Ostend: the queen of Belgian beaches

Nicknamed 'the Queen of Beaches' since the nineteenth century, when the Belgian court made it their vacation destination, Ostend remains the North Sea's main Belgian seaside city.

The center and waterfront, queen of Belgian beaches, are comfortably explored on foot.

The long Ostend Waterfront, with its famous row of colorful beach cabins, was made fashionable by the Belgian royal family in the late nineteenth century.

Just steps away, the Mu.ZEE, museum of modern and contemporary art, displays works linked to the Flemish art scene, including local painter James Ensor.

Continuing toward the harbor you visit the Mercator, a historic Belgian training ship permanently moored as a floating museum, once used to train naval cadets.

Toward evening, the fish market on the harbor still sells local grey shrimp, caught with nets towed by horses in one of the last traditions of this type remaining in Europe.

Shrimp fishing on horseback, still practiced today in nearby Oostduinkerke village, has been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Painter James Ensor lived much of his life in Ostend, and the unique light of the North Sea profoundly influenced his most dreamlike and grotesque works.