Social Program

Good Reasons to meet Ghent

The city combines an impressive past with a vivid present. You will hardly ever find such a diversity of architectural styles and treasures of which most are protected as national heritage by UNESCO. Strolling through Ghent often coincides with an adventurous travel through history.

But above all, Ghent is alive! Here pounds the young heart of a dazzling city of culture with music, theatre, film and visual arts. A city where cultural perspectives are constantly renewed and enlarged, where culture is a feast and where feasting is a form of culture. Not only art lovers but nearly everyone can find something here to suit his taste. Ghent offers over 300 restaurants, numerous pubs, pleasant shopping streets, and an exciting nightlife.

Over 70 000 students have their homes in Ghent, which makes us the largest university town of Belgium with an international reputation when it comes to research and innovation. This creates a young and lively vibe and makes sure you’ll never feel like you’re walking alone through the city at night. Important to note in this context is that overall, Ghent can definitely be considered as a safe city. It is the only belgian city with a lighting plan.

As a meeting destination, the city can be proud of what they achieve on a yearly basis. Ghent houses about 120 international congresses a year, good for a total amount of 30 000 participants.

Did you know that ...

• Ghent has held seventh place on the Must-See list in Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel”?
• Ghent’s current mayor was elected the world’s second best in 2015?
• National Geographic Traveller Magazine ranked Ghent as the third most authentic destination in a list of 109 nominees?
• Ghent scored 64 % on the Creative City Index, which reflects a city’s creative heartbeat? In fact the city obtained the second highest score of all the cities that had been analysed hitherto.
• No other city in Belgium has as many listed monuments as Ghent?
• The restoration of the mystic lamb (Van Eyck) takes place at the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK)?

Good reasons to greet in Bruges

It is only fair to say that the places that stir all your senses and that creep under your skin are extremely rare. These are the places that pluck your heartstrings, yet whose secrets you can’t unlock completely. Bruges happens to be such a unique place.

Cultural and artistic, cosmopolitan, unashamedly Burgundian, mysteriously medieval, and a Unesco World Heritage site to boot. Strolling along Bruges’ alleys, picturesque canals and verdant ramparts you cannot but fall hopelessly in love with her elegant mysteriousness.

After an afternoon of enjoying the sights of Bruges from along and on the water, dinner - with a variety of typical Flemish delicacies - can be enjoyed in the unique setting of the historical Belfry Halls.