Tourist attractions Lo

This vast square is lined with fine buildings (Town Hall, Landhuis, St Walburg church) and mostly early-17C houses topped by imposing gables, pediments and cornices. On the north side, note the set of five houses with fine gables, adorned with heav..

Opened in 1998, this innovatively-designed museum provides a captivating history of the First World War using audio-visual techniques, and has over 3 000 accounts of the experiences of individuals (soldiers, nurses, refugees, children etc) of over 50..

The long rectangular cloth halls, surrounding two narrow courtyards, were completed in 1304, then rebuilt in sandstone in the original style after First World War destruction. Seen from the Grand-Place Albert 1, their 133m-long façade is broken by a ..

This fine 14C hall-church was partly rebuilt in 1924. It is topped by a crocketed spire and houses interesting 17C and 18C furnishings.

This museum has several sections with reconstructed rural buildings containing early farming equipment from the West Flanders province. Note the fine Gothic church, whose interior is adorned with old woodwork and nearby small 17C pilgrimage chapel.

The 16C-17C Beauvoorde Castle is a charming building with crow-stepped gables, surrounded by water and hidden behind its park's great trees. The interior has 17C woodwork and rich antique furniture and artifact collections.

This 84m-high tower is a memorial to the heroes of the Battle of the Yser on the river's opposite bank. It bears the letters A.V.V.-V.V.K. for the motto: "All for Flanders, Flanders for Christ". The panoramic view from the top covers the ..

Belgian soldiers resisted the Germans (who had crossed the Yser here) in these trenches from 1914 to 1918. A viewing table enables to locate the strategic points. Visitors can then walk along two long trench corridors, in which sandbagged parapets ha..

This museum presents types of cereals used for bread-making, implements for baking bread and speculoos biscuits to preparing ice cream and waffles. Note the small revolving mill, a small reconstructed bakery and confectionery shop, as well as 19C-20C..

This hall-church is topped by a fine 13C huge brick tower that houses one of Flanders' oldest bells, the Bomtje (1379). The interior has three aisles of equal height. Note the interesting high-altar triptych (1534) depicting the Crucifixion, which ..

This arcaded house (1636) at the south end of the main square was the former guard-room. Its side wall overlooks the apple market (Appelmarkt) and St Nicholas' church.

The Flemish Renaissance Town Hall was built in 1596 (left) and 1612 (right). It has a double pedimented façade with an elegant loggia and a small onion-domed turret crowning a staircase at the back. Inside, the walls are lined with fine leather from ..

The meat market (1615) has a pretty façade and now houses the town library in a former butcher's shop.

The 15C Spanish Pavilion on the corner of the main square and ( Ooststraat ) was the town hall until 1586. It was the Spanish officers' quarters in the 17C.

In 1906, the Austrian writer Rainer Maria Rilke stayed in this former inn, the Noble Rose ( Die Nobele Rose, 1572 . Opposite, a small monument commemorates the Nieuwport lock-keeper who caused flooding in 1914.

The old law courts building was once a castellany (1618) and was inspired by Antwerp's city hall. Note the Gothic belfry (1628), topped by a Baroque roof, behind.

The first Romanesque church, razed by Norsemen, was rebuilt in the 12C. The 13C saw the start of a new but never completed building, as the 14C chancel and base of a tower (neighbouring square) suggest. The interior has imposing and harmonious propor..

This fine set of brick buildings once belonged to Dune Abbey. The monumental barn, similar to the one in Ter Doest, now lies in ruins.

This 30ha theme park is based around Samson and Gert (a dog that speaks to his master), plus an elf called Plop, who are very popular with children in Flanders. The focus here is on younger visitors: free entrance for those below 1m in height!

The museum includes a reconstructed regional interior, workshops (lacemaker's, clogmaker's etc.), a chapel, a grocer's shop, a barn and a small school.