Coast through Belgium
Take in history, golden beaches and delicious seafood along the world’s longest tramline
THE. beach at the belgian resort of De haan is exhilarating. Waves are bouldering in from the North Sea, while kite surfers swoop and rise in the distance. I stay with the dog-walkers taking the air on the golden sands. I have a tram to catch.
At 42 miles, the belgian coastal tram route is the longest of its kind in the world. Linking the Dutch and French borders, it has 68 stops and takes just over a couple of hours, but it’s worth allowing two to three days to explore this fascinating coastline.
Day tickets are available so you can get on and off wherever you like, and the beaches and town centres are within easy walking distance. It can be done at any time of the year, but spring is ideal to avoid the summer crowds.
It’s a tranquil journey that includes history, contemplative beach walks, sturdy Flemish gastronomy and Ostend’s lively bars. There are museums and nature parks as well as activities such as sand yachting — and the tram connects them all.
Travelling on the tram also gives you an insight into everyday belgian life, as locals pop on and off carrying supplies from the market, and yawning schoolchildren head home. On my first day I go east of Ostend to the town of De haan. It merits the description I was given in a brussels bar the previous evening.
‘It’s like an open-air museum; very quiet and no big apartments,’ I was told. ‘There are more than 13 resorts on the coast and every five minutes you come to one. each has its own character.
‘ Fo r instance, Knokke-heist at the eastern end is bling bling, where you will see Porsches.’
There is certainly a lot to admire in De haan’s belle epoque architecture. The graceful buildings feature turrets, cupolas, balconies and alpine-like gables, plus a mixture of cream and peppermint colours, many of them stamped with candy stripes.
My next stop, Knokke-heist, is definitely flashier, as I was told. Its expansive, white-painted houses remind me of the english south coast. On the beach, the vast line of high apartment blocks suggest a Game Of Thrones wall redesigned for a holiday resort.
On the tram back to my Ostend airbnb, sea views are rare. This is due to a long line of high sand dunes stretching between the resorts.
Such was the significance of the dunes that the medieval cistercian abbey close to the Koksijde stop is known as Ten Duinen abbey, or the abbey of the Dunes. Ransacked by French revolutionaries, its ruins now house a museum.
Ostend has a bustling harbour and is home to restaurants specialising in seafood. There is also a lively bar culture and a long, gorgeous beach.
In search of culture I visit James ensor’s former home, which is now a museum dedicated to the artist’s life.
he is not that well known in the UK but his bold, semi-Surrealist painting style is certainly striking, as reproductions of his paintings on the walls — such as the famous christ’s entry Into brussels In 1889 — demonstrate.
The keen sea air brings on an appetite. at De Kleine Garnaal, opposite Ostend harbour, I order the classic Flemish dish of shrimp croquettes and fries. The croquettes are crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. be warned: coastal restaurant helpings are hefty.
afterwards, I visit Lafayette, which was apparently musician Marvin Gaye’s favour-ite bar when he lived here for 18 months after arriving in 1981. The interior is brown wood, adding to its cosiness, and the beer list is extensive. classic soul plays in the background, and photos of Gaye dot the walls. a turntable suggests that, come the weekend, the place gets lively.
Next day, I take the tram west. Just outside Ostend at Domain Raversijde, settled among the dunes, the remains of part of the Nazis’ atlantic Wall are preserved, along with claustrophobic brick-lined tunnels that link the various gun emplacements.
Sited within a nature park, this is a fascinating open- air museum whose serenity is at odds with its military past.
Get to Oostduinkerke on the right day and you will see fishermen on horseback riding through the waves and fishing for shrimp — the last of their kind.
SADLY it isn’t happening on the day I pass through, but regular dates are posted online and are easy to find.
The end of the line is the town of De Panne. here, a double espresso stiffens the sinews for a wild beach walk and I ask a dog-walker if the tower blocks and factories in the distance a few miles westward are Dunkirk.
She replies ‘yes’, and as the large waves roll in, I muse on how history might have been different if the sea had been similarly frenzied in June 1940.
There is a stately charm in exploring the landscape, history and gastronomy of the belgian coast by tram. you can journey at your own pace, grab a Trappist beer at one stop, take in a blustery beach walk at another, and sit down to a seafood feast farther on.
I highly recommend it.