Cycling to Belgian seaside in February

Alright. You are in Brugge, Flanders and have already seen the town centre, had the famous Belgian beer and fries, explored the hidden gems on a bike tour with Quasimundo bike tours. What else to do? A very straightforward little cycling trip to the nearest seaside town of Blankenberge.

Google maps said it is 15 kilometres and a very easy navigation on a cycling path along the main - not busy road. I rented a bike in town centre and started cycling with a warm hat, gloves and down jacket. Although perfect blue skies were promising it was still crisp in the morning.

Once again thrilled and astonished about the cycling infrastructure, especially comparing it to ours in Ljubljana and Slovenia (which isn't bad, but still decade behind). Road was of course flat and after 15 minutes I warmed up to remove a few layers and gloves. After around 45 minutes I reached the town and headed straight to the seaside to the big Belgium pier. Town was quiet, few people strolling on the huge sandy beach.

Town itself is nothing too spectacular, it must be bustling with life in summer, mainly holidays apartments I guess and a marina tucked in the back. A bunch of elderly Belgians where soaking the sun on the benches protected from the wind. I took a short coffee break and headed back to Brugge.

I took a slightly longer route back through the countryside villages of Sint-Jan-Op-Den-Dijk and Zuienkerke (gotta love this names) and just outside Brugge passing a small lake Sint-Pietersplas. I figured out later, that the dinner we had next day was on the waterfront of this lake.