Blankenberge
Belgium · West Flanders · 5 m
Description
Blankenberge is the busiest of the Belgian coastal resorts after Ostend, a wide beach backed by a seawall promenade and a front of apartment towers that went up where Belle Époque hotels once stood. Its landmark is the Belgium Pier, which reaches three hundred and fifty metres into the North Sea. The cast iron structure of 1894 was blown up by German troops in 1914 and replaced in concrete in 1933, and its walkway was returned to the original design in 2023. The town grew from a fishing village into a resort once the railway from Bruges arrived, and the old harbour now shelters a yacht marina beside the last working quays. A handful of Belle Époque townhouses survive as a heritage centre, and on the last Sunday of August floats dressed in dahlias and begonias fill the streets for the flower parade. Bruges lies a quarter of an hour inland by train, which makes the resort a base as much as a destination.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: June – August
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Blankenberge Beach and the Zeedijk
- Belgium Pier
- Sea Life Blankenberge
- Bruges(Day trip)
- Casino Blankenberge
- Ostend(Day trip)
- Scarphout marina and the old fishing quays
- Flower parade with dahlia floats (last Sunday in August)
- Belle Epoque Centre in its surviving townhouses
- De Haan(Day trip)
- Uitkerkse Polder and its meadow birds(Day trip)
- Scute maritime museum and its flat-bottomed boats
- Majutte's House, the last fisherman's cottage
- Tourist road train along the seafront
- Rescue boat Jozef De Waye on the quay
Getting there
- Train stations:
- Blankenberge