De Panne Favorites

Favorite thing: If you continue walking along the Nieuwpoortlaan, you arrive at a big bus stop. And behind this bus stop you find the quiet King Albert square.

It is a nice place to rest. If you stop at this square do not forget to look around, you will discover some beautiful old houses.

Favorite thing: Big fun for the children of course, as on the beach road there is a mini steam carrousel.

Maybe that in the past it was driven by steam, nowadays it is driven by an electric engine.

But if you are a kid, that doesn't really matters, as long as the carrousel keeps on turning.

Favorite thing: You can't miss them, the colourful beach cabins.
I have a few colleagues at work, who live near the Belgium coast, and they call these beach cabins "strangetenten", in fact this the Flemish dialect for strandtenten, which means in English beach tents. It is kind of funny that even in a small country as Belgium there are so many different dialects.

Fondest memory: It is kind of strange, as De Panne is really not far from where I live (about 45 minutes by car), but when I walk around here among the many other visitors, it always gives me a kind of being on holiday feeling.

Favorite thing: I think that the dogs are very special in De Panne, you could even say they are remarkably intelligent.

Well, they have placed signs on the beach, so that the dogs know how to behave.

Like on this picture, you can see that dogs aren't allowed on the beach, and the doggy toilet is to the left.

Favorite thing: On the beach there is an area where kids feel at home. It is kind of a special children’s playground, they can climb and jump on air castles. Swim in a bath full of coloured balls . . .

Oh, I wish I was younger . . . .

Favorite thing: When you arrive in De Panne by car, you will arrive certainly at the big roundabout near the city centre. There are plenty of parking places to loose your car, so that you can discover this city on foot.

From this roundabout you have a splendid view over the Leopold I - Esplanade.

Info: Leopold I was the first Belgian King.

This Esplanade was already a unique place in the past. As on the place where stands the Leopold I monument there were four big villas of wealthy families. And during World War I the Royal Family lived here.
These Royal Villas were destroyed during the Second World War and removed in the 50-ties.

In the beginning of the Esplanade there is a big arch construction, which works as a gate, and which makes a visual connection with the Leopold I monument.

Favorite thing: As you can see at this big billboard, made by Elger Esser, it looks as collecting shells is something of all times.

Who can still remember his first visit to the beach . . . and how interesting and fascinating it was to search for those shells, the bigger and more colourful they were, the prouder you were.

Fondest memory: walking in the surf of the sea and searching for shells.

Favorite thing: More then hundred years ago, sand yachting became a sport. Some creative minds dreamed about using the wind as a source of energy to move across land.

Take the combination of a car, a sail and the wind, and you have a sailing car.

Pioneers of this remarkable sport were the brothers Andre and Benjamin Dumont, who drove with their first sailing cars in De Panne and in Middelkerke.

As De Panne has the widest beach of the whole Belgium coast, it is surely the cradle of the sand sailing.