Historical Walking Tour: Legends of Gent
Description
Join our daily Free Historical Tour of Ghent and discover the highlights of our gorgeous city in the company of a knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide. We take you on a journey through the legendary past of Ghent and give you lots of tips on where to go and what to do in the city today. History and funny stories, legends and interesting facts, highlights and hidden gems — this tour has got everything to make your experience of Ghent authentic and exciting! If you cannot make it to the tour for whatever reason, please notify us, so we can open your slot to other visitors. Thank you and enjoy the tour! IMPORTANT NOTE: Our guides are volunteers who offer tours for tips, so please bring cash to reward the guide. The charged fee only covers the cost of booking via this platform.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We start here with an introduction to the history of Ghent and the role the city played as a trading hub in medieval times. We also introduce you to the 3 towers of the Ghent skyline, which are best visible from this spot.
At the Graslei, the beating heart of the historical city centre, we show you which buildings were involved in the trading activities when this area functioned as the city’s port.
Here we explain why a specific aspect of the Design Museum very much symbolises the stubborn and rebellious mindset of the Gentenaars!
With a view of the medieval covered Great Butchers’ Hall across the water, we tell you some darker facts about this majestic building.
Unlike most castles, the medieval Castle of the Counts is located right the middle of the city and and is very well preserved. We will tell you all about its impressive past!
The square in front of the castle is both known as the square of death as well as the square of life. You’ll find out why!
The House of Alijn was a hospital and is the only remaining ‘god house’ in Ghent. We will tell you the unfortunate story of how it became a hospital.
This illustrious square has played a prominent role in Ghent’s history, as well as the man whose statue is located in the middle. Our guide will share its fascinating history with you!
As a way to keep our monumental buildings from being sprayed by graffiti, the city has designated a specific area for street artists to go wild. We’ll walk you through it!
To understand why our city hall looks a little bit ‘confused’, our guide will explain the most significant conflict in the history of Ghent.
Our cathedral has a rich history and houses many art treasures, most notably the world-famous Ghent Altarpiece by the brothers Van Eyck. We’ll share some of this history with you.
The Belfry is the people’s tower and reflects the stubbornness, power and independence of the city. As the former prison, its façade also tells the story of a bizarre legend that our guide will share with you.
This gem from the early 12th century looks out over Korenmarkt and has St Nicholas, the protector of merchants and sailors, as its patron saint. The façade of this building shows us the legend of its patron saint: the perfect way to end this legendary tour!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(2,012)
Florian was a great tour guide who gave thorough, interesting explanations of all the different sites we visited. He also gave a lot of recommendations for restaurants and local foods. Overall, we enjoyed our time in Ghent on this tour!
Kenny was absolutely fun with his way of delivering the historic information and showing his in depth knowledge. He is very enthusiastic and energetic in sharing the information. He made our trip remarkably interesting and enjoyable.
Paula was a great host, and we really enjoyed listening to her stories
We had an excellent tour of Ghent with Manon! Being born and raised in the city, she shared the history and hidden stories from a true local’s perspective. Her dramatic flair made the stories come alive, and she kept the entire tour entertaining from start to finish. Manon is incredibly knowledgeable and a natural guide. You can tell she genuinely loves Ghent, and her enthusiasm is contagious. I would highly recommend her to anyone wanting an engaging and memorable introduction to the city.
Manon was our tour guide and she did awesome. It was the perfect amount of walking and breaks. It was free so we made sure to tip. Our group was 18 people so not too big plus Manon made sure to speak loud enough. She is a die hard Gent local and was very fun to listen to.
Had a grear tour with Kasia. She was so funny and engaging, my whole family enjoyed the little tidbits she shared about Ghent. It's amazing that the cost is so low for the quality of the tour, so we made sure to show our appreciation to our guide with a good tip.
The tour was great. We are a family of two adults and one teenager and for us it was a good way to get our bearings in the city centre and to learn a lot in a short period of time about the history of Ghent’s built environment, its politics and its culture. Hamraz was an excellent and engaging tour guide who brought a real sense of fun, and of enthusiasm for Ghent, to the tour.
Hamraz was our tour guide, she had a lot of in depth stories about Ghent and its rich history. She also answered additional questions that we had and gave some great recommendations around the city. Overall a really great experience that improved our enjoyment of the trip
Really nice tour, Sophie was very nice and had a lot of interesting information. I am glad that we decided to come to Gent.
Kasia was great! She was very informative, funny and very sweet! Thanks for a wonderful tour!
