The Belgian Coast Tram: Sixty Seven Kilometers of Beach for a Few Euros

Belgium has a coast. Most visitors never find it, and Belgian families spend every summer on it.

The Kusttram runs from De Panne on the French border to Knokke on the Dutch one, sixty seven kilometers, with a stop at every beach town on the way. A day pass is a few euros per person and kids under six are free. You get on, you get off at a beach, you swim, you get back on. That is the whole plan and it is a very good plan.

Ostend is the big town in the middle, with the widest beach, the aquarium, and the fort at the end of the promenade. De Haan is the pretty one, all whitewashed villas and a tram stop that looks like a doll’s house. Knokke is the smart one with the good restaurants. Blankenberge has the pier and the sea life center.

The North Sea is cold. Belgian children go in anyway, so yours will too. The beaches are wide and flat with real sand, the water is shallow for a long way out, and there are lifeguards at every town in summer.

What to eat on the coast

Shrimp croquettes. Tiny grey North Sea shrimp in a creamy filling, breaded and fried, served with fried parsley and a lemon. Every cafe on the promenade does them and they are the thing I order first. Then a waffle from a stand, the Liege kind with the sugar crystals, eaten walking.

Go from Bruges. The train to Ostend is fifteen minutes and the tram stop is outside the station. A whole day on the coast and back in Bruges for dinner. Or stay a night in De Haan and let the kids fall asleep to the sea.

Planning Belgium with kids? Start with the full Belgium family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.