STAM Ghent City Museum
STAM Ghent City Museum
4.5
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
STAM is the Ghent city museum. It presents the story of the city of Ghent. A permanent circuit leads visitors along a chronological trail of objects and multimedia which trace the development and growth of Ghent. Temporary exhibitions explore the concept of 'urbanity' from different angles. STAM's real showpiece, its raison d'être, is the city itself. A visit to the city museum is not complete without a visit to Ghent. STAM is ten years old this year... time for a make-over for the permanent exhibition. From December 7th you will mingle with parchment abbots, enterprising women, amorous rebels and self-seeking benefactors from the Middle Ages to the present day as you make your way through the new-look 'Story of Ghent’. You will see and feel the city grow and change shape. You will discover some of the city’s secrets and of course there will also be a fresh version of our (still gigantic) aerial photograph.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • Thomas V
    Oakland, California17,790 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Urban Historians Alert
    This is where I learned the history of the city, a story that will stay with me. The museum is well-curated and organized, explanations are in English, so easy for me. The exhibits trace history from the first known humans up to modern times with lots of good information on how the city grew. Perfect for urban historians.
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written November 29, 2023
  • Buckster21
    London, United Kingdom372 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent museum
    This well planned museum leads the visitor through the development of Ghent from pre-history to the present day, starting with a huge floor map of the satellite image of the city and its surroundings. Preserved rooms include the refectory of the monastery that preceded the museum. There is enough to attract children and every display has detailed commentary in English, French and Flemish. There are many information tablets that give more information about the objects on display. Definitely worth a visit.
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written January 5, 2024
  • A Rolling Pebble
    London, United Kingdom94 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A must visit museum of Ghent
    What an utterly brilliant museum! I visited here last month on my own and I had the museum pretty much to myself, which was great and slightly sad at the same time. It was wonderful to read all about Ghent's long history, and so much history connected with England too! The museum is really well laid out and easy to walk around in a few hours, with so much information and artefacts on display. Also some nice interactive displays too and great use of space. I really enjoyed my visit, thank you. Staff very friendly too. Definitely worth a visit.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled solo
    Written September 22, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles573 reviews
Excellent
322
Very good
199
Average
48
Poor
3
Terrible
1

pulpiquito
Paris, France12 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
Ghent has a rich and fascinating history but unfortunately this museum does not present it in a clear or accessible way. The displays are chaotic; the labels are only in Dutch; and the stickers with the audio guide codes were often missing. The whole thing smacks of provincialism and N-VA pettiness. The directors should visit the city history museums in Nantes and Strasbourg, which are really well done. When we visited the STAM, there were not enough audio guides to go around. Only after we insisted did they give us one to share between the two of us. This is a problem that could be solved with an app. En bref, very disappointing and a waste of time!
Written February 23, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jan V
Tielt Winge, Belgium106 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
Visited the museum at the end of our stay so we already had seen a lot...would probably recommend to do it early. A lot to see, maybe a bit too much, many rooms show a lot which makes it a bit dry. The audioguide is somewhat helpful but a bit dry.
Written February 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

genibre69
London, UK5,394 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Solo
Really appreciated the reception accepted my press card unlike the RUDE reception at the Museum of Fine Arts. Love that ALL the permanent exhibition placards are translated in English and French. I found Ghent’s history and the numerous artifacts to illustrate that very well-presented. It’s definitely a compact museum, with the modern history given shorter shrift.

The medieval refractory is beautiful. The museum wasn’t crowded at all on Saturday at noon.

As for the temporary exhibition, it’s unfortunately not translated into English. It’s on skylines. I found that less interesting anyway and ran out of time so wasn’t as big a deal for me.
Written August 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

A Rolling Pebble
London, UK94 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Solo
What an utterly brilliant museum! I visited here last month on my own and I had the museum pretty much to myself, which was great and slightly sad at the same time. It was wonderful to read all about Ghent's long history, and so much history connected with England too! The museum is really well laid out and easy to walk around in a few hours, with so much information and artefacts on display. Also some nice interactive displays too and great use of space. I really enjoyed my visit, thank you. Staff very friendly too. Definitely worth a visit.
Written September 22, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

splenetic
Knebworth, UK164 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2023
Great exhibits in a stunning building. Loved the massive aerial floor photo. It's hard to explain but the cloth seller's role-play, with phonetic scripts in different languages, was a hoot. The main exhibition on the city's history was so well explained in multiple languages, it was very easy to follow. But it was a shame for us that the special exhibition was only in Flemish - we still enjoyed it.
Written March 2, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dark Soul
Rotterdam, The Netherlands38 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
We've been to a couple of musea in Ghent, but this one was the most fun to visit. A bit off the beaten path, but we could actually park our car there without getting fined or take a bank loan to pay for parking.

You really get to know Ghent here, in a really fun way. The expo about the tunnels was also really cool. Definitely worth a visit, and the Fine Arts museum is not far from here.
Written February 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Victor B
Cluj-Napoca, Romania14 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Couples
Impressive collection of objects, paraphernalia, stories about the history of Ghent. The first part of the museum is really well organized and takes the visitor from the early days of settlements in hamlets to the 20th century. The "SkyLine" part of the museum, however, is not digitalized (screens and translations), and the English-speaking visitor will need to read the description from some leaflets that are available in each room. The text is long, and the method is tedious, especially after having walked for ~1.5 hours with superior guidance.
Written April 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Thomas V
Oakland, CA17,790 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023
This city history museum is set in a converted abbey where the nuns used to take care of sick and old patients. The preserved buildings are historic and interesting. Come here if you want to learn the history of this lovely city. Some interactive exhibits that are fun, good use of media. I learned a lot.
Written May 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

111TWIGAMINHAAFRIKA
Bristol, UK7,799 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023 • Friends
Used the 48 hour Gent pass to gain free entry to this museum.
Fascinating museum, so much in-depth history of Gent and Belgium in general but the detailed map of Gent cleverly depicted upon the floor was genius and enabled one to find key individual points of interest.
Art, history and interaction, this is a fine museum.
Friendly and helpful staff.
Written July 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jack
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Couples
One of the best museums we have ever visited. Imaginative displays and fascinating historic objects without being overwhelming. The map of Ghent was fun, a great introduction. Other rooms had exhibits you could listen to, touch or smell - but there was also plenty of information to read if you wanted to, so it suits a wide audience including families. We got a real sense of the importance of Ghent in context and would definitely recommend.
Written April 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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