Ostend
Belgium · West Flanders · 6 m
Description
Ostend (Oostende) is the largest city on the Belgian coast and was long known as the Queen of the Seaside Resorts. King Leopold II made it a fashionable Belle Époque retreat, leaving behind the Royal Galleries, a 380-metre neoclassical arcade of paired Tuscan columns, and the Wellington racecourse, the only track on the Belgian coast. The painter James Ensor lived and worked here, and his house is preserved as a museum alongside Mu.ZEE, which holds Belgian art from 1880 onward. Beyond the nine kilometres of beach and promenade lie Fort Napoleon in the dunes and the Atlantikwall at Raversyde, an open-air site of more than sixty bunkers and gun emplacements from both world wars. Ostend remains a working North Sea port and the starting point of the coastal tram that runs the length of the Belgian shore.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: June – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Ostend Beach and Zeedijk Promenade
- Visserskaai and Vistrap Fish Market
- Royal Galleries of Ostend
- Bruges(Day trip)
- Atlantikwall Raversyde
- Mercator Museum Ship
- Mu.ZEE
- Fort Napoleon
- James Ensor House
- Casino-Kursaal Oostende
- Peperbusse (Old Church Tower)
- Saint Peter and Paul's Church
- Amandine Museum Trawler
- De Haan(Day trip)
- Venetian Galleries
- Wellington Racecourse
- Earth Explorer
- Ostend Marina
- Kusttram Coastal Tram
- Blankenberge(Day trip)
- Japanese Garden Shin Kai Tei
- Leopold Park
- Ostend Harbour
Getting there
- Airports:
- OST
- Train stations:
- Oostende
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry