Belgian Fun (From Dorset Echo)

Belgian Fun

12:00pm Saturday 15th January 2011 in Travel By Timothy John

BELGIUM is a nation often characterised by its low profile. The challenge to name a famous native has long been a pastime popular with the sardonic.

But, as is often the case with the cheap shot, the author is the loser.

Those ignorant of the origins of such legendary figures as artist Rene Magritte, actress Audrey Hepburn and cyclist Eddie Mercx are to be pitied. To that list, add the millions unaware of the treasures of Belgium’s coast.

My three-day break to the northern region of Flanders takes in pretty seaside towns, chic cities with elegant restaurants and designer shops, rugged coastal scenery, and miles and miles of broad, sand beaches to rival Dorset’s own.

I stayed in De Haan, a pretty seaside town east of Ostend on the Belgian coast, just over an hour’s drive from Calais, and 40 minutes from Bruges.

It’s home to about 12,000 people, whose extraordinary civic pride has combined with rigorous planning control to preserve the town in its Belle Époque pomp, when the introduction of the tram sparked a rapid period of development in the late 1800s.

De Haan houses are uniform, without being monotonous. Terracotta-tiled roofs frame buildings of white plaster or bare brick, whose neat gardens are bordered by hedges limited to one metre in height. The attractive seafront features deep, white sand beaches that extend from a pretty flag-stoned promenade, and its easy proximity to a charming park, hotels, shops, and restaurants makes it an obvious choice for young families.

The tram is still a feature of life in De Haan, and its pretty, yellow-bricked station provides residents and tourists alike with a gateway to nearly 50 miles of Belgium’s coastline.

The Hotel Bonne Auberge is conveniently situated mere yards from the tram station, and a five-minute walk from the seafront.Owned by Joris Couwet, and his partner, Patricia, their boutique hotel is stylishly simple and full of considerate touches.

After a welcoming drink in the hotel’s library, the couple melt into the background, and for the rest of my stay I feel like a guest in the home of a considerate friend, rather than a name on a hotel register.

A tram journey away lies Knokke-Heist, or “Belgium’s Biarritz”, a chi-chi resort beloved of the country’s super-rich, and home to US Open tennis champion Kim Clijsters.

Its elegant shopping precincts host flagship stores for Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Lacoste, and boast the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe, with 21 stars in the 12 square miles of the city’s environs.

I dine on steak and frites at the upmarket Ruben’s, a simple meal elevated to fine dining by exquisite preparation.

Public art is a priority for the regional government, and the two giant orange figures of Joep van Lieshout’s “The First Meeting” form one of the city’s more arresting sights.

But despite the city’s air of exclusivity, hotel rates are reassuringly inclusive, starting at a bargain 75 euros a night.

A further surprise is the city’s rural fringe, which includes the Het Zwin nature reserve, a bird watcher’s paradise, and a ruggedly inspiring landscape of sand dunes shaped by saltwater tides for romantic couples eager for something more substantial than the city’s material attractions.

Those seeking an insight into the rich heritage of Flanders’ extraordinary coast should visit the National Fisheries Museum in the coastal town of Oostduinkerke, one of the best I’ve visited.

The hard and often romanticised life of the fisherman is brilliantly explored through the exhibits, artefacts, photographic exhibitions, and the life-sized mannequins that dominate the museum’s refurbished exhibition space, which reopened to the public after four years in 2008.

Two giant 30,000-litre saltwater fish tanks contain some of the most mesmerising creatures I’ve seen – the spotted dog fish is a shark in miniature; the triangular Thornback Ray seems like a creature from another planet; and the iridescent orange and silver scales of the tub gurnard is enough to reduce fashion designers to tears of envy.

Ferry crossings from Dover to Calais are simple. I travelled as a foot passenger, arriving by rail from the new St Pancras International station on South Eastern’s Eurostar-like high-speed service.

Once aboard, P&O’s Club Lounge provides an affordable haven from screaming children and booze-cruisers at just 16 euros including a complimentary glass of champagne and a newspaper. A meal in Langan’s Brasserie is also recommended.