After the Bruges Marathon: Ostend
The Route: Brugge → Oostende → Brussels Airport Logistics: SNCB train, about 15 to 25 minutes, with trains several times an hour. The station is a few minutes' walk from the harbour and the seafront. Marathon Month: October Duration: 1 night
Brugge ──(15-25 mins, SNCB)──> Oostende
│
Brussels Airport (BRU) <──(about 1.5 hrs, SNCB, change in Brussels or Bruges)──┘
The Bruges Marathon finishes on the Grote Markt on a Sunday in October. Ostend is the closest coast, and a night there turns the recovery into a sea walk instead of another cobbled old town.
October in Ostend: the North Sea in October is grey and often windy, with an average high around 14°C. The beach is for walking, not swimming, and the beach bars are shut for the season. Bring a windproof layer and a hat. The best days are bright and cold, with good light on the promenade. Check the forecast, because wind makes the seafront hard going on tired legs.
Trains from Brugge to Oostende run every 10 to 20 minutes. Belgian rail has no advance fares and prices by distance, so there is nothing to book early. Buy a ticket at the machine or in the SNCB app.
Night One: Ostend
The Zeedijk, the seafront promenade, is a flat, paved walk of several kilometres with benches and shelters. A stroll of 1 km to 1.5 km along the front from the Kursaal casino toward the Thermae Palace is enough for the day after a marathon. The Visserskaai, the fish quay on the old harbour, has stalls selling shrimp and whelks and a row of fish restaurants.
Mu.ZEE, the art museum on Romestraat, covers Belgian art and has a ground-floor café. Entry is around €10 to €12, and the building has lifts. Check whether it is closed on Mondays. The Mercator, a three-masted sailing ship moored in the Mercator Marina, is open to visitors in season, but check opening in October.
For a room, the Thermae Palace on the promenade is a grand 1933 hotel with a lift, a spa and sea views. Hotel du Parc, near the casino, is smaller and cheaper. Confirm the lift in both, and ask for a sea-facing room if the wind is quiet.
For dinner, order shrimp croquettes or a plate of North Sea fish on the Visserskaai, and book ahead on a weekend.
Arrive in the early afternoon and walk to the front first, while the light lasts. From the station the route to the sea is flat and about 800 metres. The Wellington Racecourse and the dunes lie further east and are a longer outing than the day allows, so leave them. If the wind is strong, shelter in the covered galleries beneath the Kursaal and in the cafés on Wapenplein, where the pavements are wide and level.
On the second morning, a short walk to the harbour gives the best sense of the town as a working port. Ferries and fishing boats come in beside the quay, and the fishermen's stalls open from mid-morning. The Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, a neo-Gothic church in the centre, is level inside and free to enter. A Monday departure leaves most of the day, but check the opening hours for Mu.ZEE before committing, because some Belgian museums close on Mondays and a closed door is a long way to walk.
If you stay on a Sunday or a Monday night, check that restaurants are open, because some close early in the off-season. Reserve a table, ask for one by the window if you want a view of the harbour, and wear a layer, because the quay is exposed.
Getting to Brussels Airport (BRU)
Oostende to Brussels Airport takes about 1.5 hours, with a change at Brussels or Bruges depending on the service. Check the SNCB planner. Trains run every 30 minutes or so, and the airport station is under the terminal. Allow extra time for platform stairs.