Ghent is so charming! It obviously used to be a wealthy city - it was plundered twice by the Vikings - and used to be the biggest city in Europe northern of the Alps after Paris. Ghent grew rich on trade and wool - in the Middle Ages, Ghent was the leading city for cloth - but eventually the city lost its importance beginning in the late 1500s. These days Ghent is way smaller. We definitely felt it had a student vibe to it rather than a big city feel.