Travel & Accommodation

Accommodation

INSEP does not organize the accommodation of the delegates. Ghent is a very popular destination , so best to book a room well in advance.

The city of Ghent hosts a large number of other fine hotels and B&B’s. A very good search platform for finding a nice place in Ghent to stay during the conference can be consulted at:

http://www.visitgent.be/

Some useful shortcuts:

Some hotels all at walking distance from the conference venue:

Travel

1) Coming by Air

Once arrived at Brussels airport, you can easily reach Ghent (‘Gent’ in Dutch) by train. The train station is located at the lowest floor of the airport building. Each hour, there are both trains that stop at the train station ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ as an intermediate or final destination (until 23:52h), as well as trains that go to the train station ‘Brussel-Noord/Bruxelles-Nord’, where there are direct connections to ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’. For more information, consult the route planner of the Belgian Railway Company. On how to get from ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ to the venue, see section 4.

2) Coming by Train

Most international trains (including both the Thalys and the Eurostar) arrive at the train station ‘Brussel-Zuid/Bruxelles-Midi’. Each hour, there are several trains that pass this station and stop at ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ as an intermediate destination. The trip by one of the direct IC trains takes about 30 minutes (except for the last train of the day; in that case the trip takes about a small hour). For more information, consult the route planner of the Belgian Railway Company. On how to get from ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ to the venue, see section 4.

3) Coming by Bus

Several bus lines offers a direct bus connection to the train station ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ from nearly every big town in every European country. Moreover, in those cases where they do not offer a direct connection, they most probably do offer a direct connection to Brussels, more specifically to the train station ‘Brussel-Noord/Bruxelles-Nord’. From there, simply take a train to the train station ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ – see section 2 above. On how to get from ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ to the venue, see section 4.

4) From ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’ to INSEP2015

Once arrived in station ‘Gent-Sint-Pieters’, the easiest way to get to the venue is to take a taxi in front of the station. The address of the faculty of Arts and Humanities of Ghent University is Blandijnberg 2. This information should be enough for the taxi driver to bring you there.

Another possibility is to take tram 1 towards the city centre. In this case, when leaving the train, simply follow the platform in the same direction as the train was driving and go down the last pair of stairways on the platform. Once down, go right into the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel you can take tram 1 towards the centre of the city (every 6 minutes). Get off at the fifth stop (the stop is called Verlorenkost). Normally, each stop is displayed electronically in the tram. The whole trip takes about 8-10 minutes. When leaving the tram, turn right at the first corner (at which there is a sandwich bar) and simply follow the street ‘Sint Kwintensberg’ on your right (between the coffee-bar ‘Illy’ and the sandwich bar on the corner). This street goes up a hill called the ‘Blandijnberg’. The building of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities is located on the top of the hill, on your left (the nearest entrance to the building of the faculty is next to the university flag poles).

Because of public works in the city center of Gent, the tram route could change. We advise you to consult this information regularly.

View directions from the train station to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Ghent University on Google maps.

5) Coming by Car

The most important highways that bring you to the city of Ghent are the E17 and the E40, which intersect near the city.

Highway E17

  • When coming from The Netherlands or Germany: go via ‘Antwerpen’, then follow the direction ‘Gent’, and later on ‘Gent Centrum (B401)’.
  • When coming from France: go via ‘Kortrijk’, then follow the direction ‘Gent’, and later on ‘Gent Centrum (B401)’.

Highway E40

  • When coming from The Netherlands or France: go via ‘Oostende’, follow the direction ‘Gent-Antwerpen’ (E17), then follow the direction ‘Gent’, and, finally, follow the direction ‘Gent Centrum (B401)’.
  • When coming from France or Germany: go via ‘Brussel’, next, follow the direction ‘Gent-Antwerpen’ (E17), then follow the direction ‘Gent’, and, finally, follow the direction ‘Gent Centrum (B401)’.

In both cases, the elevated highway (B401) will take you directly to the centre of Ghent. When the highway reaches ground level, turn left at the first traffic lights (under the bridge). Next, go right at the second traffic lights and then straight on. After passing a roundabout, a large square becomes visible on your right. It is called the ‘Sint-Pietersplein’ and under it you can find a large parking lot where you can park your car. When leaving the parking lot, you will see a large tower (called the ‘Boekentoren’) a bit further down the road. Walk towards it following the road, and enter the street in front of you called the ‘Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat’. Next, take the first left. The large building now on your right is the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Ghent University (in Dutch: ‘Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte’), where the conference takes place.