Before you read on
- When you race
- 17–20 December 2026
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- A race ten minutes by tram from a medieval city in full Christmas-market season.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- Brussels airport (BRU), About 65 min by direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters, then tram T1
- Cost for the weekend
- EUR 545 (USD 608) per person, Flights and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
A tram stop at the door, and a medieval city in full Christmas-market season ten minutes up the line.
Reasons to
- Tram T1 stops a minute from the hall and reaches the old town in under ten minutes.
- The winter festival runs all race week, with 150 stalls, a Ferris wheel and an ice rink.
- The Ghent Altarpiece and a moated castle are both in the centre, and the Graslei is free.
- An ordinary meal is about EUR 20, which is cheaper than Brussels or Amsterdam.
Reasons not to
- Under eight hours of daylight, two days before the solstice.
- It rains on ten December days and the humidity is 86%.
- Ghent has no airport, so every arrival starts with an hour from Brussels.
Conditions on the day
HYROX Gent runs December 17th, 2026 to December 20th, 2026 at Flanders Expo. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
Wet, grey and dark before five
7°C (44°F) by day, 3°C (37°F) at night
Ghent in late December
- The December average reaches 6.8°C (44°F) by day and falls to 2.6°C (37°F) at night.
- It is a wet month: 75mm across ten days, usually as persistent drizzle.
- Humidity holds at 86%, which is why Flanders in December feels colder than the number.
- Daylight runs 08:45 to 16:39, four days before the shortest day of the year.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Flanders Expo
December 17th, 2026
HYROX Gent
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- Maaltekouter 1, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Ghent
- Nearest station
- The Flanders Expo tram stop, line T1 (1 min walk)
- Parking
- Car parks on site at Flanders Expo. The daily rate is not published.
- From the nearest hotel
- about 8 min by tram from Hotels at Sint-Pieters station
- Altitude
- 10m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Ghent.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Ghent.
Ghent has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Flanders Expo, your race is in this building
The largest exhibition hall in Flanders, at the southern edge of Ghent, with a tram stop a minute from the door.
Known for. Accenta, Agriflanders and the motor show, and a Christmas-season hall that empties for the holidays.
The building. Opened in 1987 on former farmland south-west of the city, and connected to the centre by extending the tram line out to it.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page about three days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At Flanders Expo, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Ghent one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Tram T1 from the centre, about ten minutes, then a minute on foot. It will still be dark.
What you need to book
Before you book
Book flights and the last night around the provisional schedule, not around a wave you have not been given.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
Brussels South Charleroi is the low-cost airport and is further away with a worse connection.
Search flights to GhentBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in GhentSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in GhentYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Three nights Nights near the venue | EUR 360 | $402 |
| Travel, airport and around the city | EUR 45 | $50 |
| Eating, three days | EUR 140 | $156 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | EUR 545 | $608 |
Getting to Ghent
Brussels airport is about 65 minutes away: a direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters, then tram T1.
Train and tram from Brussels airport
A direct train to Gent-Sint-Pieters in about 55 minutes, then T1 for ten more. Fifteen to seventeen euros and the only sensible route.
Tram T1 from anywhere in Ghent
One line runs from the north of the city through the centre and past the station to Flanders Expo. Three euros a trip, nine for the day.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
A taxi from Brussels airport is EUR 110 to 150 and no faster. Take the train.
Getting to the venue
The old town is under ten minutes away by tram and is where everything is. There is little reason to sleep out by the hall.
Tram T1 stops a minute from the hall and runs straight into the medieval centre in under ten minutes, which makes this one of the easiest races on the calendar to get to and from. A day ticket is nine euros and covers the lot.
Where to stay
Ghent is small and the old town is under ten minutes from the hall by tram. Stay in the centre, where the festival is, and ride out in the morning.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels at Sint-Pieters station
Practical, modern and on the tram line to the hall, with Citadelpark next door. The shortest morning.
2. Hotels in the Binnenstad
Canals, gables and the winter festival outside the door. Where everyone should stay.
3. Hotels around Patershol
A knot of cobbled lanes behind the castle, with most of the city's good restaurants in it.
The winter festival runs from 3 December to 3 January, so central rooms are at their seasonal rate rather than their December one. Book early.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Ghent is compact and the T1 tram runs the length of it, so nothing below is more than fifteen minutes from the hall.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Binnenstad | under 10 min by tram | The medieval core: three towers, two canals and the whole winter festival. The reason to come. | |
| Patershol | about 12 min by tram | Cobbled lanes behind the castle, with the best concentration of restaurants in the city. | |
| The Vrijdagmarkt | about 12 min by tram | A large square east of the canal, ringed with bars and terraces, and a market on Friday mornings. | |
| Sint-Pieters station | about 8 min by tram | Modern hotels, the mainline station and Citadelpark with the fine arts museum in it. The practical choice. | |
| Ledeberg | about 15 min by tram | A residential district south-east of the centre, cheap and ordinary, with the tram running through it. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Around Sint-Pieters station
Ordinary restaurants near the station, eight minutes from the hall on the same tram line, serving from six. Convenient rather than memorable.
The Binnenstad
The old town is ten minutes by tram and full of places doing a plain plate of pasta or fish. The festival stalls are not the dinner you want the night before.
Flemish winter food is stews and beer, and Ghent has two stews of its own.
Waterzooi, in Patershol
A Ghent stew of chicken or fish in a cream and vegetable broth, which is the dish the city is known for. 't Klokhuys in Patershol does the traditional version.
Stoverij, anywhere
Beef slow-cooked in dark beer with mustard and bread, served with chips. The other Ghent stew, and the better one after a race.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- A warm waterproof. It rains on ten December days and 2.6°C (37°F) at 86% humidity is a particular kind of cold.
- Shoes for cobbles. The old town is medieval and uneven.
- Something for the dark. The solstice is two days after the race ends.
Quick tips
- Buy the De Lijn day ticket at nine euros, which pays for itself on the third trip.
- The festival stalls are busiest after six. Go at lunchtime if you want to move.
Sint-Denijs-Westrem around the hall is suburban and thin. The centre and the station both have supermarkets, ten and eight minutes away.
The last race in Ghent
Flanders Expo is a recent addition to the Hyrox calendar, so there is little previous form here to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- Tram T1 stops a minute from the entrance and runs straight to the city centre.
- The site has eight halls, so check the hall number before you choose an entrance.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- The Ghent winter festival is on in the centre all race week, with 150 stalls and a Ferris wheel.
- Under eight hours of daylight, and the overnight average is 2.6°C (37°F) at 86% humidity.
What else is on that weekend
The city is in the middle of its winter festival, and none of it is at the hall.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ghent winter festival and Christmas market | 3 December to 3 January | Sint-Baafsplein, Botermarkt and the Korenmarkt | All race week. A hundred and fifty stalls through the whole medieval centre, open until nine and until ten at the weekend. |
| The Ferris wheel and the ice rink | Through the festival | The city centre | A 44-metre wheel and a rink in the middle of the old town. The best view of Ghent you will get in December. |
| The Winter Wonder Castle | Through the festival | Gravensteen, the castle of the counts | The medieval castle is dressed for the season, which is either the best or the worst thing about it. |
| The shortest day | 21 December | Everywhere | The solstice is two days after racing ends, so this is as dark as a European race weekend gets. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
The Ghent Altarpiece
Van Eyck's polyptych of 1432, in its own visitor centre at St Bavo's after a restoration that took a decade and changed the face of the lamb. One of the most important paintings in Europe.
Gravensteen
A moated castle of 1180 in the middle of the city, with ramparts you can walk and an audio guide that is genuinely funny. Dressed for the winter festival in December.
The Graslei and Korenlei
Two facing quays of guild houses on the old harbour, lit at night and free to walk along. The single best thing in Ghent and it costs nothing.
The Museum of Fine Arts
Bosch, Rubens and Magritte in a neoclassical building in Citadelpark, between the station and the centre. Fifteen euros and rarely busy.
What to do
The winter festival
A hundred and fifty stalls from Sint-Baafsplein to the Korenmarkt, a 44-metre Ferris wheel and an ice rink. Open to nine, and to ten at the weekend.
Blaarmeersen
A lake and sports park west of the centre with running paths around it. Entry is one euro booked online the day before, or five on the day.
A swim at the Van Eyck pool
An art nouveau municipal baths from 1886, still in use, seven euros to get in. Worth seeing whether or not you swim.
Bruges, for the day
Twenty-five minutes by train, and the better-known medieval town. Busier than Ghent and worth a morning if you have one spare.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
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Last updated November 7th, 2026.