Ghent is one of the best-value city breaks in Western Europe — noticeably cheaper than Bruges or Amsterdam, and unlike those cities you don't lose much by travelling on a tighter budget. Here's exactly how to keep costs down without missing the highlights.
✔ Budget daily cost: €55–75/day
✔ Best free activity: walking the Graslei and Patershol at golden hour
✔ Biggest saver: the CityCard Gent if visiting 3+ paid sights
💶 Daily Budget Breakdown
Ghent's historic centre is fully walkable, which is itself a major saving — you can skip transport passes entirely and put that budget towards museum entries or a canal boat trip instead.
🏨 Cheap Places to Stay
Hostels and budget hotels cluster around Vrijdagmarkt and the Gent-Sint-Pieters station area, from roughly €25–40/night for a hostel bed and €65–90/night for a private budget hotel room. Booking 4–6 weeks ahead for summer weekends and Gentse Feesten (mid-July) saves significantly, since prices climb fast as those dates approach.
🍟 Eating Cheap in Ghent
A frituur (chip shop) portion of fries with a sausage or meatball costs €5–7 and is a completely legitimate meal, not just a snack — Belgium invented fries and Ghent takes them seriously. Bakeries sell filled baguettes for €4–6, and the student neighbourhoods around Overpoortstraat have some of the cheapest beer and food in the city.
Sit-down restaurant mains in Patershol run €16–24, which is meaningfully cheaper than the equivalent in Bruges or Amsterdam. Skip the terraces directly on the Graslei for lunch — they're priced for the view — and walk two streets back for the same food at local prices.
🎟️ Free & Cheap Things To Do
The single best free activity in Ghent is simply walking — the Graslei and Korenlei waterfront, the Patershol quarter and Werregarenstraat (Graffiti Street) cost nothing and are genuinely among the city's best experiences. St. Bavo's Cathedral is free to enter (only the Ghent Altarpiece viewing chapel charges a small fee), as is St. Nicholas' Church.
The CityCard Gent bundles the Belfry, Gravensteen Castle, the main museums and public transport into one pass — worth it if you're planning to see three or more paid sights, since entries add up quickly otherwise.
🚆 Getting Around for Less
You will not need public transport for the historic centre — everything worth seeing is within a 15–20 minute walk. If you're staying near the station, a single tram ticket costs around €2.50, or buy a day pass if you're making several trips. Ghent to Bruges by train is around €9–11 each way and is the single best-value day trip from the city.
❓ Ghent Budget FAQs
Is Ghent cheaper than Bruges?
Yes, noticeably — hotels, restaurants and even souvenir prices in Ghent run 20–30% below Bruges for a comparable quality of experience, largely because Ghent is a real working city rather than a tourism-dependent one.
Can I visit Ghent on a tight budget?
Yes — with hostel accommodation, frituur meals and mostly free sightseeing, €50–60/day is realistic, especially outside July's festival period when prices spike.
Is the CityCard Gent worth it?
If you're visiting the Belfry, Gravensteen and at least one museum, yes — the combined ticket price is usually cheaper than paying for each separately, and it includes public transport too.