Zwin Nature Park

The Zwin is a coastal nature reserve straddling the Belgian–Dutch border, and what remains of a tidal inlet that once reached some fifteen kilometres inland. A storm broke through the Flemish coast in 1134 and opened a channel that gave Bruges its access to the sea, the making of the city, until the inlet silted up. What is left is salt marsh, mudflat and dune at the mouth of that old waterway. It is a birdwatcher’s site above all, at its best in spring and autumn passage, and the walking is flat and open with the sea wind coming straight across.