TRAIN FROM BRUSSELS TO GHENT

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Day 1: GIRONA AIRPORT - BRUSELAS CHARLEROI AIRPORT - BRUSELAS MIDI STATION - GANTE

Thursday, October 31

Ringggggggg Ringggggggg ... mmm ... alarm clock? Yes, it is the alarm clock and tells us that we have to get up to go to work, but it also reminds us that today is a special day, today is the day we will step on Belgium again and take the train that will take us from Brussels to Ghent, that city that we want to know for years.
Although this time we will do it to meet Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven.
Our flight to Brussels It leaves at 13.50h so we have to leave a little before our work and go directly to Girona airport, 15 minutes from the office.
Before boarding, we take advantage of eating a sandwich and a soda, to keep fit until we reach Brussels and we can recharge energy.

The flight to Brussels It passes quickly and before we know it, we are already flying over the city, delighting in the views we have of the multitude of ocher colored houses ...
Something that always happens to us when we approach a European city from the air, is the memory and that inevitable comparison to when we do it to any Asian city.

The difference of losing height seeing constructions of the man to do it seeing palm trees and green ... almost without wanting it, we remember our trip to Sri Lanka and Maldives ...

Brussels Charleroi Airport

We landed at Brussels Charleroi airport at 4 minutes from the afternoon and without any delay, since we carry hand luggage, we leave the Terminal, turn right, following the indicators of the shuttle and look at the schedules, which we They indicate that the next one leaves at 4.30pm, so we still have a few minutes left.

Book your Brussels Airport transfer here

And at the moment a memory comes back to us, this time from the first time we were in Belgium, to get to know Brussels and Bruges and we made the same journey from Brussels Charleroi airport to Brussels.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Ghent
- 10 essential places to visit in Ghent
- Ghent in one day
- How to go from Brussels to Ghent
- 10 places to see in Belgium

The bus tickets we took them online a while ago and they cost us 14 euros per person and one way, but if you take them directly at the box office, the price goes up to 17 euros per person and route.
This shuttle will take us directly from Charleroi to Brussels Midi Station, where we will take a train that will take us to Ghent.
Having the return to Girona at 6.20 in the morning, the only transport option, apart from the taxi, was this bus, which allows you to take a shuttle at the Midi Station at 4 in the morning ...
While we wait for the time to get on our way, we look at the sky and see that at the moment it seems that time is going to give us a truce and it is holding, although the forecasts we have seen on the internet are not the most encouraging.
Once we settle in the shuttle, we see a signal that indicates that there is wifi available, we check our phones and we can effectively access this service, but it is paid!
Gone are those times when we had Wi-Fi on buses in Israel ...
Another good option to visit Ghent in one day from Brussels is to book a bus tour with a guide in Spanish. You can also book the tour that includes Ghent and Bruges in a single day.

Recommended travel cards
Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.

We arrived at Brussels Midi Station at 5:30 in the afternoon and as soon as we approached this area, we began to remember our getaway 3 years ago ... what good memories !!
The bus leaves us right in front of the station and without entertaining, we go straight to get tickets for train from Brussels to Ghent.

Bus stop in Brussels Midi to catch the train Brussels Ghent

We pay with the credit card, because in the machine that we have stopped, it only admits coins and we don't have enough to pay the total.
The price of the tickets of Brussels Ghent train, is 17.40 '- euros both, one way.
On this occasion, making accounts, it was not profitable to take any train voucher, so we opted to get normal tickets and on the weekend we will use the “weekend” rate with which we will save a few euros…
It's 5:38 p.m. and our Brussels Ghent trainIt leaves at 5:44 p.m., so we hit a small run to platform 11 and arrive 3 minutes ahead of time permiten that allow us to catch some air before the train arrives.
At this time of the afternoon it starts to get cold and more waiting for the train, at the foot of the tracks. Luckily we are warm, although we thought it would not be so much, although we have looked at the weather forecasts all this last week ...
Over the public address system, they announce that the train is 5 minutes late and these are fulfilled millimetrically!
Arrives on Brussels Ghent train and already wanting to reach the destination, we settled in some seats that are not reserved and in an hour and a half we arrived in Ghent !!!!!
It takes a few minutes to locate in which direction we have the hotel, the Ibis Centrum Opera Hotel, although we carry a map (we have to recognize that the orientation is not our best virtue and less at night !!) and after asking a couple of times and walk 15 minutes we arrive at what will be our accommodation in Ghent the next two nights.

Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish in Brussels by travelers:
- Excursion to Bruges and Ghent
- Excursion to Bruges
- Ghent excursion
- Excursion to Antwerp
- Amsterdam excursion
- More excursions and tours here

We check-in at the Ibis Centrum Opera Hotel and after leaving our luggage in the room, we don't even rest and we are on our way to the center of Ghent to begin to know this city that we have heard so much about and that we really wanted of knowing
The idea is to go to dinner at the Turkish restaurant Ankara, recommended in many places, so we have to travel almost the entire center of Ghent to get there, so we take the opportunity to stroll through a city we intuit that spectacular and at night incredibly illuminated.
We are falling in love with Ghent !!
Start to sparkle for what we think is better to leave the photos after dinner and go straight to Ankara.
As we go through different restaurants, we see that everyone is full of people, although today is Thursday.
As we move forward, more impressive we find Ghent illuminated !!

Images of Ghent at night ...

It looks a lot like Bruges, although so, newcomers, we even think it's prettier.
After a good walk, we arrive at the Ankara restaurant and like the rest we have seen, it is very crowded, but they place us at a small dining room table.
We ordered some mezze to start, a sautéed shrimp and a sauteed vegetable, more beer and water for 29 euros, we can not complain about the price, although we have to say, in honor of the truth, that we have not liked too much, even if one of the best rated restaurants in Ghent.

Dinner at the Ankara Restaurant in Ghent

When we leave we think it will continue to rain and our surprise comes when we step on the street and see that it has stopped and although it is quite cold we have a wonderful night for us and walk through Ghent ...
We go to the Muelle de las Hierbas or Graslei, the medieval area of the city and with the lighting at night is incredible.

Dock of the Herbs in the moonlight

"Dock of the Herbs at night

It does not do justice to the photos we had seen so far. It is much better!
We still think that even more beautiful than Bruges.

Dock of the Herbs

While we get lost in the night of Ghent we think that we have succeeded fully making this trip to Flanders divided in two, so we will not have "overload" of incredible places and we can enjoy these wonderful corners that Belgium offers.
It's after 10 pm and our bodies start asking for a break, so it's time to return to our hotel in Ghent, the Ibis Centrum Opera Hotel.
In the room we take the opportunity to send some of the photos we have taken and after catching up with the things we want to do tomorrow, we start dreaming about Flanders ...