GO green in Ghent. That’s the environmentally-friendly invitation from Belgium’s fourth largest city.
During my short break in the picturesque Flanders university town I went on a pollution-busting cycle sightseeing tour, meditated aboard a Bangladeshi-built gondola and took part in a meat-free Veggie Day.
My trip began at New Street station ahead of a 90-minute train journey to London Euston. Then it was a ten-minute walk to St Pancras station and the Eurostar terminus.
Checking in was quick and security procedures were less hassle than at airports. Luggage goes through a scanner but there are no restrictions on liquids and gels as there are when you travel on aircraft.
My go green campaign is reinforced on the Eurostar train with the company boasting that it aims to reduce carbon emissions per passenger journey by 35 per cent by 2012 and claiming that passengers who fly between London, Paris and Brussels generate ten times more emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than travellers who go by rail.
The London to Brussels journey took just a couple of hours, then, after changing trains, it was a further 30 minutes to Ghent.
As a first-time visitor, my initial port of call was a former abbey and monastery which is now the city’s Stadmuseum, or ‘STAM’ as it is known, to get the lowdown on the history of Ghent.
Fortified by a cup of Belgium hot chocolate in the museum’s newly-opened cafe, I set about viewing the exhibits – but this is not a collection of stuffy artefacts.
Multimedia presentations, innovative floor-sized maps and colourful modern photographs combine with the historical surroundings, some dating back to the 13th century, to tell the Ghent story, from pre-history to its medieval heyday when it was one of north west Europe’s most important cities, to its place in the textile boom and its modern-day role as a centre for learning.
Built at the confluence of two rivers, the Lys and the Scheldt, sightseeing by boat is a popular option and I viewed Ghent by night by taking a cruise from the museum to my hotel.
The city has been the subject of the Ghent Light Plan, an initiative to illuminate public buildings in an energy-saving way. The results are impressive, especially when the medieval architecture is viewed from the water.
I was based for my visit at the four-star Marriott hotel, handily located in the heart of the city, overlooking the Korenlei Canal. Past guests have included actors Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Andy Garcia and Catherine Deneuve, all in town for the annual Ghent Film Festival.
I don’t know if any of the silver screen A-listers hired a bike to see the city but that’s what I did.
It’s a compact centre and is reasonably bike friendly – just avoid the trams, stay strong when you cycle over the cobbles and don’t be afraid to push the bike up the one or two steep hills you may encounter!
Landmarks worth seeing include the Castle of the Counts, an imposing medieval fortress in the town centre, the Internationale building, constructed for the first trade union for cotton merchants, and St Bavo’s Cathedral which houses the multi-panelled art masterpiece The Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb.
