46 Best Sights in Bruges and the Coast, Belgium

To the east of the Groot Strand, Klein Strand (Small Beach) occupies the area beside the breakwaters at the entrance to Oostende Harbor. It's less popular than its neighbor as swimming here is prohibited. instead, it is used for activities and events. Amenities:  food and drink; parking (fee). Best for: sunset; walking. 

Knokke-Heist's beach is officially split into four different areas (Heist, Duinbergen, Albertstrand, and Het Zoute), but to untrained observers they form one continuous 9-km (5½-mile) stretch of sand, bordering the industrial port of Zeebrugge at one end, and the dunes of Het Zwin nature reserve and the Dutch resort of Cadzand at the other. The eastern half is more popular, with the bulk of the facilities concentrated around Albertstrand Beach, which is steps from central Knokke.If you're looking for solitude, head to the western end, although the views from there of Zeebrugge are somewhat less appealing. Amenities:  food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; sunset; surfing; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

Koksijde's stretch of the Belgian coast is another expanse of white sand, popular with families. There are orientation poles here at regular intervals, each with a different brightly colored figure on top, designed to be easily recognizable wayfinders for lost children. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: sunset; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

Jacob van Maerlant’s statue stands tall and poetic in the center of Damme's market square. On the facade of the Gothic Stadhuis (Town Hall) you can see Charles, the noble duke, presenting the wedding ring to his fiancée Margaret, plus other stone effigies of Flemish counts set in niches between the high windows. The step-gabled building’s interior moldings and clock tower are especially outstanding. Note the Huyse de Grote Sterre, a 15th-century patrician’s residence that was also home to the Spanish military governor in the 17th century; it’s now the tourist office and a literary museum.

This handsome three-masted training ship of the Belgian merchant marine, which sailed from the 1930s to the 1960s, is now moored close to the city center, ready to sail if needed. Decks, fittings, and the spartan quarters have been kept intact, and there’s a museum of mementos brought home from the ship’s exotic voyages; during one they hauled back mysterious statues from Easter Island.

In the south of Bruges you'll find Minnewater, a pleasant spot of greenery with a large rectangular lake at its center that's dotted with willow trees. So the legend goes: a Saxon warrior returned from fighting to discover his lover dead, so he built a dyke and covered her grave with a lake. Lovers who walk its scenic bridge are said to be blessed. The park lies southeast of the water, and at its far end is Powder Tower, a 12th-century defensive battlement named for the gunpowder it used to store. In summer, the park hosts a number of festivals, most notably the Cactus music festival in July.

Combine a visit here with a stop at the Begijnhof.

Oostende's modern art museum contains works by Belgian contemporary artists, from 1880 to the present day, and is well represented by Pierre Alechinsky, Roger Raveel, and Paul van Hoeydonck (whose statuette, The Fallen Astronaut, was deposited on the moon by the Apollo XV crew), among others. Ceramics, paintings, sculpture, and graphic art are all displayed.

At the western edge of Diksmuide, some 23 km (15 miles) north from Ypres, and just a mile south from the Dodengang (above), the centerpiece of this memorial site is the IJzertoren, a 275-foot tower, rebuilt in 1965 to honor defenders and casualties from both world wars and to represent the Flemish struggle for autonomy. The giant letters on the monument beside the tower (AVV-VVK), mean “Everything for Flanders, Flanders for Christ.” The 22-story tower houses a museum chronicling the two wars and the emancipation of Flanders using images, text, and sound. The top floor and the roof terrace provide a splendid view of the entire area.

On a clear day you can see as far as the Netherlands by climbing the 206 steps to the top of the tower of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady), which was founded in 1225 and rises high above the surrounding farmland as a symbol of Damme’s proud past. Poet Jacob van Maerlant, who lived and worked in Damme during the late 13th century, is buried under the main portal below the tower. Charles the Bold and Margaret of York were married here.

The towering spire of the plain Gothic Church of Our Lady, begun about 1220, rivals the Belfry as a symbol of Bruges. At 381 feet high, it is the second-tallest brick construction in the world. The art history highlight here is the Madonna and Child statue carved by Michelangelo, an early work. The choir museum contains many 13th- and 14th-century polychrome tombs, as well as two mausoleums: that of Mary of Burgundy, who died in 1482 at the age of 25 after a fall from her horse; and that of her father, Charles the Bold, killed in 1477 while laying siege to Nancy in France. Mary was as well loved in Bruges as her husband, Maximilian of Austria, was loathed. 

Around 4 km (2½ miles) north from Damme, Oostkerke has to be one of the cutest villages in Flanders. Every house in the tiny hamlet is white-washed, and at the center stands the imposing bulk of the Sint-Quintinuskerk, founded around 1100. Also nearby is a 19th-century mill and a 14th-century castle, albeit the former is in a poor state of repair, and the latter is now a private residence and closed to visitors. If you're in need of refreshment, Eetcafé De Knotwilg (www.deknotwilgoostkerke.be; closed Tuesday and Wednesday) serves simple snacks and full meals.

Art lovers will want to head for nearby Sint-Idesbald---effectively a western suburb of Koksijde---to discover the Paul Delvaux Museum in a reconverted Flemish farmhouse. It is dedicated to the painter, famous for his Surrealist mix of nudes, skeletons, and trains, who died in 1994 at the age of nearly 100. This collection has work from the various stages of Delvaux’s career, including his later, somewhat eerie female nudes.

The outer ramparts of the medieval city of Bruges used to be dotted with windmills; now four remain along the ring road. The two most impressive are the St-Janshuismolen (1770) and close to it the Koeleweimolen (1765). Of these, only St-Janshuismolen can be visited, and it is still used to grind flour. The wooden steps leading up to it are quite steep and not for the fainthearted.

The street leads up to the quay where goods from Spain were unloaded, near Jan van Eyckplein Square. The house at No. 9 was where St. Ignatius of Loyola stayed when he came to Flanders on holidays from his studies in Paris. Directly ahead are the three arches of the Augustijnenbrug. Dating from 1391, it's the oldest bridge in Bruges. On the other side of the canal, Augustijnenrei is one of the loveliest quays.

Three kilometers (2 miles) north from the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917, the British cemetery Tyne Cot is---with almost 12,000 graves---the largest and best known of more than 170 military cemeteries in the area. In its awe-inspiring austerity, it evokes the agony of anonymous and unknown losses. A significant majority of the graves here are for unidentified casualties, and a curving wall lists the names of nearly 35,000 Commonwealth soldiers killed after August 1917 whose bodies and graves vanished in the turmoil of war. A large cross stands atop one of the German pillbox bunkers for which the site was named; British troops trying to gain the ridge dubbed it a cot, or cottage.

A row of 17th-century whitewashed almshouses originally built for retired shoemakers now holds an engaging Folklore Museum. Within each house is a reconstructed historic interior: a grocery shop, a living room, a tavern, a cobbler’s workshop, a classroom, a pharmacy, and a kitchen. Another wing holds a tailor’s shop and a collection of old advertising posters. You can end your tour at the suitably historic museum café, In de Zwarte Kat (the “Black Cat”).