6 Best Sights in Ghent and the Leie, Belgium

This is one of Belgium's finer art museums, and its temporary exhibitions are usually exceptional. Built in 1902 at the edge of Citadelpark, the neoclassical Museum of Fine Arts (or Museum voor Schone Kunsten) has holdings that span the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including works by Rubens, Géricault, Corot, Ensor, and Magritte. Its collection of Flemish Primitive painters is particularly noteworthy, with two paintings by Hieronymus Bosch: Saint Jerome and Christ Carrying the Cross. It also has a fine collection of sculpture and French painting. When panels from the Ghent Altarpiece go for restoration, they are done here, with visitors able to see the restorers at work. 

The museum is named after its two founders, Jules and Irma Dhondt-Dhaenens, whose private collection of modern art is exhibited piecemeal throughout the year. Temporary exhibitions fill the rest of the schedule, typically leaning towards more challenging works. It offers a fascinating counterbalance to the fiercely antimodern Latem Schools, for which the region became famous. 

The painter, poet, writer, and composer Edgar Gevart married the daughter of George Minne, one of the central figures of the first Latem School of artists, in 1916. They built their home soon after, a charming mix of Gothic and traditional cottage styles. When he died, his wife, Marie, opened his studio to the public, showing not just her husband's work but that of her father. Today, its collection on display is much broader, ranging from Xavier de Cock’s early paintings to the arrival of the prewar Expressionists. Its "sheep stable" also holds temporary exhibitions. Note: visiting hours can be a little eccentric here, with doors only opening between 2 and 5 pm.

Before his death in 1943, this was the home and studio of the artist Gust De Smet, one of the later stars of the Flemish Expressionists who found their way to the villages of the Leie in the early 1900s. On the bottom floor, his home is kept as it was; upstairs, his work hangs in situ, charting the various stages of artistic development. There is even a Gust De Smet "wandelroute" (walking trail), which starts at the house and offers a pleasant stroll around Deurle and its sights. 

The star of this museum is its collection of regional artworks from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including two masterpieces: Emile Claus's Beets Harvest (1890), which fills an entire wall of the gallery, and Gustave Van de Woestyne's The Wilful Blind and the Lame Who Wants to Teach a Child How to Walk. It's probably the most rounded collection in the area, with works by the De Cocks, Servaes, De Smet, Raveel, and others scattering the walls. The second floor is given over to the city’s industrial history and its heroes, such as 1926 Tour de France winner Lucien Buysse, but with little in the way of English translation. 

Located in a former flower show hall, this edgy, contemporary art gallery couldn't be farther removed from its dainty origins. Known for housing the odd daring exhibition, together with a permanent collection that includes the likes of Warhol, Christo, and Hockney, it does what good contemporary art does best: it challenges the viewer to leave their preconceptions at the door.