Attractions

A stroll through De Panne's tree-lined residential streets, with rows of delightful Art Nouveau villas left over from another era, and traditional fishermen's cottages still in use (on Veurnestraat), is a delight. But outdoors recreation is what people come to De Panne for. With all those dunes to explore and the beach for sunning, swimming, horseback riding, and sand-yachting, no one's ever short of things to do.

Nature Reserves

Four nature areas around De Panne are all free and open daily. The most important, Westhoekreservaat (Westhoek Reserve), 340 hectares (840 acres) on the western edge of De Panne, is the largest dunes landscape on the Belgian coast. Although vacation developments squeeze right up against its boundary, once you're immersed in this broad vista of sand, dubbed "the Sahara," you'll find it hard to believe it's in the same country as the overdeveloped seacoast. Vegetation varies from full-grown trees to scrubby shrubs. In the springtime, wildflowers blossom among the sands; in winter, shallow rainwater pools accumulate. The dunes change both their shape and position as contrary winds imperceptibly move the grains beneath your feet.

You're obliged to tour on four signposted footpaths, because tramping on the dunes causes erosion, scares off nesting birds, and damages the fragile life-support system of rare indigenous plants, including orchids -- sadly, many visitors ignore this stipulation. At a closed animal reserve are Shetland ponies, Highland cattle, and wild horses, in an attempt to mimic the scene from a century ago. The dunes continue across the border into France, in an additional 225 hectares (555 acres) called Les Dunes de Perroquet.

The 93-hectare (230-acre) Cabourduinen (Cabour Dunes), straddling the French border, is another area that provides nature walks. Calmeynbos (Calmeyn Wood), which covers only 45 hectares (110 acres), is the loving legacy of one man, Maurice Calmeyn, who in 1903 began to plant trees here in order to preserve the dunes. Some 25 varieties of his trees are thriving today.

East of De Panne is the 60-hectare (150-acre) Oosthoekduinen (Oosthoek Dunes), which has more dunes and woods.

For detailed information about all these reserves, and for guided tours, go to the Bezoekerscentrum De Nachtegaal (Nightingale Visitor Center), Olmendreef 2, De Panne (tel. 058/42-21-51; www.vbncdenachtegaal.be).