Ostend

Ostend is the largest city on the Belgian coast, in West Flanders, taking in the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde alongside the city proper. Its name means East End. It grew as a fishing port and then as a nineteenth-century seaside resort, and still works as both, a harbour and a promenade in the same town. The beach runs wide and flat, the seafront is level the whole way, and the tram along the coast makes it an easy base. Out of season the light off the North Sea is the reason to come.