From Bredene to Ostend and Oudenburg

Get to know the beautiful coast and the Poldervlakte in West Flanders. The route takes you from the coastal town of Bredene through long, connected dune zones. It is wonderful to make kilometers in this green environment. Just below Bredene you have beautiful views over the North Sea. On the other side of the harbor you drive along the coastal strip of Ostend. In this city there are many cultural festivals every year, including Theater Aan Zee, the Paulusfeesten and Sfeer in't Park. Ostend is a perfect place for fish lovers because fresh fish is sold daily in the harbor. It is wonderful to get off on a bench just outside the city for a picnic with a view of the surf. In the Poldervlakte, as the area up to fifteen kilometers behind the Belgian coast is also called, you come through old picturesque polder villages such as Snaaskerke and Leffinge. The landscape here is flat and veined with a network of canals to drain the land. The pattern of channels and dikes that run through the polder shows that the sea was gradually pushed back. Sometimes, however, the water was an important weapon in the battle. For example, during the Siege of Ostend, a three-year siege by the Spanish troops. During this siege, the dunes were cut through at the end of the sixteenth century, so that the hinterland up to Snaaskerke and Leffinge was flooded. It took until well into the nineteenth century before these polders were completely dry again, because they had to function as a flushing dock.