Introduction
110km (68 miles) NW of Brussels; 20km (12 miles) W of Bruges
The glitter of the "Queen of the Coast" has faded since its 19th-century heyday as a royal vacation spot and prestigious European watering hole, but plenty of reasons remain to justify a visit to Ostend (Oostende in Dutch; Ostende in French): Great beaches, a casino, a racetrack, art museums, a spa, good shopping, an Olympic-size indoor pool, outdoor pools filled with heated seawater, sailing and windsurfing, and, last but by no means least, a legitimate reputation of being a seafood cornucopia. This lively recreational haven is very much a people's queen now, welcoming all income levels.
Ostend (pop. 70,000) has been attracting seawater enthusiasts since 1784 when the town council allowed Englishman William Hesketh to set up a drinks kiosk on the beach. He later introduced mobile beach huts that were hauled into the water by horses. Before World War II, the elevated Albert I Promenade and Zeedijk that together...
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Kunstmuseum aan Zee (Art Museum by the Sea)
Set in a former department store 3 blocks west of the Mercator Yacht Harbor, the museum's paintings, sculptures, graphics, video, and films provide...
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- Museums
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James Ensorhuis (James Ensor House)
The house where Anglo-Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949) lived from 1916 has been restored to its condition when his aunt kept a ground-floor...
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- Museums
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Ostend Judo club
- My judo club in Oostende, where respect and honor a big thing is. You can train there as a recreational judoka or when you have talent and or more...
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