Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
As in most Belgian towns, nightlife in Ghent centers around grazing, drinking, and talking with friends into the wee hours. However, the city's massive student population ensures a much busier, more varied nightlife than you'll find in the likes of Bruges or other towns in Flanders. Consequently, locals have come up with a very Belgian compromise to ensure tensions don't arise between residents and students. In an idea akin to horror film The Purge, the worst of the student revelry is contained within one hedonistic street containing 35 bars known as Overpoort. Such is its reputation that the police have been known to tape off the area and let the kids work out their frustrations. The consequence is that, despite the huge student population, the center isn't dominated by beer-fueled teens and is left mostly to the delectation of tourists and locals. But should you still desire to shake your booty away from the mayhem of Overpoort, the area around Oude Beestenmarkt and Vlasmarkt, near Portus Ganda, is a good spot for clubs, albeit of the cheesier variety.
There are special dance nights, several gay bars, and lots of gay and lesbian organizations providing help and advice. The tourist office even provides a gay and lesbian city map.
This LGBTQ+ center has information on gay and lesbian bars, events, and organizations, and also offers help and advice (website in Dutch). On the ground floor, the A-Pluss bar and café has a fine selection of gins, a new street terrace, and live music on weekends.
Look for the "Special Oudenaardes" sign out front. This is one of the oldest bars in the city and also among the more unusual. The building's gabled exterior comprises two 17th-century brick houses that were once part of a much larger terrace. That they survived at all, having weathered various wars, is miraculous. Inside, it's a typical Belgian brown bar, with an excellent beer selection and a lively atmosphere. In summer, the terrace fills up fast.
Back in the plague-ridden early 1500s, this fine estaminet was the city's main source of clean drinking water. As the years went by, it morphed from water house to brothel to barbershop, and finally an inn. Today, it remains one of the city's iconic "brown bars." Come here for the selection; with several beers on tap, including a few of their own house brews and hundreds of bottled beers, it's pretty much perfection. Its small waterside terrace fills up quickly in fine weather, though.
A solid bar overlooking the Grote Markt, with a rather slick interior. It opens early, closes late, and drinks are accompanied by a small sharing plate of popcorn, olives, and chips. Its selection of whiskies and local beers is also pretty good.
To taste a potent Flemish and Dutch specialty, head to 't Dreupelkot (sister bar to Het Waterhuis Aan De Bierkant), which produces its own jenever—a liquor similar in flavor to, and said to be the precursor of, gin. Here, it's all homemade and comes in a multitude of flavors, including vanilla, chocolate, and even cactus. The owner is also a character of the eccentric variety. A "barometer" behind the bar indicates his mood at any given time—it rarely points to "happy."
One of the oldest bars in Kortrijk sits on the banks of the Leie. The city has changed around it, and what was once a typical Belgian "brown bar" (its pale walls stained by years of tobacco smoke) in a run-down area is now one of the hipper locations on the riverfront for a beer. It has a nice terrace in summer.
Yet another beer specialist, with around 300 to choose from, although this one is located in a 15th-century cellar and with an atmosphere a tad livelier than its more laid-back rivals.
A charming little bar on the main street into town with a good choice of local beers, cocktails, and mostly South African wines. It also does a small lunch menu (€25), which changes daily. Bar snacks are ambitious (think cod ceviche and pizza with figs) and there's a great terrace at the back.
