Travel

Venue Location

Aula Academica of the Ghent University
Voldersstraat 9
9000 Gent
Belgium

Explore con location and its surrounding in the brand new BruCON Google Map: https://mapsengine.google.com/map/viewer?mid=zqsQM115q4KY.knsnvRGUUMuM

Transportation

By car

Ghent is located near highways E40 (Brussels - Ostend) and E17 (Antwerp - Kortrijk). Once the Ghent area, get (or remain) on the E17 and take exit 9 - Gent Centrum. Or just follow your GPS or your favorite route planner ;-)

Parking your car in Ghent can be tricky and is not free. You'll be better off making use of one of the following organised parkings:

• Parking Korte Meer (Korte Meer, 9000 Gent)
  • Open from 8:00 until 21:00
  • 3 minutes walk from venue
• Parking Kouter (Kouter, 9000 Gent)
  • Open from 7:00 until 2:00
  • 4 minutes walk from venue
• Parking Sint-Michiels (Sint-Michielsplein 8, 9000 Gent)
  • Open 24/24
  • 6 minutes walk from venue
• Parking Reep (Seminarieplein 9, 9000 Gent)
  • Open 24/24
  • 6 minutes walk from venue
• Parking Kouterpoort (Savaanstraat 13, 9000 Gent)
  • Open from 7:00 until 20:00
  • 9 minutes walk from venue
• Parking Gent Zuid (Woodrow Wilsonplein 1, 9000 Gent)
  • Open from 7:00 until 1:00
  • 11 minutes walk from venue

Alternatively you can drop your car at one of the Park+Ride parking lots, which are located outside Ghent. From those parking lots, you can hop on public transportation:

• P+R Parking Gentbrugge
  • approximate address: Land van Rodelaan 9, 9050 Gentbrugge (E17 - exit 10)
  • Nearest stop: Stelplaats (Tram 1, 4, 21, 22, 24 and Bus 4)
• P+R Parking Oostakker
  • approximate address: Antwerpsesteenweg 938, 9040 Ghent (R4 - exit 3)
  • Nearest stop: Sint-Amandsberg P+R Oostakker (Bus 17, 18)
• P+R Parking Flanders Expo
  • located on Flanders Expo Ghent (E40 - exit 14)
  • Only open when no events are scheduled on site
  • Nearest stop: Sint-Denijs-Westrem Flanders Expo (Tram 1)

More info on the P+R Parking lots (Dutch): http://www.gent.be/eCache/THE/1/600.html

By taxi

Getting a cab from the airport to Ghent is definitely not a good idea, unless you are willing to spend more than 100 Euro on it.

The prices for taxies in Ghent are:

• 8,50eur pickup fee (incl. first 3 km)
• 2,20eur per extra km
• 35,00eur per hour waiting time (as from 5min)
• 2,50eur night surplus (between 22:00 and 6:00)

General taxi numbers are: 09 222 22 22 or 09 333 33 33.

By Public Transport

Once you've arrived in Ghent-Sint-Pieters by train, you can either take a good walk (the venue is a little over 2 km away from the station), or you take tram 1 direction Evergem. I think it is the 6th (Gent Korte Meer) or the 7th (Gent Korenmarkt) stop, but don't hesitate to ask fellow tram passengers to tell you where to get off.

The following bus and tram lines have stops in (more or less) close vicinity of the venue:

• Tram: 1, 4, 24, 21, 22
• Bus: 3, 4, 17, 18, 38, 39, N1, N3

The nearest stops are:

• Korenmarkt
• Korte Meer
• Vogelmarkt

From there, you're a mere 5 minutes walk away from the con.

More information and schedules can be found on http://www.delijn.be

By train

Getting to Ghent by train is piece of cake. Once you have arrived at the airport in Brussels, take the train from the airport to any major Brussels train station (North, Central or South). From any of these stations about three trains an hour ride to Ghent (usually direction Ostend, or Knokke, or De Panne). It takes you about 40 minutes to get to Ghent-Sint-Pieters, which is Ghent's main train station.

Trains between Antwerp and Ghent also run frequently (at least 2 per hour).

Online ticketing and more information on train schedules (and delays) is available on:

• http://www.nmbs.be
• http://www/railtime.be (incl. delays)

From the Gent Sint-Pieters station, you can continue your journey by taxi, or take the following means of public transportation:

• Tram 1 or 4
• Bus 4

Or you can walk for 30mins, if you feel up to it...

By plane

Our National Airport is located near Brussels at Zaventem. For more info, check http://www.brusselsairport.be/en/

When you book your airplane tickets make sure you head for Brussels National Airport (Zaventem) and not for the deceptively-named Brussels North or Brussels South, neither of which are even all that close to Brussels (but in Antwerp and Charleroi, respectively.)

Check http://www.checkfelix.com or http://www.expedia.com to find the cheapest flight.

The easiest way to reach Ghent from the airport would be by train (basement level -1 at the airport). If you are lucky, you can catch a direct train to Gent Sint-Pieters. On weekdays, there would be two trains per hour (destinations either Gent Sint-Pieters or De Panne), during the weekend you'd only have one direct train per hour to Gent Sint-Pieters).

Another option is to take a train headed towards Brussels (Quévy, Quiévrain, Brussel Zuid,...) and get a connecting train in Bruxelles Nord/Brussel Noord). You might want to have a look on the section By train above or consult http://www.nmbs.be or http://www.railtime.be.

By Space Craft

On July 21st 2011, as spacecraft Atlantis rolled to a stop at it's home base, our partnership for space travel stopped. No Space Craft services to BruCON have been planned for the near future.

Accommodation

Sleep is good. Sleep is healthy. If you need sleep, have a look at our suggestions below.

List of hotels, hostels and other accommodation opportunities

There are several hotels in the neighborhood of the conference:

• Novotel Gent Centrum http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-0840-novotel-gent-centrum/index.shtml
• IBIS Gent Opera http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1455-ibis-gent-centrum-opera/index.shtml
• Monasterium hotel http://www.monasterium.be

For those amongst you who prefer the "Budget" option on WikiTravel, here are several alternatives:

• Hostel De Draecke http://www.vjh.be/gent.htm
• Hostel 47 http://www.hostel47.com/

Ghent

Ghent is a historic city, yet at the same time a contemporary one. The modern daily life of the city’s active inhabitants plays itself out against a gorgeous historical backdrop. In Ghent, they live, work and enjoy life over and over again each day.

More details on Visiting Ghent are available on the Ghent Toerist site.