The 5 best street markets in Ghent

A lively flea market is held on a cobbled square behind the Sint-Jacobskerk on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. The dealers set up stalls around 8 am selling ancient electrical appliances, crates of vinyl records, dusty vases and the occasional stuffed zebra. The mood is lively, with people shouting in Ghent dialect, customers grabbing an early breakfast on a cafe terrace and the smell of fried potatoes wafting over from Frituur Bij Sint-Jacobs.

Locals have been coming to the Kouter square on Sunday mornings to buy flowers since the 18th century. Some 15 different stallholders now set up colourful stands selling tulips and vivid Ghent azaleas grown in vast greenhouses outside the city. You can eat a plate of oysters at De Blauwe Kiosk or perch on a stool at La Dolce Barista’s painted coffee van for a superb Italian espresso.

Dealers in secondhand books set up stalls along the Leie waterfront on Sunday mornings. The mood is relaxed as locals browse through the piles of old books and magazines, or stop off for a glass of white wine at l’Apéro d’Oc.

Held every Friday morning on the Vrijdagmarkt, this street market is crammed with stalls selling fruit, cheese, shoes and stockings. You can count on at least one food van selling Italian pasta and a giant truck with its side opened up to reveal fresh sole, lobsters and herring.

A modest farmers’ market is held every Friday morning on the Groentenmarkt. Here you find a few stands selling organic fruit and vegetables produced by small, sustainable farms in East Flanders.