51.25° N · 2.97° E
The Belgian coast an hour and a quarter from Brussels by train: the beach and the Mercator in Ostend, Ensor's house, bunkers in the dunes and the villas of De Haan.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Tram · about 20 min from Ostend to De Haan · 67 stops along the whole coast · every 10 to 20 minutes by day
Walk · 1 h 30 · free · early 20th-century villas among the dunes and the tram stop · signposted heritage route
Museum ship · 45 min · €8 · €6 up to age 14 · free under 6 · in winter, weekends only
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to September, for the beach and the terraces; in July and August the coast fills with Belgians. Winter has its charm, with windy walks and fewer people, but some hotels in De Haan close and the Mercator is open only at weekends.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
Ostend has an airport (OST), but with hardly any scheduled flights from Spain. The usual way is to fly to Brussels-Zaventem (BRU), with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other cities, and continue by direct train to Ostend, in a little under two hours from the airport. From Charleroi (CRL) you have to go via Brussels. On the coast you don't need a car: the tram runs the whole length of it.
It is the easiest Belgian getaway without a car: a direct train from Brussels to Ostend and, at the station door, the coast tram to De Haan. Everything else on foot or by bike.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
The coast is the easiest plan with children in Belgium: a wide beach, a tram that is an outing in itself, a three-masted ship to explore and a fort with a children's tour.
For the little ones, the Belgian coast is sand, trams and flat walks with a pushchair. You don't need a car or big plans.
With teenagers, the coast has history and a bit of independence: bunkers from two wars in the dunes, the house of the painter of masks and a tram to get around on their own.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A 1929 Art Deco hotel on the Marie-Joséplein, a hundred metres from the sea, restored in 2023, with a café open from 7:30 to 22:00.
Why we like it: A four-star hotel on the Van Iseghemlaan, a short walk from the beach and the centre, with family rooms, cots and local breakfast produce.
© Hotel BurlingtonHotelWhy we like it: A three-star hotel in the centre of Ostend, opposite the marina and the Mercator, with a private wellness area and buffet breakfast.
Why we like it: A family hotel with 22 rooms and suites on De Haan's seafront, with sea views and a private sauna; 2027 season from 26 March.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the mussels or the catch of the day from the suggestions, which change according to what the boats bring in
What to order: lunch with local produce, or breakfast before catching the tram
What to order: the handmade grey shrimp croquettes, the fried soles or the free-range chicken vol-au-vent with sweetbreads
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
If you are going to go back and forth several times between Ostend and De Haan, it pays off.
Even in summer, the wind blows on the promenade.
It works with time slots and fills up at weekends.
The coastal car parks fill up and the tram is quicker.
The Belgian coast is an almost straight beach between France and the Netherlands, joined from end to end by a tram with 67 stops. Ostend is its city: a port with a wide beach right in the centre, the city of the painters James Ensor and Léon Spilliaert, a seafront promenade of early twentieth-century hotels and good fish. Twenty minutes away by tram, De Haan is the opposite: a village of belle époque villas among the dunes that escaped the apartment blocks. Together they make the seaside day from Brussels, and a very easy one- or two-night getaway without a car.
By train, about an hour and a quarter direct to Ostend station, via Ghent and Bruges. Outside, right in front, is the coast tram stop, which takes you to De Haan in about 20 minutes.
By car, about an hour and a half on the E40, some 115 km. In summer the coastal car parks fill up; if you can, leave the car at the hotel and travel by tram.
In the morning, Ostend. From the marina, next to the station, go aboard the Mercator sailing ship, the three-masted training ship turned museum; then go into James Ensor's house, where the painter of masks lived until 1949, with interactive rooms. Go out to the seafront promenade and the beach and have North Sea fish at Café Mosselhuis or at the Café Du Parc, open every day.
In the afternoon, the tram to De Haan. Stroll through the Concessie, the district of half-timbered villas among the dunes, and walk down to the De Haan promenade, much quieter than Ostend's. Take the tram back to Ostend station for the train.
With two days, add history: Fort Napoleon, in the dunes on the east side, with a sound tour and another for children, and the Atlantikwall Raversyde, to the west, where you walk through bunkers and trenches from the two world wars among the dunes, with a free nature park around them. If you are interested in the First World War, Ypres is less than an hour away by car, and Bruges, a quarter of an hour by train.
In Ostend, Café Mosselhuis, by the Michelin-starred chef Willem Hiele, cooks what the boats bring in and is open on Sunday at lunchtime. The Café Du Parc, in an Art Deco building from 1929, serves from 7:30 to 22:00 every day. In De Haan, Villa Julia, in a belle époque villa beside the tram, has grey shrimp croquettes and sole; it is closed on Monday and Tuesday and from 18 November to 27 December.
In Ostend, the Hotel Du Parc, a restored Art Deco hotel a hundred metres from the sea; the Rosa Hotel, with family rooms next to the beach, and the Hotel Burlington, opposite the harbour and a few minutes from the station, with a wellness centre. In De Haan, the Beach Hotel, on the seafront, is open from the end of March to the autumn.
The coast is one of the areas of Belgium that welcomes dogs best: from 1 October to 31 March they can go on Ostend beach without restrictions, and in season, early in the morning and at the end of the afternoon. In the Raversyde park there is a meadow where they can run free.
Questions
About an hour and a quarter by direct train and an hour and a half by car.
On the coast tram, in about 20 minutes, from in front of the station.
The Mercator, Ensor's house, the promenade and, in the afternoon, De Haan by tram.
Yes: without restriction from October to March and, in season, first and last thing in the day.
Yes, for walking and eating fish, but some hotels in De Haan close and the Mercator is open only at weekends.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/belgium/ostend-and-de-haan
