Day trip to Ghent and Atomium from Brussels
Description
Make the most of your time in Belgium during this full-day excursion to Ghent from Brussels. Don’t worry about time-consuming public transit; instead, benefit from round-trip transfers, as well as the insight of a local guide who can share context you might not have discovered alone, before exploring independently at your own pace.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Before leaving Brussels behind, we'll make a stop at the emblematic Atonium. We'll admire the monument, standing at more than 100 meters (328 ft) high and the spheres of about 18 meters (59 ft) in diameter representing the nine provinces of Belgium before continuing on our way.
We arrive to Ghent, one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe. We walk to the centre, where the guided tour will begin.
Our guide will explain this emblematic tower and the history surrounding its dragon.
You will discover the outside and the inside of Ghent’s Cathedral, where the most stolen painting in history is kept, the famous painting of the Van Eyck brothers “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”.
Do you know that Belgian churches host concerts and other events?
We start our guided tour in front of the Town Hall. Here our guide will explain us the different architectural styles of the building.
In front Saint Nicholas Church, we found the Korenmarkt. In this spot will be explained the peculiar history of the building where the post office used to be.
Upon this bridge you will be able to take incredible photos. Here will also be explained the story of the tower of Saint Michael's Church.
We are going to follow the Lys riverbank. We will get to know the buildings surrounding Lys river such as diferent Guild Houses or the current Marriot Hotel. You will also have the chance to take some photos.
In front of the original facade of the Masons guild house, our guide will explain what guild houses are and the peculiarity of this one.
In front the Great Butcher's Hall, we will make a little stop in a traditional market stall where the seller will tell us about Ghent’s more famous candy, the cuberdon.
The last point of our guided tour is Sint-Veerleplein Square. Here our guide will explain the story of the square and the different buildings around it. Also, will give some tips about where to eat or which are the best souvenir shops. The guide will also remember when and where you must be to take the bus back to Brussels.
Free time, you will enjoy about 4 hours of free time (it depends on the traffic and the rhythm of the group).
The Great Butchers’, which dates back to the 15th century, was originally a covered market.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- You will receive the confirmation at time of booking
- Our guides have your best interests in mind; while the tour usually includes the sites & stories mentioned and lasts about 2.5 hours, your tour may vary depending on what your guide thinks is best for your group
- No meals are included but your guide will be happy to point you in the direction of some great food spots :)
- Children under 2 years old must travel in a car seat on the bus. Please make sure to bring their appropriate seat
Reviews(68)
We enjoyed Ghent. However, the walking tour felt a bit rushed and there was no opportunity for a bathroom break after the drive into Ghent from Brussels. There should have been time allocated for this. Also our group was small but we were not asked to introduce ourselves or where we were from. Would have been nice to have this done to encourage mingling with the other guests. Also while on the bus, it would have been good to have the guide point things out along the way; for example, the royal residence, Chinese pavilion. The bus driver did a great job navigating the busy streets.
A well organised and informative day trip to Ghent. Julian and team provided us with a lot of useful info throughout the day and gave us recommendations for where to eat and drink. Everything ran on time. Thanks!
The tour was good, but almost too much free time for such a small city. Seemed like it could have been a tour at Atomium and tour of Ghent. Guide was good although a little difficult to understand. I’m glad we booked the tour and got to see Ghent. Our tour was shared with a Spanish speaking group for the bus ride, and the two guides spoke to the two groups in English and Spanish for the ride. I would have preferred a little more history and culture on the tour.
Great tour. Ghent is so worth seeing. We were looked after a great team of tour guides and a safely driving bus driver. The four hours free time we used to go on a river boat ride, lunch (many places to choose from) and a yummy Belgian full option waffle at Cafe Rosario with delicious coffee (our tour guide recommendation) would highly recommend this tour.
Antonio was an excellent guide, friendly, fun and informative. We had thought of going to Ghent from Brussels independently on the train, but we would not have seen and understood so much. And the quick stop at the Atomium was a bonus. Thanks Antonio!
In 50 years of touring this was the worst experience I have ever had. I booked this 2 months in advance paid a few days in advance per their request. The day of departure I received an email cancelling the tour. We were offered another tour which I accepted but was denied. We were again offered another tour and date which I accepted. I did not receive a confirmation so upon arrival to our hotel in Brussels I called the local tour company. There phones were not working. I called the Viator Europe office and got a confirmation for the tour. We were added on to a mostly Spanish tour. After one stop and upon arrival to Antwerp we were not provided with a toilet stop. Dropped off in Antwerp. Tour was okay but it was difficult to hear the guide from more than 3 feet way. After a tour of the old city were allowed time on our own to explore and told to go to the drop off point to the bus. As we had not planned to go to Antwerp I did not have a map and the only we knew to get to that point was to retrace our steps. We thought we allowed enough time but we had a few false starts retracing our way back and arrived 8 minutes late (we are allowed 10). Group had already left and we were stranded. I tried to call the local tour operator and we could have taken a train to Ghent and rejoined them but again their phones were not working. We took a train back to Brussels and I again tried several times to contact the tour operator so we could meet the bus on its return to Brussels to retrieve some personal items left on the bus. Phones not working again. Finally I sent a test. I received a response but it gave us the name of the name of the bldg where the bus would be in Spanish. Then the text no longer worked. I requested a partial refund as it is apparent that they share a great deal of responsibility for what happened. Denied. I also wrote the parent company and did not even receive the courtesy of a response. if nothing else they could at the very least refund us the credits we earned for the tours we did take. The tour to Bruges and later in Normandy were excellent, especially the one in Normandy.
Our guide Nico was great. He spoke fluently both in English and French. On our way to Ghent he provided interesting history and in both locations provided a good insight !
A very good bus trip and guided tour of Ghent. The bus was comfortable and the 2 hour guided portion of the trip in English was informative and well handled. The trip left plenty of time for us to explore the city on our own. We would highly recommend this full day tour rather than booking both Bruges and Ghent on the same day.
Julian our guide for the walking tour was great. After the walking tour we had 4 hours of free time. Julian left to return to Brussels but gave us excellent directions on where and when to meet the other guide for the bus ride home. We were approximately 10 English speaking on a bus with about 35 Spanish speaking tourists. They were extremely rude and aggressive on the bus and we felt that their guide deferred to them basically treating us like intruders. It was a very uncomfortable feeling and left me with a negative taste in my mouth after having had such a lovely day in Ghent. I give Julian 5 stars but the way the return trip was handled was unacceptable.
The itinerary was not as posted so instead of doing the Atomium first it was last. Due to this we could not attend this attraction. It says the your ends at 17:30 but we were told it would be 19:30. That is a big difference when you are with kids and have to take a train to your lodgings. Our tour guide Sabrina was pleasant and did a great job with the tour. We loved Ghent!
