Gent has a free Ghent city walk that covers the main highlights over 4.2 km, along with a free OMG! Van Eyck walking map if you want an art-focused route.

It’s the best budget-friendly way to get oriented with the city, and if later you decide you want more context, I’d look at a Ghent boat tour or the 2.5-hour Ghent food tour for your trip.

How I’d Spend a Free Day in Ghent

If I wanted to keep a Ghent day mostly free, I’d build it like this:

Start at St Michael’s Bridge for the view.
Walk along Graslei and Korenlei.
Step into St Bavo’s Cathedral and St Nicholas’ Church.
Detour through Graffiti Street.
Have a low-cost lunch from Panotto or Mi Garba and eat by the water.
Spend the afternoon at St Peter’s Abbey, one of Ghent’s beguinages or De Krook if the weather turns.

It’ll give you a genuinely full Ghent day without relying on paid attractions, while still leaving room to spend on food, coffee or Ghent chocolate shops if you fancy…

Where to Stay for a Budget-Friendly Ghent Trip

Even if you’re planning lots of free things, I’d still stay centrally in Ghent if your budget allows.

My top pick is NH Collection Gent, because it puts you close to Sint-Baafsplein, St Bavo’s Cathedral, St Nicholas’ Church, Graffiti Street, Korenmarkt and the main free city-centre sights.

Check NH Collection Gent prices & availability

P.S. – For more hotel options, including budget and boutique picks, read my where to stay in Ghent guide.

Final Thoughts on Free Things to Do in Ghent

The best free things to do in Ghent aren’t just fillers between “real” attractions. They are the city.

They’re the bridge views, the waterfront, the cathedral, the street art, the markets, the abbey gardens, the quiet beguinage streets and all the public places that make Ghent feel lived in rather than staged for visitors.

And although I’ll always shout about Gravensteen Castle, a boat tour in Ghent, a meal from my Ghent restaurants guide or a cheeky box from my Ghent chocolate shops guide, don’t assume a budget-friendly Ghent trip means missing the good bits.

Because sometimes, the best bits really are free!

Wishing you the loveliest trip to Ghent.

Happy travels,

Candace x

FAQ: Free Things to Do in Ghent, Belgium

What Are the Best Free Things to Do in Ghent?

The best free things to do in Ghent (in my opinion) include St Michael’s Bridge, Graslei and Korenlei, St Bavo’s Cathedral, St Nicholas’ Church, Graffiti Street, St Peter’s Abbey, Ghent’s beguinages, Ghent University Botanical Garden and Ghent’s Sunday markets.

Are There Free Museums in Ghent?

There are some free museum-like places in Ghent, but be careful with the technicals. Arnold Vander Haeghen House is free of charge outside of guided tours, and there are free areas at St Peter’s Abbey, including the ground floor, cloisters, quadrangle and abbey garden. But most other major museums in Ghent, like Museum voor Schone Kunsten, are paid, or entry can be included with your CityCard Gent.

Is St Bavo’s Cathedral Free?

Yes, basic entry to St Bavo’s Cathedral is free. But the Ghent Altarpiece and visitor experience are paid, so I’d plan separately if you want to see the Mystic Lamb.

Can You Visit Ghent on a Budget?

Definitely. Ghent is excellent for a budget trip because the city centre is walkable and many of the best sights are free to enjoy from the outside or as part of a self-guided walk. Just use my one-day Ghent itinerary as a base, then swap paid sights for free stops from this list.

Is There Free Parking in Ghent?

There’s free parking around Ghent at official Park & Ride car parks on the edge of the city; then you just get to the city centre by tram or bus. You’ll be hard-pressed to find free parking in the historic centre itself.

What Is Ghent Famous For?

Ghent is famous for its incredible medieval city centre, the Graslei and Korenlei waterfront, St Bavo’s Cathedral, the Ghent Belfry, Gravensteen Castle, the Ghent Altarpiece, food, cafés, beer, chocolate and street art.

Is Ghent Worth Visiting?

Yes, Ghent is worth visiting in my opinion, especially if you want a Belgian city that combines historic architecture, canals, food, cafés, museums, street art and a strong local student-city feel. Read my full guide on whether Ghent is worth visiting for my honest pros and cons.

Is Ghent Safe at Night?

Absolutely, Ghent is very safe; just keep normal city precautions like watching your bags and avoid wandering through quiet alleys at night etc. (unless, of course, you’re on a night tour in Ghent).

If you want proper evening plans in Ghent, I’d go to Hot Club Gent, Café ’t Galgenhuisje or save my unusual things to do in Ghent guide for your trip.

What Should You Buy in Ghent?

For souvenirs from Ghent, I’d look at Belgian chocolate from my Ghent chocolate shops guide, independent books from De Kaft, book-and-bottle gifts from Bookz&Booze or records from Music Mania Records 2.

What Are the Best Cheap Things to Do in Ghent?

The best cheap things to do in Ghent will inevitably be a mix of free walks and a few well-chosen paid experiences. For a nice balance I’d start with the free sights in this guide, then consider paying for Gravensteen Castle, a Ghent boat tour or one proper Belgian meal from my Ghent restaurants guide.

Plan the rest of your Ghent trip

Still planning? Here’s more of my Ghent guides to help you decide where to stay, what to book and how to make the most of your trip.