The Belgian coastal town of Koksijde-Oostduinkerke was recently chosen as one of Flanders’ best cycling destinations. Time for Trot Op! to plan another visit to the seaside, rent a bike and see if it lives up to the hype.
Somewhere in my icy rock of a heart, I have a soft spot for Koksijde. This is because my trip to this charming coastal town in 2019 was the first genuine collaboration I published on this then almost empty blog. Even better was that Koksijde explicitly invited me to come out d*ck swinging – no joke. This visual atrocity occurred at SeaNat – the only nudist B&B in the country – and the horrific reports on this spectacle can be read here and here. They’re still talking about it now. No worries though: the most explicit footage was ritually burned afterwards.
“Koksijde was the first destination to officially invite Trot Op! for a collaboration in 2019. This is why I’m always happy to return for a new visit, especially when it includes trying out their extensive cycling offer.”
When the lovely people at Tourism Koksijde asked me if I wanted to come back and test their cycling arrangement, I didn’t have to think about it for too long. A few weeks later, I was already packing my suitcase. And since other people were coming along with me this time, I even packed some trousers. Courtesy comes first, after all.
Cycling in Koksijde: wild two wheel adventures at the Belgian coast
Recently, Koksijde was chosen as the best cycling town in Flanders. At least, this is what I would have written, were it not for a bunch of sneaky Limburg bastards from Dilsen-Stokkem who took the win from my coastal friends. Degenerate lowlifes they are, with their vast nature reserves and their perfect bicycle lanes on the banks of the Meuse River – disgusting. Second place is not to be scuffed at though, and still better than at least 298 other municipalities where you’ll be lucky not to get hit by some truck because the cycling lane is just two white lines in between traffic. Assuming I still remember my statistics classes, this puts Koksijde in the 99th percentile on the it’s-nice-to-ride-your-bike-here scale. All well and good, but you can’t be sure about something until you try it yourself. That’s exactly what I did as I rode to all of Koksijde’s main attractions over many a new bike lane. Please tag along.
1. Cycling in Koksijde: dunes, dikes and delicious dining
Koksijde is more than just a seaside resort and consists of four quite unique sub-municipalities. Koksijde-Village is a few kilometres away from Koksijde-Beach, which lies between Sint-Idesbald and Oostduinkerke. Further inland, you’ll find the small but cosy village of Wulpen. Given the distances between these sub-municipalities, a bike is the ideal way to explore all of them in one go. You’ll ride past attractions like the Abbey Museum Ten Duinen and through beautiful nature reserves like Doornpanne, where donkeys and ponies graze freely in the dunes. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll even find the West Flemish version of Manneken Pis at a roundabout. Our guide for the bike tour was Pol Knockaert, an émigré from Duffel who showed us all of the main sights in an single afternoon – I’ll discuss some of them further in the article. Lunch was had in Brasserie Hof Ter Hille on the golf course of the same name. Later that evening, we ate at De Huifkar. Another nice brasserie, this one on the seafront promenade, is The Tables. Delicious food, but the main attraction is the owner’s golden retriever, patiently waiting in a corner for some friendly diner-pets. If you like a good piece of meat and want to dine in style, book a table at Carcasse in Sint-Idesbald. This restaurant is owned by the famous Dierendonck butchers. It has a Michelin star and was recently voted the fourth-best steak restaurant in the world.
2. Cabin Art: colourful art on beach cabins
Pol’s guided tour took us along the Sint-Idesbald seafront as well. There, you can’t only ride a billenkar (“ass cheek cart”: sounds enticing, but it’s just a six-seater go-cart), you can visit a local art project every summer as well – on the beach no less. Cabin Art is a project where local artists decorate a whole row of white beach cabins with their works, leading to some colourful results. This year’s theme was “Aangespoeld” (Washed Ashore). This to honour sperm whale Valentijn who stranded here in 1989, attracting a mass of onlookers for several days. There’s plenty of public art elsewhere in the municipality, including several sculptures by local George Grard. If you want to enjoy some timeless cultural heritage though, keep an eye on this schedule to see when the traditional horseback shrimp fishers ride out in Oostduinkerke. This is one of the most authentic things you’ll be able to see in town.
3. Wapen van Amsterdam: an open air escape game
Want to discover the most beautiful spots in Koksijde while combining the exploration with some brainteasers? Book a time slot with the tourist office and join the search for the Coat of Arms of Amsterdam. This is an outdoor escape game where you set off with a smartphone and some props to solve a series of puzzles. These range from doable and logical to intellectually almost impossible. Fortunately, you’re always in touch with someone at headquarters who can provide you with the necessary tips. Quite hilarious is that this person is just a civil servant from the tourist office who, amidst all their other work, has to help a bunch of idiots solve puzzles – quite unique. Apart from that, this game (the route varies each time and works with junction points) takes you past almost all the main attractions of the municipality – including some I had never seen before.
4. A new collection in Museum Paul Delvaux
For a town of its size, Koksijde has a surprising number of excellent museums on offer (check my old articles for the overview). One I didn’t cover in detail for some reason is the Paul Delvaux Museum in Sint-Idesbald. Delvaux was one of the more remarkable Belgian artists of the 20th century. He was often categorized as a surrealist, but thought this label was far too limiting. His work is mainly characterized by stylized naked women and human skeletons who for some reason hang out in and around old train stations – curious imagery. Delvaux had a history in Sint-Idesbald – his long term lover lived here. In the early 1980s, twelve years before he died, the museum opened in an interesting and pleasantly arranged building. Most of the collection is displayed in underground rooms that extend all the way under the parking lot across the street. This is the largest collection of Delvaux’s works on the planet, and the fun part is that the collection is completely revamped from time to time. Of the works I saw here five years ago, none can still be seen now. Always a reason for a new visit.
5. National Fisheries Museum Navigo reopens this September
I covered Navigo extensively in my old articles, but a lot has changed since then. Five years ago, the fisheries museum was already an interesting place. It combined the reality and myths of the fisherman’s life with a striking portrait series by photographer Stephan Vanfleteren and a large aquarium full of North Sea fish. Navigo has been closed for quite for a thorough renovation, but is expected to reopen to the public in September of 2024. The collection has been preserved but expanded, and the new crowd-puller is the aforementioned sperm whale Valentijn, who will be hung from the ceiling in full splendour. Across from the museum, you can still get the best shrimp croquettes in Belgium at Estaminet De Peerdevisscher, and their own Peerdevisscher beer is not bad either – the dark version especially, is fantastic.
Additional information on Koksijde
We stayed at Casino Hotel, in the centre of Koksijde, near the modern town hall (the council meetings take place in some sort of UFO, definitely worth a look). www.casinohotel.be
For more information about Koksijde, visit: www.visitkoksijde.be
The charming Emma Verhaeghe from www.emmasroadmap.com and www.eveneropuit.be was our group’s guide and the main model in the above photos. Lovely and informative articles for anyone looking to explore Belgium.
Fancy some other domestic trips? Read my articles about Bruges, Liège, Diest, Hasselt, Genk, Gaume, Boom, Leuven, Deinze, or Viroinval.
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