Easter in Gent, the Fairytale City of Belgium, Ghent, Belgium

Although unbeknown to most, Belgium’s third-largest city was actually once one of the largest and most important cities in Europe, and its medieval centre is beautifully preserved to this day. For this reason, Gent attracts many tourists year-round, which is fully understandable. Visiting Gent is like stepping into a real-life fairytale.

For our Easter holiday this year, my boyfriend and I had planned a nine-day journey around North France, Belgium and West Germany but due to a bit of corona mess, we had to cut the trip short, cutting out North France and Bruges as well as two of our three planned days in Gent. We were left with just one night and a morning to explore the city! Nowhere near enough, but still good enough to give us an impression of the city. We could tell even from our evening walk from the bus station to the city centre that we were in for a treat!

Thankfully, my boyfriend’s sister and her friend were able to take over our original tickets and accommodation in Gent, and they had a great time exploring the city. We arrived in the late evening to their hostel, Hostel Uppelink, which is one of the most beautifully located hostels I’ve seen. They had a view of the medieval heart of Gent from their rooms! We enjoyed dinner together in the hostel, and then my boyfriend and I headed to our hotel, Monasterium PoortAckere, which is located inside an old monastery. I’ve never slept in a monastery before, and it was both haunting and a beautiful experience. We woke up to a gorgeous view of the chapel! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).