Gent Sint-Pieters / Gand Saint-Pierre (Gent / Ghent / Gand)

Gent Sint-Pieters is the main station in the city, but it is located on the southern edge of the central area of Gent/Ghent, some distance from the heart of the city.

Frequent trams link Gent Sint-Pieters to the city centre, but some trains (including IC trains on the Oostende – Brugge – Gent – Antwerpen route) also call at the city’s other station, Gent-Dampoort.

Gent-Dampoort station is closer to the city centre than Gent-Sint-Pieters, it takes around 12-15 minutes to walk from Dampoort to the cathedral and the main square.

No trams serve Gent-Dampoort, though bus line 3 provides a frequent link to the city centre, although the bus makes a diversion away from the direct pedestrian route.

The part of Gent Sint-Pieters used by the trains is in the midst of transformation to expand the station and to improve the access to and from the stations.
The new platforms are longer and are being split into A sections, towards Bruxelles, and B sections, towards Brugge.
Though most of the express trains are so long that they use both the A and B sections.

Work is largely complete on platforms 7-12, but platforms 1-6 are a full scale construction site.
The rebuilt platforms are equipped with two sets of escalators and elevators, but those in the middle of the platforms don't lead to a step-free route to the main exits at the front the station, which faces the city centre.
The space beneath the platforms is also in the midst of a rebuild and this is compromising the access to and from the trains, hence stairs currently provide the only link between the central passage and the main station building.

The step-free route to and from the trains

The escalators and elevators at the B end of the platforms, by the front of trains arriving from Antwerp and Bruxelles and the rear of trains arriving from Brugge, lead down to the beginnings of a new passage way under the tracks - ultimately it will provide a better transfer between the trains to the trams stops, car parks and taxi rank
Despite being a construction site, this passage already provides a step-free route between the platforms and the area in front of the station.

When departing from the main station building, if you want a step-free route to the trains, you need to exit from the far right of the station, where a slope leads down to street level.
Turn left at the foot of it to access the route under the trains / platforms, which leads to the lifts and escalators up to platforms 6 to 12.

Gent Sint Pieters station is a 25-30 min walk from the city centre along the street named Koning Albertlaan, so the easiest alternative is to take tram line / route T1

To access the Tram line 1 stop, turn left when leaving the station by it's main entrance and head towards the bus station.
The stop for the trams heading to the city centre is on the left - it's a 2 min walk and step free.

** The usual route**
So the best option is to take tram lines 1 (direction Evergem) to the Korenmarkt tram stop - the nearest tram stop to the stunning main square in the heart of the city.

Tram 1 also serves the northern edge of the historic heart of the city centre, take the tram to the Gravensteen stop.

** The current route**

Long-term roadworks in Gent city centre have led to alterations to the usual tram service.
The T1 still heads towards the city centre from Sint Pieters station, but its currently not going to Korenmarkt or Gravensteen.
Instead it is going to a stop named Gent Zuid, where an an interchange is available with line / route T2m which is going to Korenmarkt and Gravensteen.
Or for the Korenmarkt, you can leave the T1 at its stop named Koophandelsplein (Zonnestraat) from there it's a 5 to min walk along the street named, Korte Meer, turn left from in front of the tram stop.

For the return to Sint Pieters station, you can take lines T1 and T3, from Koophandelsplein (Zonnestraat) or Zuid - but in this direction the line T3 stop is closer to the station entrance.

Gent  has easy access by direct train from/to Bruxelles National Aeroport.

There are 2 x trains per hour between the airport and Gent St-Pieters, but the faster train (via Bruxelles) takes around 55 mins, while the slower train (heading from the airport to De Panne) takes 1hr 20 mins.

Train times can be looked up here

Gent/Ghent is the ideal base for exploring Flanders by train, it is closer to more destinations in Flanders than Brugge; it also also has faster access to Bruxelles and has direct trains to/from Lille.

However, Gent St Pieters station, the city’s main rail hub is a tram ride or 25-30min walk from the city centre, so if you want to use Gent as a base for exploring Belgium by train, then seeking out a hotel by the station is a good idea; SMTJ can personally recommend The Carlton Hotel.

to The Flanders Coast:

There are 2  trains per hour from Gent to Oostende and hourly trains to the coastal resorts of Blankenberge, De Panne and Knokke, the journey time to all three towns is under 50 miins.

Blankenberge, Knokke, Oostende and towns south of Oostende including Middelkerke, Nieuwpoort and De Panne are all linked every 15 mins by The Belgian Coastal Tramway
The train stations at Blankenberge, De Panne, Knokke and Oostende are all adjacent to Coastal Tram stops.

The most picturesque town on the coast, De Hann, has easy access from Gent via Oostende and the tram.

A highly recommended day trip from Gent is to take the train to Knokke transfer to the tram there and then travel the entire coast to De Panne, stopping off whenever you need a drink and a hot waffle.

Stopping off De Hann and Nieuwpoort is particularly recommended, while the stops to the south of Oostende town centre and at Middelkerke are steps away from the beach.
You can then take the train back to Gent from De Panne.

Other easily reachable locations:

Other easy train links between Gent and other destinations in Flanders are:

• Antwerpen – 2-3 x trains per hour (journey time = approx. 50 mins
• Brugge = 2-4 x trains per hour (journey time = approx. 25 mins)
• Leuven - 1 or 2 x trains per hour (journey time = approx. 1hr)
• Kortrijk = 1-2 x fast trains per hour (journey time = 25-35 mins)
• Ieper/Ypres = 1 x train per hour (journey time = 1hr 5mins)
• Mechelen = 1 fast train per hour, Mon-Fri only (journey time = 45 mins)
• Mechelen = 1 x slow train per hour (journey time = 1hr 10 mins.
• Train times can be looked up here

When planning a trip, finding convenient accommodation can be trickier than working out which train to take.
Hence ShowMeTheJourney has partnered with the innovative accommodation portal, Stay 22, to offer three options for discovering your optimum accommodation:

1: Use the map above to see which hotel rooms and Vrbo rentals, with easy access to Gent Sint-Pieters station are available.

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Stay 22 will 'shuffle' the booking services so that you can be automatically directed to its partner that currently has the optimum availability at this location.