From Bruges towards the coast

An ideal cycling area is located between Bruges and coastal towns such as Blankenberge and Wenduine: the Oudlandpolder. Here you drive through the oldest polder in Western Europe: sea walls were built here as early as the tenth century to protect the area from the devastating force of the sea. These dikes gave the uneven landscape a typical structure that is still visible today. The grasslands, with their channels, ditches and pools, provide a beautiful view, but also an important breeding and wintering place for many birds.

In the Oudlandpolder you pass through some typical picturesque polder villages such as Lissewege and Nieuwmunster. Lissewege has preserved many of its original small streets and houses and is therefore on the list of the 50 most beautiful villages in Flanders. Here you will also see the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Visitation, which was built in the thirteenth century. The tower without spire dates from the second half of the thirteenth century. You can already see it on the horizon when you are at the former Ter Doest abbey. The abbey was founded in 1106. The large barn from 1250 is the only remaining abbey building.

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.

Blankenberge was originally a fishing village, but developed into a seaside resort due to English tourism in the nineteenth century. Now Blankenberge is one of the most important seaside resorts on the Belgian coast. The eye-catcher is the 350 meter long pier from 1933. Until Wenduine you drive along the beautiful Flemish North Sea coast. It is wonderful to cycle with the view of the sea and the sound of the surf. Wenduine is also called the Princess of the Seaside Cities. The medieval village was originally a fishing community. With the arrival of the coastal tram in the twentieth century, the village developed into a picturesque seaside resort.