A medium-sized city but very active, not so far away from Brussels. But then again: nothing's far in Belgium. Gent is the homebase of Beyondjazz so if you're coming down let us know ... There's a really good tourist office for youngsters called Use-it. A must-see is the 'Gentse Feesten' in July, probably the biggest city festival in Europe, attracting 1.5 million people in 10 days. And oh yeah, Gent won the contest of the most pleasant city in Flanders in 2005...

The youth-hostel (jeugdherberg in dutch) is probably one of the cheapest options, but well worth checking are the smaller b&b's. A list is available from all tourist offices.

Recommended:
Charlatan ( www.charlatan.be - some great gigs and parties)
10daysoff ( www.10daysoff.be - huge electronic music festival during the Gentse Feesten)
Blue Note Festival ( www.bluenotefestival.com - the official, splendid!)
Culture Club ( www.cultureclub.be - hyped accross the world, they speak french here)
69 ( www.club-69.be - smaller and cosier club from Culture Club owners)
Kinky Star ( www.kinkystar.com - alternative club)
Video ( www.cafevideo.be)
Vooruit ( www.vooruit.be - welcome to arts heaven)
Decadance ( www.decadance.be - house and techno club)
Tijuana ( www.tijuana.be - house joint)
Jazz in 't Park ( www.gent.be/jazzintpark - open air jazz fest at the end of summer)
Manteca (cosy jazz club)
Belga Queen (fancy bar, good music upstairs with bj dj citrus)

Now here's a little list fo ya:
Music Mania - where we buy our stuff, 3 floors
Bagattenstraat 197
www.musicmaniarecords.com

City Beatz - hiphop and rnb
Lammerstraat 4a
www.citybeatz.be

Music Man - mainly house but regularly crosses borders, check the blue room
Steendam 72
www.musicman.be

Vinyl Kitchen - best 2nd hand record shop in Gent!
Lange Violettestraat 160

Vynilla - new & 2nd hand records, exclusives and collectors editions
Sint-Kwintensberg 38

Kiekeboe - 2nd hand books & records (some CDs too)
Tolhuislaan 126

De Kaft - 2nd hand books, records & cd's, occasionally great finds
Kortrijksepoortstraat 44

CD only shops (Still worth a look!)
Billboard - Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 58
Bilbo - Overpoortstraat 59
FNAC - also a place to buy concert tickets - Veldstraat 88

Zone09 - excellent city mag, available anywhere in the grey and red boxes
Weekup - weekly calendar available in a lot of stores and public buildings

source n°1: www.use-it.be (say hi to the kind folks in the office too)
the city itself has a great website too: www.gent.be
good calendar: www.weekup.be

Differs from day to day. Summer days reach 25°C or more, winter days down to 5°C or below zero. Sun, rain, clouds, a little snow... we got it all.

www.use-it.be has more info then you can digest...
recommended for excellent veggie fastfood: Greenway - www.greenway.be

The centre of the city is fairly small, so you can get anywhere with your feet, a bike or public transport (streetcar and bus). Prices for public transport are moderate. You can easily travel around in Belgium by train, it's a small country (f.e. Brussels or Antwerp is only 35 minutes away).

- come and say hi to the Beyondjazz crew
- visit the Vlasmarkt at 10AM during the Gentse Feesten
- check out the graffiti alley (Werregarenstraat) - dope Gent graffiti site: www.ghentizm.be
- chill in the lovely Muink Park, which used to be a tiny zoo
- relax and swim at the Blaarmeersen on a hot summer day
- take a leak in the public toilets (more)

- don't pay loads of money for guided tours or silly boattrips... do it yourself, Use-it has great maps with all the info you need
- avoid the all-too crowded places during the Gentse Feesten

From use-it.be:
"Gent is the nicest city to come home to, because nowhere else there's a Graslei. During spring and summer dozens of youngsters get together, chatting and chilling on the warmed up cobble stones." - Wouter

"I like the contrasts in Ghent: busyness next to peace and quiet, old versus new, beauty next to ugliness. A fine example is het Begijnhof (Lange Violettenstraat) where quiet solitude has remained for centuries. A bit further down the road buses and trams pick up thousands of school kids every day at the Zuid. Of all museums the Huis van Alijn was my favourite. This museum of folklore exposes long forgotten daily objects in a fun way. This 14th century building is one of the many that makes this city so cosy." - Veerle

oemebamo, lensco, citrus, zot wolkje, and many more.