The morning of Laura Van De Woestyne

We can recommend it to everyone: getting up on time and heading to town when the day is still young. Ghent also has a lot of atmosphere in store for early birds. So if you’re planning a visit to this city, don’t forget to prepare a morning programme. Laura Van De Woestyne, PR manager and influencer focusing on sustainability, gives an insight into her favourite daybreak spots in Ghent. If you’re passionate about the environment, just like Laura, then let her guide you along her morning route through the city.

Laura Van De Woestyne (1993) grew up in the United States and commutes between Ghent and Biarritz, where she can indulge her passion for surfing. You may know her as @laurafromthedesert on Instagram, where she shares her other passion, sustainable living, with the world. There is nothing Laura likes more than feeling the earth beneath her feet and the wind in her hair. Her focus on sustainability is wide, ranging from sustainable fashion to ethical banking and slow tourism. For Laura, social media are a means of inspiring people to make conscious choices themselves. Laura combines her influencing activities with a job as PR manager for sustainable brands.

Laura spent the night at Villa Emma, a ‘fair B&B’ within cycling distance of downtown Ghent. Villa Emma uses locally grown fair-trade products for breakfast, runs on renewable energy and keeps waste to a minimum. With a bike she rented from Villa Emma, Laura headed to town after a good night’s sleep. She cycled along some picturesque places like the Campo Santo cemetery, the Great Beguinage and the street art at the Old Docks – an urban renewal project in the former docklands. Since Laura likes outdoor activities so much, she opted for a rubbish fishing session at Dokano. You can take a canoe trip on Ghent’s waterways and fish rubbish from the water along the way. That’s a great way of doing something for the environment while enjoying yourself. Yearning for a good cup of coffee, Laura visited Way, a specialty coffee roaster that also serves home-made vegetable-based pastries. Laura also demonstrated that sustainable shopping is possible by going round various vintage shops in Ghent. Scoring second-hand high-quality items is no problem at all in this city. Knol & Kool was the ideal place for Laura to buy vegan products without packaging and to conclude her morning with a delicious vegetable-based lunch.

Fancy a sustainable morning in Ghent, just like Laura? Then prepare your own plan for the perfect morning with the above tips. Do you want to make the most of your morning? Then book an overnight stay in of Ghent’s hotels, B&B’s or hostels.