Right at the end of last year I had one of my annual trips to a Christmas market. Basing myself in Lille (France), I had my eye on a day trip to Belgium. Ghent was my chosen location and is only one hour and a quarter away by local trains. This is my account of the short visit I made to this beautiful Belgian city.
With historic, colourful buildings and a bustling Christmas market, Ghent is easy on the eye, even on a cloudy day.
St Nicholas’ Church, Ghent
Whistlestop Tour
The train ride involved one change at Kortrijk in Belgium. Having crossed the border between France and Belgium we were ready to switch trains but it turned out the same train merely changed its number and became the second train. So we basically just had to wait for fifteen minutes and carry on towards Ghent. I found this amusing as I had got off the train looking for a different one but hadn’t needed to.
Getting from Ghent station to the centre (Korenmarkt) took about eighteen minutes. It was extremely crowded as Ghent is a proper tourist trap. Arriving near a fantastic church and famous bridge (St Michael’s bridge), the view was well worth the wait and discomfort of the crouded tram.
After taking in the architecture, we walked over to a place where everyone was hopping on boats. Straight away we got onto a forty minute boat tour which took us along the canals and past the intimidating Castle of the Counts (Gravensteen).
Gravensteen CastleView from the boat
Although it was a fairly short tour, we went down three arms of the canal and had a chance to see all of the important sites.
A woman with crab claws
Afterwards, we made our way to the nearby Christmas market which was impressive and had many of the same features as the one in Lille, such as the Ferris Wheel.
Ghent Christmas marketGhent Christmas market
My favourite thing was sampling a hot dog and some famous Belgian fries.
In A Nutshell
Deciding to walk along the canal back to the train station rather than taking the tram, I realised that Ghent is packed with history, shops and intrigue. I know that I will visit again and spend more time enjoying this fantastic place. Although I was on a rush to get back to Lille (because Eurostar trains were on hold and I thought I would need to go to Calais), my brief hours in beautiful Ghent were satisfying and the city looked just as picturesque as instagram suggested.
Check out my Bonjour Lille article for more about my Christmas travels. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. Please follow me for similar future content.
My blog is a lifestyle site and so now and again I share my experiences of travelling around Europe. My last outing was at Christmas when I visited wonderful Antwerp, which I mentioned in my Five Favourite European Cities article. Now I want to talk about another hidden gem that I am currently exploring – Basel in Switzerland.
Getting To Basel
The Eurostar screen illustrates how trains pollute far less than planes.
My regular readers will be aware that I like to travel by land and sea as much as possible. This is mainly because I believe that planes are one of the biggest direct causes of pollution in the upper atmosphere. I stopped flying 9 years ago but haven’t let it stop me enjoying travelling.
For this journey, I popped over to Paris on the Eurostar and then changed stations from Paris Nord to L’Est. I then took a one and a half hour train to Strasbourg before hopping onto a one hour train to Basel. Travelling through Strasbourg made me realise I need to spend some time there soon, possibly during Christmas time.
Getting To Know Basel
This hotel looked lovely.The city centre was interesting and was accessible by frequent trams.
When I got off the train at Basel SSB railway station, I decided to walk the 20 minutes to the hotel rather than get on public transport. It was a great choice as I was able to check out some of the highlights of the historic city centre. It was, however, exhausting as there was a large hill running up to where our hotel stood. This was brilliant for my step count, though. Especially after spending hours on trains.
The colourful streets reminded me of Salzburg and were lined with trees. Many of the hotels and houses had plants climbing up them, making the whole place feel green and cosy.
Basel film festival was on in a group of theatres and cinemas.Statues, fountains and trees line the streets.
After settling into the hotel, I walked back into the centre and found myself next to the famous Basel Munster Cathedral and overlooking the River Rhine. Plenty of restaurants, bars and shops lined the streets of this intriguing place.
Basel Munster – CathedralMunsterplatz – part of the old town
Final Thoughts
Just a few hours into the holiday and I was already starting to fall in love with beautiful Basel. Look out for more of my posts about my experiences in Basel as I look back on my time in this intriguing European hidden gem.
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Many of you will know that I absolutely love city breaks. I always make sure I choose destinations that I can get to by rail or sea. In the past I have flown to so many places but now I make an effort not to fly as planes have been shown to directly pollute the upper atmosphere. So the Eurostar has become my preferred way of getting into Europe.
Memories
In the last ten years I have enjoyed some wonderful holidays. My idea of a good holiday involves great food, a little bit of culture and plenty of sightseeing (often involving a castle).
In this article I want to share the best European cities that I have visited so far. I am lucky enough to have been to Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, France and Denmark. Out of those countries, here are my favourite cities to visit by train.
Grossmunster Cathedral, Zurich
5) Zurich
As soon as I arrived in Zurich, I was taken aback by the enormity of its grand train station, which was packed with shops and exhibitions.
Zurich was a brilliant place to visit and I was happy to watch a show at the Opera House, take a boat across the immense Lake Zurich and enjoy the bustling centre.
Easy Links
Much like Luxembourg City, it is easy to get a train from Zurich to surrounding places of beauty. I particularly loved a day out where I went up a nearly vertical rail track (Stoosbahn funicular) and had an incredible feast up a mountain.
Influenced by Switzerland, I am now always looking for places to eat cheese fondu since trying it in the city of Zurich. I first saw this tempting fondu restaurant on Travel Man which you can check out for yourself on Youtube.
My favourite fondu at Raclette StubeThe Eiffel Tower, Paris
4) Paris
I have been to glorious Paris several times over the past twenty years. It feels like a home from home. The added bonus is that Disneyland Europe is nearby but even without this, Paris has plenty to keep me coming back for more.
Known for its fashion and food, Paris thrives on its history and grand architecture such as the Arch de Triomphe and the Louvre. Walking up to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and then taking a lift to the top was an amazing experience which I will always remember happily.
Only one thing stops Paris being my Number 1
As much as I love the museums, the exquisite cuisine and the general vibe, one thing lets me down. Everywhere you go there are smoking rooms. Usually they are attached to the outside of cafes and restaurants so you have to walk through them to get into eateries. Often I have to eat in one of these rooms if a venue is busy and I hate the smell of smoke.
The Christmas market, Antwerp, Belgium
3) Antwerp
My recent trip to Antwerp was so much fun. I had picked Antwerp as a getaway destination based on some Pinterest pictures that I had seen. It turned out to be a great choice.
Antwerp was the most festive city I have been to and felt so safe and welcoming. It was also really affordable compared to many of the other places I have stayed.
There will be a more detailed blogpost about Antwerp which I will link here in future.
Luxembourg City Wall
2) Luxembourg
Luxembourg was just a two hour train trip from Paris. The train had two floors and was really comfortable. Although it is a small nation, Luxembourg has a lot to offer. There is plenty of history there and public transport is now free.
When I visited there in 2019 there was still a small fee to use trains and I popped on one to go and see some beautiful villages and a couple of historic castles.
Plus Points
The city was not too busy but still had a buzz about it. Everything was relatively close together and, due to it being one of the main EU administration places, there were lots of places to be entertained, such as the Luxembourg Philharmonie, where we enjoyed a magical concert.
The Luxembourg PhilharmonieHorse Well, Salzburg
1 Salzburg
Since being a kid, I always longed to visit the set of The Sound of Music. So when I got the chance to stay there I took the guided tour of locations. I also fell in love with this beautiful city, surrounded by imposing mountains.
A wide river splits the old and new halves of Salzburg. As a bonus, when I went it happened to be the Salzburg Festival and lots of classical music events and theatre plays were being put on.
Full of beauty
I developed an unexpected fondness for sauerkraut while I was there and had a great time exploring the houses of Mozart. Salzburg was breath-taking, full of nods to Austrian tradition and home to plenty of tasty baked goods.
I previously reflected on my favourite trip in 5 Reasons To Visit Salzburg if you want to know more about this wonderful city.
Final Thoughts
I hope that you have found one of these cities interesting. It was hard to pick five of my favourites but all of these are destinations that I definitely want to visit again.
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