Blankenberge Things to Do

The sepentarium is not for the squeamish..there are an amazing array of spiders and snakes and lizards and all manner of the creepy and the crawly...we enjoyed it although we understood that msot of the creatures there would not be there except for the stupidity of people who bought them ( mostly illegally) to keep as a pet...before they realised how difficult and expensive and time consuming these exotics can be..better left in the wild than in your back room...

Tickets are slightly expensive at E10 for the short visit but as previously mentioned these creatures cost a lot to keep..the heating bill alone would be enough to make a grown man cry.

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We do love aquariums and the underwater world ...on the other hand we always end up feeling just a little bit sad that these wonderful creatures are behind glass to be viewed...

With over 50 aquariums and 2500 thinghs to see it is a worthwhile day out.

I would advise tickets to be bought before hand on the internet as it saves E5 per ticket and can save you a long time in the queue .

There are snacks and drinks available on site but the cost is inflated so beware

The Pier is great for a walk and a stopover at the very end.

The Blankenberge Pier has a long history. It was inspired by the many British Piers along the UK coast. After 6 years of negotiations and re-designs engineer Casse, architect E. Hellemans and contractor Monnoyer got to go for the constuction of the Pier in 1889. In 1894 The Pier was opened.

During WWI the Pier was set on fire by the occupian German forces and destroyed.

In 1930 the city council decided to rebuild the Pier. The new one was designed by Jules Soete and A. Bouquet. The new Pier was opened on 9 July 1933.

During WWII the new Pier almost got the same fate as its predecessor, but luckily the order from German high command was ignored.

The Pier has been exploided by several companies throught the years.

The pier was renovated in 2003 and offers a great view onto Blankenberge from the Northsea.

WEBCAM.

A very nice place to visit. You may see many fishes and other sea animals. I even could caress a shark. Nice. And the animals are kept good and correct, they have even a seal clinic and an elevation of hyppocampuses.
Great place to spend an afternoon. (Even if it cannot be compared with the two oceans center in Cape Town...)

Much like the other SeaLife centres in Britain, the Netherlands etc. I haven't got a photo from it, but trust me, it's worth a visit, especially if you've got children (as there is also a nice playground). There are aquariums and an outdoor bit with otters and seals and you can see the seals being fed. There is also a seal sanctuary. My favourites are as ever, the seahorses and here you get to see them in a sort of magnifying way which is great. You can also pet the rays in their tank :-)

This is bucket and spade country. The town has all the charm of a Mancunian housing estate but the gently sloping beach is a haven for families. The sand dunes are great as you can set up base camp and keep an eye on the kids for all of the half mile or so to where the waters of the North sea lap onto the beach. As it is so gently sloping it is possible to have a little walk out to sea. In my youth I would happily swim in the North sea, but I must have been made of stronger stuff in those days.. you wouldn't catch me doing it now.

Being so large the beach only gets a bit crowded around the pier area in town - elsewhere you will have acres of space even on the hottest of summer days. Whilst the beach is great the view is hardly Barbados. Forget swinging palm trees - we are talking the grey north sea and the occasional container ship / ferry heading into nearby Zeebrugge port for your interest.

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Enjoyed a walk around town, a Monday so not the busiest day. Fancied a look at the model railway exhibition at the station, closed though and almost visited the sealife centre but time had moved on so, maybe next time?
Here's just a few photos.

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On the Western side of the beach is the yacht-harbour. This large basin used to be the fisher harbor of Blankenberge. But this changed last century - after the last worldwar it became a yacht-harbour for middle sized boats. ( text from the tourist info brochure )