EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Of Ghent's two train stations , the most useful is St Pieters , 2km south of the centre and connected by trams #1, #10, #11, #12 and #13. The tourist office is in the crypt of the old belfry, the Belfort, right in the centre on the Botermarkt (daily: April-Oct 9.30am-6.30pm; Nov-March 9.30am-4.30pm; tel 09266 5232, www.gent.be ). The best way of seeing the sights is on foot, but Ghent is a large city and you may find you have to use a tram or bus at some point. Standard single fares cost ¬1, a ten-journey Rittenkaart ¬7.40 and a day pass ¬2.90. Single tickets can be bought direct from the driver; passes are sold at shops and kiosks all over town. For Internet access , try Internet Café, Sportcentrum Stadium Coupure, Coupure Links 625 (tel 09266 1893) or The Globetrotter, Kortrijksepoortstraat 180 (tel 09269 0860, ¬3.70/hr).

The plush, modern De Draecke   HI hostel is a few minutes' walk from the castle at Sint-Widostraat 11, just off Braderijstraat (tel 09233 7050, youthhostel.gent@skynet.be ; £5-10/$8-16/¬9-18). Between mid-July and the end of September, student rooms are let for ¬15 per person including breakfast; ask at the tourist office for further details. Among several reasonably priced, central hotels there's Ibis Gent Centrum Kathedraal, Limburgstraat 2 (tel 09233 0000, www.hotelibis.be ; £20-25/$32-40/¬36-45), a handily situated hotel with comfortable modern rooms opposite the cathedral; Ibis Gent Centrum Opera , Nederkouter 24-26 (tel 09225 0707, www.hotelibis.com ; £20-25/$32-40/¬36-45), a spick-and-span, five-storey block five minutes' walk south of the Korenmarkt; and Erasmus , Poel 25 (tel 09224 2195, www.bbb.proximedia.com ; £20-25/$32-40/¬36-45), a charming, family-run hotel located in an old and commodious town house just off the Korenlei. The best campsite is Camping Blaarmeersen at Zuiderlaan 12, west of the centre (March to mid-Oct; tel 09221 5399, camping.blaarmeersen@gent.be ) - take bus #38 from Korenmarkt.