Street art in Ghent: where to see the best murals & graffiti

If you are going to visit Ghent in Belgium, street art will inevitably be part of the backdrop of your stay, even if it is not what draws you there at first. From graffiti-covered alleyways to large painted facades, the city has turned urban art into a true signature.

Here’s a short guide to discovering street art in Ghent: where to go, which artists to look out for, and how to use the "Sorry Not Sorry" map to find pieces around the city. You can set aside a few hours for a real street art walk or simply weave a few spots into your sightseeing plans.

Street art in Ghent: how to organize your exploration

Street art in Ghent is very easy to discover on foot, by combining a few emblematic streets with detours to more isolated pieces in different neighborhoods. You can already see several spots in 2 or 3 hours of walking, and devote half a day to it if you want to explore further.

On a short walk, it is easy to combine the historic center with the graffiti alley (Werregarenstraat), then head south to reach Tweebruggenstraat. During my stay, I mainly discovered the pieces while going from one neighborhood to another: a pleasant way to stay in the flow of visiting Ghent while discovering a much more contemporary side of the city.

How to find street art in Ghent?

The simplest way to find street art in Ghent is to use the "Sorry Not Sorry" map (which you can download for free). Updated regularly by Cultuur Gent, it lists over 250 street art pieces in different neighborhoods and is an excellent starting point for planning your walk. You can view it on your phone to spot the pieces located near the places you plan to visit.

The map offers two 4 km (about 2.5 mile) walking routes to guide your discoveries.

I personally used this map as a starting point, then left room for improvisation: some of my favorite discoveries happened simply by looking up while walking to another tourist site.

Discovering street art on foot or by bike

Walking remains the simplest and most pleasant way, especially if this is your first visit to Ghent. The historic center is quite compact and you can easily fit in street art stops between two more classic visits.

Cycling is a good option if you want to cover more ground and set off in search of pieces further from the center. Ghent is particularly well suited to getting around by bike, so it is a good option for planning a more extensive street art ride without spending your whole day on transportation.

The graffiti alley (Graffiti Street, Werregarenstraat)

Ghent's graffiti alley, or Werregarenstraat, is the best-known street art spot in the city. Located right in the heart of the historic center, this narrow cobbled alley links Hoogpoort to Onderstraat and is easy to reach on foot from the main tourist sites.

On my first visit, when I took these photos, part of the alley was blocked off by a wooden board because of construction work, which almost made it look like it was closed. When I saw a small group slip behind this board, I followed them and discovered, behind this makeshift barrier, a real tunnel of colors, completely cut off from the rest of the historic center.

A street where the graffiti is constantly changing

The graffiti alley became a space dedicated to graffiti in 1995, following a project organized during the Gentse Feesten (a major annual festival held in Ghent's old town).

Since then, it has served as a tolerance zone where artists are allowed to paint. The very concept of the place explains its appearance: the walls are regularly covered with new creations and Graffiti Street is therefore constantly changing. From one visit to the next, you won't necessarily see the same pieces.

Werregarenstraat mixes very elaborate murals, portraits, slogans, and more spontaneous tags, which gives it an identity that is both colorful and very unstructured. Some works are signed, many are not, and characters or abstract shapes sit alongside the more clumsy contributions of those who simply want to leave their mark. As a result, the overall impression can seem quite chaotic, with layers of paint building up over time.

This ephemeral nature also allows the street to reflect the times. On my first visit, for example, I saw a lot of political graffiti expressing opposition to the election of Donald Trump in the United States, as well as slogans about freedom, equality or the environment. The messages will obviously have changed since then: that is precisely one of the interesting things about this street, whose backdrop evolves with the people who make its walls their own.

The contrast with Hof van Ryhove

As you walk along Graffiti Street, also take a look toward Hof van Ryhove and its garden. The contrast between this historic complex and the alley covered in contemporary paintings perfectly illustrates one of Ghent's defining features: medieval heritage and contemporary creativity can be just a few meters apart.

Tweebruggenstraat, an open-air museum south of the center

South of Ghent's historic center, Tweebruggenstraat offers a succession of large, very carefully executed murals, in an area that is a bit less busy than the streets around the castle or the quays along the Leie. As you make your way there, you gradually leave the most touristy areas and enter a quieter neighborhood, where the painted façades become real visual landmarks.

The works are often large and directly integrated into the architecture of the buildings. During my walk, I truly felt like I was walking through an open-air museum, with each façade acting as a new painting.

The importance of bicycles in the city is reflected even in some of the works: several murals depict cyclists or play with the idea of movement and travel. This gives this part of the walk a rather different identity from Graffiti Street, with more monumental compositions that are more spread out.

Groene Ooie, right next to Tweebruggenstraat

While you're on Tweebruggenstraat, take a moment to detour via Groene Ooie, a little side street where I also found some street art. There are fewer pieces there and the setting is much more intimate: it's exactly the kind of discovery I love on a street art walk, when a simple turn leads you to a mural you might otherwise have missed.

Street art in Ghent, far beyond the emblematic streets

Beyond Graffiti Street and Tweebruggenstraat, I came across many standalone works in different neighborhoods of Ghent, sometimes far from the most touristy areas. That is also something I appreciated about the city: street art isn't confined to a single street and can appear along the way as you wander around.

Smithe, Bue The Warrior and artists to know in Ghent

One of the first murals I came across was on Kattenberg, at the corner with Jacob Jordaensstraat. This piece was created by Smithe, a Mexican street artist whose work combines characters with highly graphic compositions.

Another name I saw often while exploring Ghent's street art was Bue The Warrior. His style is instantly recognizable, with its rounded characters, bright colors, and lines that evoke the world of cartoons. His real name is Dave De Rop, he's from Ghent, and his murals often convey something very positive, almost childlike.

Artists also work together on collaborative pieces. By the river, as you leave Tweebruggenstraat, I came across, for example, a collaborative piece by Bue The Warrior, Lugosis and Dick Tate. Their different graphic worlds merge on the same wall, with Bue's colorful characters combined with darker or more offbeat shapes.

Street art all the way to the port of Ghent

During my stay, I also came across painted walls as I headed toward the port of Ghent, especially on industrial buildings or barer façades. The contrast between this utilitarian architecture and the colorful murals creates an atmosphere that's completely different from the street art in the historic center.

It is also an area where the distances are greater: if you'd like to explore this kind of neighborhood in addition to the main spots in the center, a bike can be useful.

A facade painted by Resto on the banks of the Lys

Among the pieces that really stuck with me was this facade by Resto, which I found on Willem de Beersteeg, a small public garden on the banks of the Lys. The mix of the water, the calm of the garden, and the graphic intensity of the painting worked especially well and offered a great perspective for photographing the piece.

Klaas Van Der Linden at work

I was also lucky enough to come across Klaas Van Der Linden just as he was putting the finishing touches on a piece entitled "Eye on the Prey." The scene unfolded on Hoogpoort, in the center of Ghent, and his equipment was still laid out right next to the painting.

Seeing the artist working in the street made me even more aware of how alive street art is in Ghent. These murals aren't static backdrops: they are created, transformed and sometimes painted over, often right in front of passersby.

Gent Schakelt Slim, a monumental mural on Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat

On my way back to the station after my stay, street art was still very much present, with this gigantic mural, "Gent Schakelt Slim", on Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat. It stretched across a large facade and could be seen from far away.

The mural was part of a mobility campaign launched by the city and encouraged residents and visitors to think about the most suitable mode of transport for their journeys. It showed another side of urban art in Ghent: beyond purely artistic works, large painted facades can also be used to convey messages related to the city and how people use it.

Street art in Ghent: what to see if you don't have much time?

Even with a busy schedule, it is easy to include a glimpse of street art in your visit to Ghent. If you have very little time, prioritize Werregarenstraat (Graffiti Street): it is located right in the historic center and lets you discover one of the emblematic spots of the local street art scene without making a big detour.

If you have 2 or 3 hours, you can extend the walk toward Tweebruggenstraat and Groene Ooie. You will discover very different works, from the accumulation of tags and paintings in Graffiti Street to the large murals that cover entire facades.

Finally, if street art is really one of your main interests, take more time to get away from the most touristy routes. By exploring different neighborhoods of Ghent, I discovered works by Bue The Warrior, Smithe, and Klaas Van Der Linden, as well as several collective murals. Above all, keep your eyes open along the way: some of my favorite discoveries happened simply while going from one place to another.

If you are traveling with children, the walk can also easily turn into a little mural hunt, especially around the very colorful characters by Bue The Warrior. Graffiti Street is particularly easy to include in a family visit since it is in the center, even if you need to keep in mind that the walls are constantly changing: some graffiti may therefore contain political messages or language that is not very suitable for younger visitors.

The Traveler's Memo for discovering street art in Ghent

Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions to help you prepare a street art walk in Ghent.

I really enjoyed this side of Ghent, which creates a nice contrast with its historic heritage. Some of my favorite discoveries actually happened completely by chance, while moving from one neighborhood to another or, as with Klaas Van Der Linden, stumbling upon an artist in the middle of working. So keep your eyes open during your stay: the artworks may have changed since I was there, but that's also very much the point of street art!

You can also read my detailed guide to plan your visit to Ghent, with good addresses, must-sees, and other tips to really make the most of the city!