Ghent self-guided walking tour

Ghent Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

Rated 4.80 out of 5 based on 5 customer ratings
(5 customer reviews)

Explore the city at your own pace with a self-guided experience.
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4 € - 9 €

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Make a day of itInteractive guides by World City Trail, delivered with your tickets.

What is a city guide?

Your own guide to Ghent on your phone: hand-picked places, each with why to go, what to order and a practical tip.

  • Tick places off
  • Your own notes
  • One tap to Maps
  • Open now, near me
  • Works offline
  • Print it or save as PDF
See the guides, a short video and all the details →
- +
Total:
Each:

See players in action on Instagram

On a cruise? See how to get from the ship to the start and how it fits your port day.Port day guide →

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Loved by thousands of travelers and locals

  • No time limit – use your ticket whenever you want
  • Secure checkout - Instant confirmation

Included: your personal Trail Map with every city you finish, the kilometres you walk and your flag collection. See an example →

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Everything you need for a flexible self-guided city experience

Explore the city at your own pace

✔ Discover hidden gems & highlights
✔ Enjoy a flexible self-guided experience
✔ Explore freely with no schedule
✔ Perfect for couples, students, companies, friends & families

How your city experience works

✔ Instant ticket purchase
✔ Easy access via the World City Trail app
✔ Quick setup with your booking details
✔ Start anytime and explore freely
✔ Pause and resume anytime

Why travelers choose this tour

✔ Instant access after purchase
✔ Optional AI voice narration — listen instead of read
✔ Discover top attractions & food spots
✔ Customize your route anytime

What is the Ghent self-guided walking tour?

The Ghent self-guided walking tour is a walk at a pace you choose, with audio narration on your phone where a guide would otherwise stand. About 3 hours is right, and only 30 minutes of that is walking: the route is 2.5 km long and holds 10 stops where you stay put and listen. The centre is small enough that the time goes on looking, not on marching.

At the Belfry the narration takes up the gilded dragon first put on the spire in 1377 and the 91 metres that make it the tallest belfry in Belgium. Inside Saint Bavo's Cathedral is the altarpiece Hubert and Jan van Eyck finished in 1432, and the font where the future Emperor Charles V was baptised in 1500. The Gravensteen ends with the students who occupied the castle in 1949 over a new tax on beer.

  • Durationabout 3 hours
  • Walkingabout 30 min · 2.5 km
  • Stops10
  • LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch

What you do on the walking tour

Listen

Each stop brings the history of the building, the legend attached to it and the detail you would otherwise never notice. The same words are on screen for anyone who would rather read.

Stroll

Google Maps does the navigating, and there is little of it to do: 30 minutes of walking over 2.5 km, at whatever pace suits you.

Break off

Sit down on a quay for a beer or spend an hour inside the cathedral, then pick the route up again, today or on another day.

Eat and browse

Places to eat and shops near the route come with the stops. Which stop you open with, and the order of the rest, is a setting in the app.

See the route and attractions →

How it works

  1. Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
  2. Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
  3. Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.

Who the walking tour is for

A first visit

One walk puts the three towers, the quays and the castle in order and explains what the guilds were doing in between.

Anyone who avoids groups

Nobody to follow and no roll call: you stay as long as a façade deserves and move on when you decide to.

One day in the city

3 hours covers the whole medieval centre, which leaves the afternoon for the Graslei terraces or a museum.

Good to know

  • Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
  • No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
  • Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
  • Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
  • Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
  • Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.

The walk stop by stop: Saint Michael's Church, the Belfry, Saint Bavo's, the Gravensteen

10 stops · about 30 min walking · start: Saint Michael's Church (Sint-Michielskerk) · finish: Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts)

Saint Michael's Church beside the Leie is where the narration opens, and the bridge in front of it is the viewpoint where three towers line up. Those three follow in turn: Saint Nicholas' Church, the Belfry and Saint Bavo's Cathedral, with the City Hall and the old grain square of the Korenmarkt between them. The route then goes north by Saint James' Church to the Vrijdagmarkt and ends at the Gravensteen, the castle of the counts of Flanders. A different first stop or a different order is a setting in the app, and no stop asks for a ticket.

Open the route map ↗

  1. Saint Michael's Church (Sint-Michielskerk)

    1Saint Michael's Church (Sint-Michielskerk)Start

    This late Gothic church on the bank of the Leie was probably begun in 1440, but its tower was never finished: a 134-metre spire designed in 1662 was never built, and a flat roof has covered the tower since 1828. Inside hangs Anthony van Dyck's painting of Christ dying on the cross.

    Read the full story →

  2. Saint Michael's Bridge (Sint-Michielsbrug)

    2Saint Michael's Bridge (Sint-Michielsbrug)

    The Ghent architect Louis Cloquet designed this stone bridge over the Leie, built in the years before the 1913 World's Fair. From its centre you see the towers of Saint Nicholas' Church, the Belfry and Saint Bavo's Cathedral lined up above the Graslei and Korenlei quays.

    Read the full story →

  3. Saint Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk)

    3Saint Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk)

    Begun in the early 13th century, Saint Nicholas' Church is a leading example of Scheldt Gothic, built of blue-grey stone from the Tournai area. Its central tower served as a lookout and carried the town bells until the Belfry was built, and the guilds of the nearby market added chapels along its sides.

    Read the full story →

  4. Belfry of Ghent (Belfort)

    4Belfry of Ghent (Belfort)

    Begun in 1313 and completed in 1380, the Belfry rises 91 metres and is the tallest belfry in Belgium. A gilded dragon was first placed on its top in 1377 and still guards the spire, and the tower is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Belfries of Belgium and France.

    Read the full story →

  5. Saint Bavo's Cathedral

    5Saint Bavo's Cathedral

    Work on the Gothic church of Saint Bavo began around 1274, and its tower rises 89 metres. It holds the Ghent Altarpiece, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, completed in 1432, and the future Emperor Charles V, born in Ghent in 1500, was baptised here.

  6. Ghent City Hall (Stadhuis)

    6Ghent City Hall (Stadhuis)

    Ghent City Hall shows two faces: a richly carved late Gothic wing on the Hoogpoort, begun in 1519 and never finished, and a more sober Renaissance facade on the Botermarkt, built from the late 16th century. In 1576 the Pacification of Ghent, an alliance of the provinces of the Low Countries against the Spanish troops, was signed here.

  7. Korenmarkt

    7Korenmarkt

    The Korenmarkt takes its name from the grain trade: from around the 10th or 11th century, grain shipped in on the Leie was sold here. Today the square links Saint Nicholas' Church with Saint Michael's Bridge, and its west side is dominated by the former main post office, built between 1898 and 1910 by Louis Cloquet and Stéphane Mortier.

    Read the full story →

  8. Saint James' Church (Sint-Jacobskerk)

    8Saint James' Church (Sint-Jacobskerk)

    A first church was built on this spot in 1093, and the two Romanesque towers of Saint James' Church date from the 12th century. The building was extended and rebuilt many times, so Romanesque and later parts stand side by side, and the square around it, Bij Sint-Jacobs, is known for its flea market.

    Read the full story →

  9. Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market)

    9Vrijdagmarkt (Friday Market)

    For centuries the Vrijdagmarkt was the stage for Ghent's markets, festive royal entries and public executions. In the middle stands Jacob van Artevelde, the 14th-century leader who kept Ghent's trade with England going during the Hundred Years' War, and since 1863 his statue has pointed towards England.

    Read the full story →

  10. Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts)

    10Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts)Finish

    Count Philip of Alsace built the Gravensteen in 1180 on the site of an earlier fortification. After the counts moved out it served as a mint, a court and a prison, later even as a cotton mill, until the city restored it from 1893, and in 1949 students occupied it in protest against a new beer tax.

5 reviews for Ghent Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

  1. Rated 5 out of 5

    Jeanne– United States –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Fun

  2. Rated 5 out of 5

    Canada –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

  3. Rated 4 out of 5

    Angella – Germany –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    War interessant und hilfreich beim Orientieren in der Stadt

  4. Rated 5 out of 5

    Belgium –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Très belle activité à faire, vous allez visiter tout en vous amusant. Je recommande.

  5. Rated 5 out of 5

    Netherlands –

    Collected on GetYourGuide

    Leuke activiteit

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Frequently asked questions

How much time should I set aside for the walk?

About 3 hours is the right block of time, and only 30 minutes of it is walking: the route is 2.5 km long with 10 stops. Because the distances are short, the hours go on standing and looking, and you can split the walk over two days.

Which stop is first and which is last?

Saint Michael's Church, on the bank of the Leie, is the opening stop, and the Gravensteen closes the walk. If that is the wrong corner of town for you, the app will start the route at any other stop.

Who does the guiding, and when do we start?

The narration does the guiding, so there is nobody to meet and no departure time. In the World City Trail app you enter the reference we email you, and you choose the day yourself.

Does any stop need an entry ticket?

Everything is told outside, on the bridges and the squares, so all 10 stops work without a ticket. The altarpiece inside Saint Bavo's, the climb up the Belfry and the rooms of the Gravensteen are separate visits you arrange yourself.

Can we bring children along?

Children are welcome as long as an adult walks with them. The distances are short, a gilded dragon and a castle keep them interested, and the audio stops the moment you want it to. Wheelchairs cannot manage the cobbles, and a buggy makes hard work of them.

In which languages is the narration available?

The narration and the on-screen text of the walk come in six languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.

Can a family or a group of friends walk it together?

They can. Each person needs a ticket so that everyone listens on their own phone, and up to 5 people walk comfortably together. Larger groups split and follow the same route.

Can I add the Ghent city guides?

You can, in the same booking box: six interactive guides to Ghent, covering food, things to do, family outings, nights out, day trips and travelling on a budget. Take one of them or all six, and they are delivered with your tickets. They work offline, so the walk explains what is in front of you while the guides look after the rest of your stay.

Do I need anything besides my phone?

A charged phone with mobile data first of all, then earphones for the narration, a power bank if the battery is tired, and shoes with a sole thick enough for cobbles. Google Maps gets you between the stops.

Ghent at your own speed

Book and the reference reaches you by email, and from then on all you need is earphones beside the Leie, on the morning you feel like walking. The same booking box holds the Ghent city guides, one of them or all six, to carry the day on after the castle.

Book your tickets →

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