Ostende (Belgium)

...Our holiday was based in Ostende and before we set off I hadn’t really heard much about it and found getting a guide book on this area very difficult. So I thought I would relate my experiences of the place and what we found to see and do while visiting. We were only there for four days and spent most of the days out and about, but we did have a chance to explore Ostende and to use the local transport frequently.

~~~USEFUL INFO.
...a link between Dover and Ostende for over 150 years and Ostende is a very popular seaside resort. There is also an airport nearby and a Casino that attracts many visitors.

Ostende is one of Belgium’s most popular seaside resorts and has lovely narrow cobbled streets surrounded by some lovely old buildings (many of these date form the 19th Century when King Leopold took a liking to the town. There is a lot of building work going on ... more

We have just got back from a wonderful trip to Belgium. Our holiday was based in Ostende and before we set off I hadn’t really heard much about it and found getting a guide book on this area very difficult. So I thought I would relate my experiences of the place and what we found to see and do while visiting. We were only there for four days and spent most of the days out and about, but we did have a chance to explore Ostende and to use the local transport frequently.

~~~USEFUL INFO.

Ostende is located in an area of Belgium known as West Flanders, not far from Bruges and Gent and around 70 miles from Brussels. It is a coastal resort, located in the centre of Belgium’s coastline, which also has ferry and Hovercraft terminals, a train station, a tram link and a fishing port. There has been a link between Dover and Ostende for over 150 years and Ostende is a very popular seaside resort. There is also an airport nearby and a Casino that attracts many visitors.

Ostende is one of Belgium’s most popular seaside resorts and has lovely narrow cobbled streets surrounded by some lovely old buildings (many of these date form the 19th Century when King Leopold took a liking to the town. There is a lot of building work going on at the moment and unfortunately this is causing some noise and mess. The modernised buildings will be great when they are finished though!

~~~HOW WE GOT THERE.

We travelled to Ostende on an organised coach tour from a local tour operator. This meant we set off by coach from Chesterfield at 7.30am(calling at a Service Station en route to change coaches), onto Le Shuttle at Folkestone to Calais (an excellent way to cross the channel cutting your journey time down ~ it only takes 30 minutes) and then arriving at our hotel by 4.30pm. This was a cheap way of getting us there (£120 person for 4 nights half board, including transport and two excursions) and a chance to call at a Low Duty Beer and wine warehouse on the way home!

~~~WHERE WE STAYED.

Our hotel was The Admiral Hotel on Langestraat, 100 metres from the main promenade (the Albert Promenade) and about a ten minute stroll to the harbour, train station and the tram stop. We didn’t spend much time here, but found it was a perfect base for exploring the area and was just around the corner from the two best bars in the town! It is a two star hotel and is comfortable and clean ~ it is a bit basic and the breakfasts aren’t the best we’d ever had. It has an English style pub, televisions in rooms and en suite facilities…but this isn’t a hotel review so I’ll not go into too much detail. It does have a 24 hour reception though which is very useful if you want to take advantage of the late night bar opening!!

~~~BARS.

There are two really good bars in Ostende for those wanting an extensive beer list ~ these are mentioned in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide to Belgium & Holland. These are the Café Botteltje on Louistraat and 't Ostens Bierhuus that is right across the road! Our favourite was 't Ostens Bierhuus, run by an English bloke called Tim. Beer prices are more expensive than we are used to in English pubs, but bearing in mind the strength of some of the beers (brews of 8% and above are pretty average features) you certainly get what you pay for! There are quite a few other bars around the place ~ there are even a few English style pubs (our hotel had one) and most hotels have a bar that is open to the public. There was also a rather good jazz bar on the same street as our hotel that sold some decent beers and offered some great entertainment.

Beer choices vary in size from bar to bar ~ you’ll get soft drinks, spirits and wines and usually a beer list to pick which of the excellent bottles you want to try. My top tips are to have one of the more reasonably priced draught beers while perusing the list and to ask the waiters what they recommend. Service is notoriously slow so you will get time to look through the menu!

~~~FOOD.

We didn’t want to be constrained by getting back to the hotel for the evening meal so we cancelled them and instead we ate out. During the day we had a meal in the places we visited ~ on Saturday we ate in Bruges and in Ghent on Sunday. In the evenings we opted for a snack in Ostende ~ there is plenty of choice. We had either bratwurst, frites and mayonnaise, or some seafood from the stalls that line the pavement near the harbour (wonderful trays of mixed shellfish). These were very reasonably priced (two Euros for a huge bratwurst!) and the fritte shop had an area where you could eat in (and toilets too). There are lots of other restaurants if you wanted a larger meal (Chinese restaurants, pizza places and bars serving mussels and other Belgium dishes), but we just needed a snack.

~~~TRANSPORT.

Belgium trains and trams are great and very novel for the British traveler ~ they actually run on time!!! On our first evening we got a tram along the coast to the next resort up the coast (De Haan) for a drink in a bar that was recommended to us. A return cost us just over 3 Euros ~ you can either buy your tickets from the office, on the platform from a machine or on the tram itself. Tickets need to be validated by putting them in a machine on the tram (just remember that a return bought at the office is already validated for the outward journey but MUST be validated on returning to avoid getting a fine).

On the Saturday we walked to the train station (a very impressive building in itself) and took a train to Bruges. The journey was around twenty minutes and again it only cost us about 3 Euros 50. The trains are clean, punctual and the toilets are good too. The staff in the ticket office all speak excellent English, the timetables on the walls are pretty easy to follow and there are seats on the platforms too. There are trains about every fifteen minutes from Ostende to Bruges so it isn’t too difficult to get there. Our journey on Sunday was longer at around 45 minutes ~ still not bad to get to Ghent!

It is easy to walk around Ostende itself as the centre and promenade are pretty close together. If you don’t want to walk you can hire bikes or four wheeled pedal cars on the seafront. We didn’t use the bus service, but the stops were located near to the train station, harbour and tram stops.

~~~SHOPPING.

To be honest, we did most of our souvenir shopping in Bruges and Ghent, but we did browse round a few shops in Ostende (we found a good shop selling papers, sweets, t shirts and the like). Cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol are cheaper than in the UK if you are after a bargain and there are some good shops selling Belgian chocolates and lace. There were some really nice places selling fruit and vegetables that were lovely to mooch around and people watch.

~~~THINGS TO SEE.

Wandering along the promenade in the sunshine was wonderful! We also enjoyed looking at some of the posh boats and yachts in the marina and looking at the fishing boats and the ships with rigging that were moored in the harbour. There is a North Sea Aquarium, some art galleries (the impressionist James Ensor came from Ostende), a museum, a stunning main square with water features and sculptures, a Gothic church and a casino (the Kursaal). Most visitors are there for the beach and to use Ostende as a base for exploring the surrounding cities and countryside.

~~~CONCLUSION.

Ostende is lovely and we had a really enjoyable stay there. It isn’t as pretty or interesting as Bruges or Ghent, but it is a nice place for a relaxing seaside break. It is ideally situated for getting around the area and was perfect for the kind of holiday we were wanting. My top tip is to get a map of the place from the train station (or print one off of the internet before you go) because some of the street names are little complicated!

I would recommend Ostende as a good holiday destination for all ages. The beach is good for families, the place is flat for the less mobile and there is a lively nightlife too. I can’t believe it isn’t more popular than it seems to be….but maybe it will get busier now!

 

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