Sports Tours in Gent

Gent is the best European city that you never thought of visiting. Horribly overlooked in favour of nearby Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges, a visit to the city will have you amazed, intrigued and undoubtedly impressed. Both National Geographic & Lonely Planet rates Gent in 2011's top 10 cities to visit.

Hidden away in the city is one of Europe's finest panoramas, a mix of ancient spires, age-old houses, waterways and magnificent pedestrian only squares. This is no place to relax though; Gent is famous for its festivals, its impassioned locals, student population and party atmosphere.

Gent is also a fantastic place to tour. The small city centre makes it easy and safe to manouvre, while the sports clubs in Gent itself, Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges are all in easy distance of the city. This is a great base if you're looking for a tournament to enter.

If it isn't a stylish clothing shop, then it is probably a bar, cafe or restaurant in Gent city centre. Of those bars and cafes, you will find 'trendy' ones and the 'Brown' ones. The brown cafe's are where the magnificent selections of Bière Belge are found.

These generally ancient, dark and fascinating looking pubs are simply outstanding and are home to the Belgian passion for there most famous export. Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant or Waterhouse on the Beer side, is a wonderful pub located on the Groetenmarkt. Bierhaus as it is called, offers guests over 200 passionately sold beers to choose from. Around the corner, the 500-year old 't Gouden Mandeke is equally as appealing. You cannot go wrong in the Vrijdagmarkt for evening activity either.

How do we get to Gent?

Gent is easily accessible from both north and south in the UK. From Newcastle, an entertaining overnight ferry journey to Amsterdam leaves a 2.5 hour journey down into Belgium. Our excellent relationship with DFDS Seaways gives us very low prices on this route. Similarly, as DFDS have taken over Norfolk Line, the Dover to Dunkirk route is equally excellent. A 2 Hour cruise is followed by a 90 minute jaunt up to Belgium which can have you in the city by mid-afternoon from anywhere south of Birmingham.

Where will we stay?

As with most of our European options, we have worked long and hard to find suitable venues for our clients. Gent is no different. We have found an excellent hostel, newly opened in 2009, the Hostel played an ideal home to Leamington U17s Tour to Gent in 2010. A great breakfast, safe and secure rooms, WiFi, and a relaxing garden make it an ideal place to stay. Double/Twin rooms are available for group leaders. Alternatively, we can arrange 3*/4* Accommodation at a number of excellent, if slightly expensive, city centre Hotels.

Gent is Perfect for...

We recommend Gent extremely highly. It has enough to offer the senior end of season tour with regards to nightlife; enough to keep an idle 17 year old happy, but it is also close, safe and interesting enough for an U13-U15 tour.