Explore Belgium on the coast from place to place

This route takes you through Nieuwpoort and the surrounding area. A trip full of nature, cultural history and old friendly Belgian towns. Allow 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 structure at the Yser estuary: the Nieuwpoort Lighthouse. The nineteenth-century lighthouse was shot to pieces at the end of October 1914 during the Battle of the Yser. It was rebuilt in 1923, but blown up with dynamite by the retreating Germans in 1944. The current light tower dates from 1949.

The route takes you through seaside towns such as Westende, Oostduinkerke and Koksijde where you pass Ten Duinen Abbey Museum. You will not find a dusty affair here, but a unique archaeological site where you can discover the role of the Koksijdse Duinlorden 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 will see drifting dunes with sparsely distributed marram grass tussocks and thickets that include sea buckthorn, common elderberry and blackthorn. Just below De Panne you drive through the beautiful Calmeynbos.
Veurne is a picturesque old fortified town. In the fourteenth century the city was walled, but in the eighteenth century the fortifications were dismantled. Yet there is still enough of the rich history to see. Around the Grote Markt, for example, there are a few 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. In this region was the so-called Belgian Sector, a small piece of Belgium that managed to hold its own against the Germans with the help of the Allies.