MY ADVICE would be not to visit Ghent if you are on a diet. What is the point of travelling to one of Europe's undiscovered city gems and denying yourself a piping hot waffle smothered in cream and chocolate sauce from a booth on the town square?

Are you really going to pass up those pencil-thin French fries served in solid silver tureens? You don't even want to hear about the street chocolatiers with that heady cocoa aroma seducing all passers-by, dozens of pubs selling hundreds of beers or the delicious, creamy chicken stew of waterzooi this charming, idyllic corner of Belgium has come to call its own.

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If the main purpose of a weekend away is to indulge, then the cobbled streets and winding canals of this medieval treasure trove are the perfect place to go. Unlike its more boisterous neighbour Bruges, Ghent is elegantly laid back, something to do, perhaps, with its 15,000-strong student population.

The birthplace of Charles V, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century, Ghent has more listed buildings than the rest of Belgium put together.

They are a deeply patriotic bunch here. Everything is imbued with an enormous sense of pride and nowhere is this more apparent than in the burgeoning bed and breakfast scene. Stylish, sophisticated and upmarket, these are a world away from the traditional B&B, protected as they are by a guild of hoteliers intent on preserving affordable exclusivity.

Take De Waterzooi, run by husband and wife Christian and Kay. It is on the banks of the canal in an immaculately redeveloped 18th-century church and minutes from the centre of town.

Yes, there's a bed but its mattress is NASA-designed to make the most of your body's contours and it is on the upper part of a split-level room with two sofas, a well-stocked fridge and a view over the canal and cobbled streets.

Yes, there's breakfast but with home-made yoghurt and jams, fruit salad, four different breads and pastries, cheeses and hams sliced by Kay in her kitchen. It is served at a thick oak dining table overlooking the sort of courtyard the Flemish noblesse once kept to themselves.

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The city's food is unforgettable, starting with what can only be described as Ghent street food: oysters and champagne. There's a daily stall on the Groentenmarkt square where bubbly and a bivalve will cost less than a fiver. Most people here dine out in the evening in what is an eclectic range of eateries, ranging from the fine food luxury of restaurants like C-Jean, with its first rate seafood, to Le Baan Thai's authentic oriental cuisine.

Belga Queen is a three-floored monument to the "new" and housed within one of the canalside's prettiest old buildings. Feast on thin slices of Belgian Charolais beef in a rocket salad, marinated salmon or sea bass risotto. There's a bar where a jazz pianist keeps the evening flowing for a shamelessly chichi crowd.

Directly opposite and more romantic is Korenlei Twee, where you'll find smoked eel, foie gras, venison and tournedos Rossini.

Candles adorn all the tables and the canalside courtyard.

Belgium can't lay claim to many world-beating innovations (Tintin, perhaps and self-regarding bureaucrats, of course) but beer is its most life-affirming contribution.
Pale, dark, amber, made by Trappist monks, flavoured with fruit. You name it, they've brewed it.

There's myriad places to sample beers. Het Waterhuis, reassuringly familiar to pub lovers, is on the canalside and its menu is possibly the town's longest. The dimly lit de Dulle Griet was Belgium's first pub and has become something of a shrine.

Totally different but utterly unique is De Hel, a small front room with red velvet curtains, long sofas down each side, eight small tables and the sort of louche, rather French atmosphere designed for secret assignations and tourists who want to pretend they're Bohemian. It's on the edge of a wonderful maze of side streets and alleys known as Patershol.

Finally there's the shopping. I'm reliably informed the boutiques, smattering of high-street names and plethora of shoe shops selling boots "that actually fit" mark Ghent down as a shopper's dream.

For those unexcited by such matters, there's the 12th-century Gravensteen, the only medieval fortress in Flanders. A must for every sightseer is the towers of the three churches that dominate Ghent's skyline: St Niklaaskerk, the Belfort, which boasts the best view of the city, and St Baafskathedraal.

Best of all, for anyone fed up with airport queues and delayed flights, Ghent is little more than two hours from central London on Eurostar and, if you leave early enough, you'll get there in time for one of Kay's breakfasts. You can start the diet when you get home.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
Eurostar (0843 218 6186/www.eurostar.com) offers return rail fares from London St Pancras to Ghent via Brussels from £80.
De Waterzooi (dialling from the UK: 0032 9 3307 721/ www.dewaterzooi.be) offers doubles from £135 (two sharing), B&B. Tourism Flanders-Brussels: 0207 307 7738/ www.visitflanders.co.uk