Location
BruCON is spread out over three (close, we’re still IT people ;)) locations in the lovely city of 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.
Aula Gent
The aula is the main conference location where the talks take place.
Voldersstraat 9
9000 Ghent
Belgium
Novotel Gent
The Novotel is where most of the training courses and the workshops take place.
Goudenleeuwplein 5
9000 Ghent
Belgium
NH Gent Belfort
The NH Belfort hotel is where some of the training courses take place.
Hoogpoort 63
9000 Ghent
Belgium
Monasterium Poortackere
The Monasterium Poortackere is where the Student CTF takes place.
Oude Houtlei 56
9000 Ghent
Belgium
Accomodation
Check out the accomodation page for more information about hotels and accomodation
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.
Make it easy for yourself and use an up-to-date GPS (like Waze), Ghent by car is a maze of One Direction (not the band) streets and they will happily fine you with automatic cameras if you take a wrong way.
Parking your car in Ghent can be tricky and is definitely not free. We advise using 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 on the website of Ghent: https://stad.gent/ghent-international/mobility-ghent/parking-ghent/park-and-rides
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.
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 airline 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 Spacecraft
On July 21st 2011, as spacecraft Atlantis rolled to a stop at it’s home base, our partnership for space travel stopped. No spacecraft services to BruCON have been planned for the near future.