Ostend is a well-known holiday resort on the North Sea coast. It boasts a wide coastal esplanade and a sandy beach, as well as several interesting museums.
In the Middle Ages, Ostend was one of the main seaports in these areas, and even at the beginning of the 20th century, regular ferries to Great Britain sailed from here. The city began to transform from a typical commercial center into a seaside resort in 1834, when the Belgian King Leopold I decided that it would be his summer residence. Soon villas and boarding houses began to appear on the coast for the elite who came here after the king. Over time, the commercial port changed into a yacht port and focused primarily on tourist use.
Although Ostend does not have many valuable monuments, there are interesting museums here. You can visit, among others Napoleon's former seaside fortress, one of the few such objects preserved in Europe. It was built in 1811 to protect the coast against English attack. On the coast, you can visit the former Mercator sailing ship, where the maritime museum and the Amandine cutter with an interactive fishing museum operate today. At the port, the modernist building houses the former Kursaal casino, with a room decorated with paintings by Paul Delvaux. The area is also home to the Museum of Fine Arts with an interesting collection of paintings, and the James Ensor Museum presenting the artist's home and studio.
