Hotels near Ostend - Bruges International Airport - OST, Ostend

Busy central area. Was quite easy to find our way around. Had to park our car a mile away from our hotel as first green, free parking, area around us. Not great to then have to carry bags back to the hotel. Too cold and windy to go on the beach, but I think it would be lovely to go there when the weather is sunny. We were only there for 24 hours but would like to return to see more of the area.

Middelkerke is a favorite of ours because it isn't a large city, but it has everything that you need. The locals are always friendly. This trip was the first time that I ran into someone who did not speak any English. It is a great "base" area if you want to visit other locations up and down the coast. I felt so safe and comfortable on our first trip that I returned on a trip with my kids and was able to relax while they played and enjoyed the area.

Thats' sea... but the nord sea: Cold and windy. Nothing special in the city. A lot of building. A lot of building along the sea. A lot of building (more than 10levels) everywhere. Too much beton for me. Guess it's a necessity to help belgium to go easely to the sea. Anyway the beach is a long tongue of sand, that's the good point. To swim in this sea, so cold..., it's very helpful to stimulate and invigorate your body. Great.

Middelkerke located between Niewport and Ostende is a small town on this stunning coastline that offers beautiful sandy beaches, shops and plenty of eateries as well as entertainment. The GoKart center is perfect for families as it has outdoor climbing, Go Kart, small animal farm and indoors, cafe, bowling, game machines and 3D workshops. Hiring an electric bike is a must to cycle along the entire cost and to Niewport, it allows you to travel much further with less effort.

For sure we could have used some extra days - but this is the beauty of short trips: go, explore and leave something for the next times. We did not plan a lot: we knew the hotel, nicely located between the station, the beach and the centre. We also booked and activity to Astropolis and this was a total success- if you have (Dutch speaking) kids (above 8 years), the rocket workshop is SUPERB! As a science nerd I enjoyed the Astropolis museum and its little "hidden" gems : the lunar rover, the piloting of the Appolo to dock the ISS, the excellent documentaries (I got the one narrated by Patrick Stweart -aka CapitanJean-Luc Picard, in Startrek! The rest of the museum is mostly with information in Dutch, but with interactive screens also in English. In case the workshop for the kids takes longer than your visit they have a nice café, reasonably priced and with small brilliant gift ideas like metal models to assemble at home - from R2D2 to the Hubble telescope. I absolutely loved the museum! Another place not to miss is the Mercator museum. It is a former three-mast school-ship, serving fro.1933 to 1960 and the visit is perfectly organised. For me it was very moving to learn and see details in the lives of the seamen and cadets (thay started at 14 years old!) who lived, learned and navigated the oceans on this ship. As a bonus there is another museum - a cargo boat, Amandine - we left this for a next visit. There is also the Napoleon fort we look forward to visit next time. The same with James Ensor museum, the parks etc. This time we enjoyed long walks on the pier and the beach, seeing the cute seals, going in and out of the numerous and friendly cafés, discovering the excellent seafood in its many expressions (Italian, local, burger style :), etc.), the marina, the fish market and so on. Oostende conquered us with its livelihood and for sure we will go back and enjoy more of its charm!

Really nice stay. Good restaurant. Nice welcome. We had two chihuahuas with us. Stairs are real steep so careful if you go there with a bigger dog, you may need to carry them all the way upstairs :-). I recommend anyway cause it was a good stay on the whole.