Venue
The meeting will take place in the city centre of Ghent in Culture and Convention Center Het Pand. The address is Onderbergen 1, 9000 Ghent. You can read more about the history of Het Pand here.
Reaching the venue by public transport
Exit Gent St. Pieters Station on the city side (closer to platform 1). You can take either (i) Tram 1 towards Wondelgem Industrieweg, get off at Kortemeer, and walk for 5 mins, or (ii) take Tram 2 towards Melle Leeuw, get off at Oude Houtlei, and walk for 4 mins. Screenshots from Google maps are attached below. Note: the two trams leave from slightly different places at the station.
Note: If you are arriving by train from or via Antwerp (which may be the case for many of you coming from the north of the Netherlands), the station Gent Dampoort may be slightly more convenient for you to reach your hotel in the city centre or the venue Het Pand. The same train which goes to Gent St. Pieters stops at Dampoort -- you can just get off at the previous station and save a few minutes. You can then take buses 3 or 39 from Dampoort to Korenmarkt, and then walk over to Het Pand (~ 5 mins).
Tickets can be bought online (on the DeLijn website), at the platform, and also on the tram (with a debit card). A 10-ride DeLijn card may turn out to be cheaper than individual tickets, particularly if you are travelling in a small group -- the same card may be tapped multiple times to include multiple people in the journey.
Parking
Closest parking is Parking St. Michiels (€20 for 10 hours) right next to the venue. A slightly cheaper option would be Center parking (€16 for whole day) just 5 minutes away. You can also consider the free park & ride option at P+R Gentbrugge E17, and from there take Tram 2 towards Zwijnaarde to Oude Houtlei.
Accommodation
You are kindly requested to make your own arrangements for accommodation. It would be most practical to look up hotels in the city centre from a website such as booking.com. You can find below some generic information about hotels / hostels provided for other recent conferences hosted by UGent.
Hotels
There are numerous high-quality hotels in the city centre of Ghent. The number of stars awarded to a hotel (1 to 5) indicate the level of comfort you might expect. For more information about the hotels and an overview of all possible hotels, we recommend to visit the cityguide for overnight stay or use Google to find your accommodation.
Hostels
Participants looking for a budget-friendly way of staying in Ghent can stay in one of the many hostels. Based on the city website, we provide you with a non-limitative list of hostels in Ghent in order to assist you in finding a suitable place to stay during the conference.
- Hostel Uppelink: Hostel Uppelink is located in a historic building, in the heart of the historic city centre, and boasts an impressive view of Ghent's famous towers. The hostel offers affordable accommodation in shared rooms, with 2 to 14 beds per room. Every floor is equipped with toilets and the shared bathroom features sinks and large showers. On the ground floor there are a breakfast area, a cosy salon and bar, with an impressive view of the Graslei.
- Youth Hostel De Draecke: After a thorough renovation, the youth hostel now has 119 beds (spread across rooms which can accommodate between 2 and 6 people). All the rooms have their own bathrooms and each bed has a bedside lamp, power socket and locker. The ground floor has been given a complete make-over. The reception was integrated into the bar and merges into the dining room and lounge. There is a computer corner and free wifi. Groups can also meet for breakfast and other meals in the large meeting room.
- KaBa: KaBa Hostel in Sint-Annaplein has 38 beds. The owners wanted to distinguish themselves from the other youth hostels, which is why they invited young Ghent artists to decorate the rooms. The interiors are quite original. The hostel also has a kitchen which guests can use and a garden.
- Hostel 47: Low-budget accommodation on the outskirts of the historic city centre. The rooms for two to eight persons can accommodate a total of 34 guests.
- 13 O'Clock Hostel: 13 O'Clock Hostel recently opened in Universiteitsstraat. You can spend the night here for a reasonable price. Longer stays (for a month even) are also possible. The price includes: bathroom and toilet next to the room, use of a kitchenette, Internet, gas, electricity and 1 set of bath linens. The hostel also has wheelchair-accessible rooms.
- Andromeda: An overnight stay on a barge within walking distance of the city centre. The ship has been renovated using an ecological approach. Four rooms, which can sleep maximum twenty guests. Vegetarian, organic and fair trade breakfast.
- Treck Hostel: Treck Hostel, which is housed in an old 19th-century brick kiln, is the very first indoor camp site in Belgium. You can spend the night (and have breakfast) in one of nine themed caravans or in a joint room. Treckhaak, the in-house bar, is the place to be for coffee, a pint or a board game.
- Backstay Hostel: The new Backstay Hostel is located in the city centre of Ghent and is easy accessible by public transport.
Quick links
- Ghent visitor information (including tourist attractions, restaurants): https://visit.gent.be/en
- Trains within Belgium: https://www.belgiantrain.be/en
- Public transportation in Ghent: https://www.delijn.be/en
- Bicycle rental: https://fietsambassade.gent.be/en
