Hostel Uppelink
Free walking tour, on-site bar, and the best canal view in any hostel in Belgium
Hostel Uppelink occupies a 16th-century guildhouse on Sint-Michielsplein, directly on the Korenlei canal and 50 metres from Saint Michael's Bridge. Free daily walking tours leave from reception at 11:00, the on-site bar opens onto the canal view, and the upstairs shared kitchen has the most photographed window in any hostel in the country. Location score 9.8/10.
Hostel Uppelink is the postcard-canal-view hostel in Ghent, full stop. The building is a former guildhouse on Sint-Michielsplein, and its top-floor shared kitchen has a five-arched window looking straight onto the Korenlei, the floodlit Belfry, and Sint-Niklaaskerk. Travellers gather on the floor to watch the medieval skyline at dusk. There is no equivalent view in any other hostel in Belgium.
The ground-floor bar opens at 17:00, runs Belgian-only taps (Gruut, Stropken, Augustijn) and has a small canal-side terrace. The legendary feature is the free walking tour: 11:00 daily, 2 hours, started by Uppelink twenty years ago, often guided by ex-staff who actually live in the city. Non-guests are welcome — better than every paid alternative in town. There's also a kayak rental tie-up with a partner under Sint-Michielsbrug.
The building is medieval, which means: narrow stairs (no lift), uneven floors, low door frames, and no air conditioning. Rooms are clean and the linen is fresh, but private bathrooms aren't an option here — every room has a shared bathroom in the corridor. Buffet breakfast is served downstairs from 8:00.
Who it's for: travellers who want the canonical Ghent experience and don't mind shared bathrooms; first-timers who'd rather meet 30 people in a bar than 4 in a kitchen; anyone whose Instagram needs that kitchen window. Who it's not for: anyone with mobility issues (the stairs are real), light sleepers who can't handle bridge tourist noise until ~22:00, or couples who require an en-suite.
- 01Top-floor shared kitchen with a five-arched window over the Korenlei canal — best hostel view in Belgium
- 02Free 2-hour walking tour at 11:00 daily, started here twenty years ago and still the best in town
- 03On-site bar with Belgian-only taps (Gruut, Stropken, Augustijn) and a hidden canal-side terrace
- 04Buffet breakfast included with most rates and served downstairs from 8:00
- 05Location score 9.8/10 — directly on Sint-Michielsplein, 30 seconds from Saint Michael's Bridge
- Five-arched canal-view kitchen on the top floor
- Free 11:00 daily walking tour from reception
- On-site bar with Belgian-only taps and canal terrace
- Location score 9.8 — directly on Korenlei canal
“The staff is so friendly and the location is very good — the canal is right there. Overall good value for money and the free walking tour was the best thing we did in Belgium.”
“I stayed here back in 2013 when I arrived to live in Ghent for one year on a PhD exchange. I came back now to recall my memories and everything I loved is still there — the canal window, the staff, the bar. Very few places age this well.”
“Location and the view are amazing. Spent every evening with a Gruut from the hostel bar watching the canal traffic from the kitchen window upstairs.”
- Saint Michael's Bridge (Sint-Michielsbrug)30 seconds walk
- Graslei and Korenlei (medieval canal quay)1 min walk
- Belfry of Ghent (UNESCO)5 min walk
- Gravensteen Castle8 min walk
- Werregarenstraat (graffiti alley)5 min walk
- Sint-Pieters station (tram 1)12 min by tram
