Bredene along the coast

Get to know the beautiful coast and the underlying Polder Plain in West Flanders. The route takes you from the coastal town of Bredene through long connected dune zones. It is wonderful to travel for miles in this green environment. Just below Bredene you have beautiful views over the North Sea. On the other side of the harbor you can see Ostend. In the Poldervlakte, as the area fifteen kilometers behind the Belgian coast is also called, you pass through old picturesque polder villages such as Klemskerke and Houtave. The landscape here is flat and veined with a network of canals to drain the land. Below Blankenberge you drive through the Uitkerkse Polders, the largest nature reserve in West Flanders. The soil here consists of a mixture of low-lying saline grasslands and higher-lying fatty grasslands: the ingredients for a unique ecosystem with special plants and animals. Cycling between the meadows you will see drinking pools and beautiful reed collars along the canals. In the meadows in spring you can see hundreds of courtshipping meadow birds such as the godwit, lapwing and avocet. You will also pass through De Haan, the coastal town that is best known for its many beautiful villas from the Belle Epoque period. De Haan has traditionally been a real tourist town. Due to its favorable location on the coast, thousands of tourists are tempted here every year to seek out the sun, sea and beach. Major events take place there, such as the consecration of the sea in Wenduine, the Day of the Tourist, the Giant Festivities and the Fox Battle Festivities.