Explore Belgium along the coast from place to place

This route takes you through Nieuwpoort and surroundings. A trip full of nature, cultural history and old friendly Belgian towns. Set aside a whole day for it, because there is plenty to see and experience along the way.

When you come out of the dunes of Westende, you will see a special building at the mouth of the IJzer: the Lighthouse Nieuwpoort. The nineteenth-century lighthouse was shot to pieces at the end of October 1914 during the Battle of the IJzer. It was rebuilt in 1923, but blown up with dynamite by the retreating Germans in 1944. The current lighthouse dates from 1949.

The route takes you through seaside resorts such as Westende, Oostduinkerke and Koksijde where you pass the Ten Duinen Abbey Museum. You will not find a dusty affair here, but a unique archaeological site where you will discover the role of the Koksijde Dune Lords within the Order of Cîteaux, a European project avant la lettre.

Between Oostduinkerke and Koksijde you drive through nature reserve De Hoge Blekker. This dune area owes its name to the Hoge Blekker, with 33 meters the highest dune ridge on the Flemish coast. You see drifting dunes with sparsely distributed beach grass tufts and scrub that consists of sea buckthorn, common elder and blackthorn. Just below De Panne you drive through the beautiful Calmeynbos.
Veurne is a picturesque old fortified town. In the fourteenth century, the town was walled, but in the eighteenth century the fortifications were dismantled. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of the rich history to be seen. For example, around the Grote Markt there are several Gothic buildings from the heyday of the cloth trade in the thirteenth century. During the First World War, the headquarters of the Belgian army was located in Veurne. This region was the so-called Belgian Sector, a small part of Belgium that managed to hold out against the Germans with the help of the Allies.