Transport in Ghent Just arrived Top posts by Guest author - 10 March, 202130 July, 2022 Ghent is small enough to walk around – it only takes about 20 minutes to walk through the historic city centre. In 2017 the city rolled out a mobility plan with the goal of removing cars from the centre, plus updated the cost of parking in the city centre. So either opt for a bike or use one of the tram and bus routes as the best modes of transport in Ghent. Public transport in Ghent: Buses and trams De Lijn is the public transport provider in Ghent. In fact it’s the provider across the whole of the Flanders region. Because of this, any tickets you might buy in Ghent are not only valid for either the bus or the tram but they are also valid anywhere in Flanders – very useful if you’re doing a day trip to Bruges or Antwerp, for example. But they are not valid in Brussels. There are three main bus stations in Ghent which most transport routes go through: at both the train stations – Gent Sint Pieters and Dampoort – and at Zuid. Number 1 tram goes from IKEA and the Flanders Expo centre in the south, via Gent Sint Pieters train station, right through the centre of the city and off to the north-west of town. It might sound obvious but just in case – the buttons on the bus/tram that you need to press to get off at the next stop are blue. The red ones are to get the driver’s attention in an emergency. There are a lot of temporary bus stops in Ghent because of road diversions caused by building work. The words to look out for are ‘tijdelijke halte’ (see picture). Tickets are valid for 60 minutes from the time of validation. This means if you need to take two buses or a bus then a tram to reach your destination, you do not need to buy a second ticket. So long as you start your second journey before the 60 minutes is up. Routes and schedules You can insert a starting point and a destination into the De Lijn route planner to work out how to get from A to B. Not all schedules are that frequent. Some bus routes only have 1 or 2 buses an hour so it’s advisable to check before you make an important journey – don’t rely on just turning up at a stop and hoping something will arrive within 5 minutes. Night buses run until 1am every night of the week. There are 8 night bus routes in Ghent – they follow the same route as during the day, and have the same number but with an ‘N’ before the number. You can see where they go on this route map. If there are delays you can sometimes get more info by inserting the stop number displayed at the top of the bus/tram stop into the DeLijn app. Buses and trams run every day of the year, including public holidays (Christmas day too). Services run less frequently when the schools are on holiday. If you’re travelling during a school holiday you will need to look at the ‘schoolvakantie’ section of the timetables that are at each bus/tram stop. Transport in Ghent ticket options A single ticket costs €2.50 for adults. The De Lijn discounts page lists out the different reductions that are available. People with a Belgian telephone number can buy an SMS ticket, which also costs €2.50. To do this you just need to text ‘DL’ to 4884. You’ll receive a text message in reply which you need to show on request. Don’t consider turning off your phone and pretending it’s out of battery – the ticket checkers can see if you’ve bought a ticket just by asking for your phone number. If you have a Belgian telephone number, and you will be a regular traveller, you should download the m-card10 app where you can by 10 trips for €16, making this the cheapest digital option per single ride. You can also buy a paper ticket (10 journeys at €16) which is useful if you don’t have a Belgian number. The option to choose on the machines is called Lijnkaart. It can be used for more than one person – you just need to validate it per person. De Lijn also offers 1 and 3-day tickets (€7.50, €15) which you can use as many times as you like in that number of days (the clock starts at the first validation). These are all under ‘Day Ticket’ at the machines. Once you have a Belgian residence permit, you can use this to apply for an Omnipas (for people 25+) or a Buzzy Pazz (24 and under). This is essentially a monthly travel pass for people living in Ghent and costs €49/month (€33 for the Buzzy Pazz). It gets cheaper if you pay for 3 months or a year up front. Note that a lot of companies include an Omnipas as part of a salary package, so check before you pay for one yourself! You can apply online for these passes but it’s simplest to just visit a Lijnwinkel (see below), fill out a form, pay and show your residence permit. They’ll then give you your pass on the spot. Top tip: If you have a ticket for an event at the Handelsbeurs or the NT Gent then it is also valid for your transport there and back. The same goes for some of the events at the Flanders Expo. Buying tickets and validation Tickets can no longer be bought from the driver, so instead make sure that – before you board – you find a machine at a stop/station or a Lijnwinkel. These are the De Lijn’s shops – most noticeably at the bus station next to Sint Pieters train station and opposite Sint Niklaas church in the centre. However, on some of the newer trams, you can use a contactless bank card to pay for your journey. When you board a bus or a tram you need to validate any paper tickets by inserting them into the yellow machine either by the driver or near the middle doors (see picture). If you’re validating not next to the driver, press the brown “1” button on the machine after you’ve inserted the ticket. It’ll then pop back out again for you to retrieve. The Omnipas is a plastic card that you need to swipe against the digital machines each time you board. If you don’t have a ticket, or you don’t validate it when you need to, you risk a fine of between €20 and €500. Author: Heather Sills Related Share on Facebook Share Share on TwitterTweet Share on Pinterest Share Share on LinkedIn Share Send email Mail Print Print
Hi Carlus, any bus/tram ticket bought in the Flanders region is valid on any route, so yes, you should be able to buy a ticket in Ghent and use it to get to Oostaker. You can enter your start and end points on the De Lijn website to find out which route is quickest Reply
Hi, it depends which bus you want to take, but many start running from around 5am. You can use the de lijn route planner https://www.delijn.be/en/routeplanner to find the earliest bus for the journey you want to make Reply
Hi, thank you so much for this very helpful info. We are going to buy a 10 journey pass for the 2 of us. I have two questions please: 1. When we validate, do we select 1 and insert the card once for each of us or do we select 2 and insert once for two validations? 2. For the 10 journey pass, is it one card and we need to keep track of the number of journeys? Alstublieft! Sharon Reply
Hi Sharon, Thanks for your feedback. To answer your questions: 1) you insert the card first, then select a number. The numbers are for the zones (for Ghent use number 1), not the number of passengers. So you would need to insert it once, press number 1, wait for it to come out, insert it again, press 1 again, and wait for it to come out again. Not the most efficient system, but I think they’re trying to phase out the paper tickets and move to an electronic system eventually. 2) it’s one card indeed, but each time you insert it into the machine, it gets a stamp to say when you used it, how much the journey cost, and how much money you have left on it (i.e. how many journeys you have left), so you can keep track this way. Hope this helps – happy travelling! Reply
Hi, I am planning to visit Ghent this summer. I understand that De Lijn offers 1, 3 and 5-day tickets. If I buy a 3-day ticket, can I use it – (a) to travel from Ghent to Antwerp? and (b) for travel (on bus or tram) within Antwerp? Thanks. Suki Reply
Hi Suki a) no, not to travel from Ghent to Antwerp, as for this you will need to take the train and the trains in Belgium are run by another provider NMBS (i.e. not De Lijn) b) Yes 🙂 once you get to Antwerp you can use your De Lijn ticket as De Lijn also manages the local transport (buses and trams) within Antwerp Hope this helps, and have a lovely trip! Reply
Is it misleading to state you can only pay driver on bus with €10 note. Surely if you have the €3 in change you can pay the exact fair ? Reply
Cheers. Visiting on 30th November for party in Kompass club. Wanted to make sure, as i`ll be taking bus straight after train from Brussels airport. Also found that flixibus from Damport is a great alternative way to Schipol airport compared to train, and only €10 🙂 Reply
Indeed, you can read more about getting to airports here: http://thesquare.gent/leisure/getting-to-the-airport-from-ghent/ Good to know that the Flixbus to Schipol is a good price too. Enjoy your party! Reply
Hi Heather, thanks for the info. I’ll be visiting Ghent early January, and am planning on returning to the UK on an overnight coach. However, the bus I am interested in leaves Ghent at 00:25 from Dampoort. I wonder if the station has any facilities to wait there for the bus (a cafe or seats) or will I be freezing and sitting on the floor? The other option is to go from Ghent to Antwerp in the evening and get an overnight bus from there, although that would be a bit annoying as I’m not really planning on visiting Antwerp. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you so much!! Reply
Hi Rebeca The station has a waiting room but sadly that’s about it. No cafe in the station, although there are cold hard plastic seats 🙂 If I were you I’d just find a bar in town and stay there until just before midnight (plenty will be open), then walk to Dampoort in time for the bus. Hope it works out! Heather Reply
Hi Rebeca The station has a waiting room but sadly that’s about it. No cafe in the station, just cold hard plastic seats 🙂 If I were you I’d just find a bar in town and stay there until just before midnight (plenty will be open), then walk to Dampoort in time for the bus. Hope it works out! Heather Reply
Hello, Heather Do you know how can I get to “Onderbergen 69, 9000 Gent, Belgium” from Ghent central station in overnight? If there is night public transport around 1:30-2:00 am? Reply
Hi Gabriela At that time in the morning there won’t be any night buses, so your only options would be a pre-booked taxi or just walk it (it’s about 25 mins on foot). Hope this helps! Reply
Hello, is it the same price for a single ticket 3 Eur if you buy from the driver or from the machine ? Is it possible to buy to and back single tickets at once what will be be used during the same day from the machine ? Reply
Hi Marius, it’s the same (3 euros) if you buy from the driver or from the machine. The ticket you by at the machine need validating in the bus/tram so you could just buy 2 tickets (going there and coming back) at the same time and then validate the second one on your return Reply
Other than when there’s an all-out de lijn strike (pretty rare), then yes there are tram and bus services every day Reply
Hello, I’m visiting Blankenberge and will be purchasing a 3 day travel pass for travel along the coastal tram route. Is the pass valid on the trams in Ghent or do I have to purchase new tickets. Thank you. Reply
Hi Stewart It looks like all tickets are valid on all buses/trams, even the coastal tram. https://www.delijn.be/en/contact/faq-detail/5029/which-ticket-should-i-purchase Enjoy your trip! Reply
Hello. I am a new resident in Ghent and I have a question concerning the bus/tram tickets. When I get one bus and scan my ticket but then I need to change to another bus to reach my destination during the 60 minutes (so I do not need to buy a new ticket): Do I have to scan my ticket again in the second bus or is it already scanner for the 60 minutes from the previous ride? Thank you Reply
Hi Emmanouela, welcome to Ghent! If you have a Omnipas swipe card already (e.g. for a monthly/annual subscription) then you have to swipe every time you board, even within the 60 minutes. This doesn’t cost you any more though as you have unlimited use. But if you’re using paper tickets then you don’t need to reinsert it witin the 60 mins. Hope this helps! Reply
