Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

The Belgian Coast

The Province of West Vlaanderen meets the North

Sea in a 70-km (43-mile) long stretch of coast,

whose beaches of soft white sand are rimmed by

cheerful seaside resorts. With broad promenades,

hotels and high-rise apartment blocks, campsites,

seafood restaurants, ice-cream and waffle vendors,

bucket-and-spade shops and electronic games

arcades, these resorts can get very busy, especially

in the high season of the summer months, but

there is always an air of leisurely fun. Families

return for their summer holidays year after year,

generation after generation, relishing the com-

forts of familiar, time-tested pleasures.

118 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG REGION BY REGION

Middelkerke is a typical resort of the Belgian coast,

dominated by apartment blocks and far removed

from its origins as a 13th-century fishing village. It

first developed as a resort in the late 19th century,

when it became a link on the coastal tram route,

the Kusttram – still the best way to travel from one

end of the coast to the other.

Key to Symbols see back flap

Oostduinkerke has an interesting folklore

museum and a Visserijmuseum (Museum of

Fishing). However, the area is most famous

for shrimp fishing, which is conducted here

on horseback, with heavy draught horses

pulling the nets through the shallows.

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Belgian Coast

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BELGIUM

De Panne is a comfortable,

easy-going resort where

old-fashioned bathing

cabins on wheels line the

broad beach, and sand

yachts scud on windy

days. De Panne is home

to the popular Plopsaland

theme park for children

(see pp316–17), while the

nearby Westhoek dunes

form a nature reserve with

wilder landscapes.

Oostende (see

p122) is the

largest resort

on the coast.

Nieuwpoort lies at the mouth

of the IJzer and is a centre

for water sports. A large cir-

cular monument overlooks

the Ganzenpoot confluence

of canals, commemorating

the strategic flooding of the

polders in World War I.

Koksijde has the Paul

Delvaux Museum and the

ruins of the Ter Duinen

Abbey (see p123).