Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Ostend (Belgium). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Fort Napoleon, Atlantic Wall open-air museum, and Mu.ZEE. Also, be sure to include Lange Nelle in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Ostend (Vlaanderen).
Table of Contents
Fort Napoleon
Heritage museum in Ostend, Belgium. Fort Napoleon in Ostend is a polygonal fort built in the Napoleonic era. It has recently been restored and is open to the public.
France had occupied the Austrian Netherlands (a territory roughly corresponding to the borders of modern Belgium) during 1792 and 1793 in the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. During the War of the Fifth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte expected a British assault from the sea on the port of Ostend, and the fort was constructed in the sand dunes close to the mouth of the harbour in 1811. The British attack never materialised and the fort was used as for troop accommodation and as an arsenal until the end of the French occupation in 1814 when it was abandoned.
During World War I, the fort was used as accommodation for a German headquarters, and decorated with murals by German soldier Heinrich Otto Pieper. The heavy coastal artillery battery "Hindenburg" was stationed nearby; it had been transferred there from Fort Heppen, Wilhelmshaven in 1915, and it was armed with four 280 mm (11 inch) guns of 1886-1887 vintage in heavily armored turrets on semi-circular concrete platforms. It was captured by the Belgian army in 1918.
The fort was also used as German artillery headquarters during World War II. After the war, it served as a museum and then a children's playground before falling into decay. In 1995, the fort came into the care of Erfgoed Vlaanderen vzw (the Flemish Heritage Association) and following a five year restoration programme, was opened to the public in April 2000.[1]
Address: Vuurtorenweg 13, 8400 Oostende
Atlantic Wall open-air museum
Also known as: Musée du mur de l'Atlantique
Museum. The Atlantic Wall Open Air Museum is a military museum near Ostend in Belgium which preserves fortifications of the Atlantic Wall dating to the First and Second World Wars. The section of fortifications owned by the museum - over 60 bunkers and two miles of trenches - is among the best preserved sections of the defensive line in Europe. The fortifications survive because they were built on land belonging to Prince Charles, Count of Flanders who decided that they should not be destroyed after the war, but be kept as a national monument.[2]
Address: Nieuwpoortsesteenweg 636, 8400 Oostende
Mu.ZEE
Also known as: Musée d'art à la mer
Museum in Ostend, Belgium. The Mu.ZEE is a museum in Ostend, Belgium, specializing in Belgian art from 1830 onwards. It was created in 2008 by the fusion of the former Provinciaal Museum voor Moderne Kunst and the Museum voor Schone Kunsten Oostende, both located in Ostend. The museum has two dependencies, the Ensorhuis in Ostend, and the Permekemuseum in Jabbeke. Mu.ZEE is an abbreviation of "Kunstmuseum aan Zee".[3]
Address: Romestraat 11, 8400 Oostende
Lange Nelle
Also known as: Phare d'Ostende
North Sea coast lighthouse built in 1949. Lange Nelle Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Ostend, Flanders, Belgium. It is located at the Belgian coastline of the North Sea.
While the station was established in 1771, the present lighthouse tower was opened in 1949. It is 58 metres (190 ft) in height, with the light at 65 metres (213 ft) above sea level. The lighthouse tower was painted white and blue waves in 1994. The light is visible up to 27 nautical miles (50 km), using the Fresnel lens lighting system.[4]
Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk
Church in Ostend, Belgium. Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, the main church of Ostend, Belgium, is a Roman Catholic Neo-Gothic church. It is built on the ashes of a previous church that occupied the site. King Leopold II enthusiastically supported a plan to build a new and more magnificent church. Construction started in 1899 and was completed and consecrated by Bishop Waffelaert on August 31, 1908. Its stained glass windows were destroyed during the two World Wars and were replaced by windows by Michiel Martens. The church is 70 meters long and 30 meters wide. Its spires are 72 meters high.
The church was built in the Neo-Gothic style according to plans by architect Louis Delacenserie, who based his design on the Gothic Cologne Cathedral and the Neo-Gothic Votivkirche in Vienna.[5]
Address: Prins Boudewijnstraat, 8400 Oostende
Mercator Ship
Also known as: Mercator
Museum in Ostend, Belgium. The barquentine Mercator was built as a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet. She was named after Gerardus Mercator, a Belgian cartographer. She was designed by G.L. Watson & Co. and built in Leith, Scotland and launched in 1932.
Besides being a training a ship, she was also used, mainly before World War II, for scientific observations, or as ambassador for Belgium on world fairs and in sailing events.
In 1961, she became a floating museum, first in Antwerp and, from 1964, in the marina of Ostend, just in front of the city hall. As of 2019, she remains open to visitors.[6]
Royal Galleries of Ostend
Also known as: Galeries royales d'Ostende
Historical landmark in Ostend, Belgium. The Royal Galleries of Ostend are a seaside neoclassical arcade on a dike on the beach of Ostend, Belgium. They extend from the royal villa in the east to the Hippodrome Wellington horse racing track in the west. The galleries are over 380 metres long, with a large pavilion at each end. The luxury Thermae Palace Hotel sits atop the central section.[7]
Port of Ostend
Also known as: Port d'Ostende
Harbor in Ostend, Belgium. The Port of Ostend is situated in Ostend, West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The port services freight transport between Ostend and Ramsgate, Ipswich and North Killingholme Haven.
Passenger transport between Ostend and Ramsgate was provided by Transeuropa Ferries from 1998 to 2013.[8]
De Plate
Museum
Address: Langestraat 69, Ostend
Leopoldpark
Relax in park, Park
Address: Karel Janssenslaan 10, 8400 Ostend
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Duinenkerk
Church
Address: Dorpsstraat 72, 8400 Ostend