Lighthouse on the coast of the North Sea in a sunny day, Belgium

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Ostend

Ostend is the largest city on the Belgian Coast and its only truly year-round destination. Along its wide white-sand beach is a spacious promenade surveyed by an interesting mix of midrise architecture atop cosy seafront cafes with glassed-in terraces.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • St-Petrus-&-Pauluskerk

    St-Petrus-&-Pauluskerk

    Ostend

    Ostend’s most striking historical building features beautifully ornate twin spires, a rose window and a gloomy neo-Gothic interior. It was consecrated on…

  • Fort Napoleon

    Fort Napoleon

    Ostend

    The impenetrable, pentagon-shaped Fort Napoleon is an unusually intact fortress dating from 1812, though there’s comparatively little to see inside. The…

  • Atlantikwall Raversyde

    Atlantikwall Raversyde

    Ostend

    The gripping Atlantikwall is a remarkably extensive complex of WWI and WWII bunkers, gun emplacements and linking brick tunnels created by occupying…

  • Belle Epoque-weg

    Belle Epoque-weg

    Ostend

    This lesser-known residential part of Ostend was once in ill repute, but savvy homebuyers have recently snapped up its wealth of utterly charming art…

  • Stadsmuseum

    Stadsmuseum

    Ostend

    One might expect this museum, occupying a house that hosted Napoleon in 1798 and Belgian royals from 1834–1850, to be a little more grandiose and exciting…

  • Anno 1465

    Anno 1465

    Ostend

    Once a vibrant fishing village, Walraversijde disappeared entirely following the strife of 1600 to 1604, leaving mere foundations. Today the…

  • Statue of Marvin Gaye

    Statue of Marvin Gaye

    Ostend

    Soul superstar Marvin Gaye wrote his last hit, 'Sexual Healing', in 1981 while living in Ostend. His residency is marked by a wildly tacky statue of the…

  • Léopold II Statue

    Léopold II Statue

    Ostend

    Most of the beachfront is overshadowed by 10-storey concrete buildings, but beside the very ‘50s Thermae Palace Hotel there's some respite where a…

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