Trains, not ferries
Getting to Ostend
Ostend was once a busy passenger port for boats from Britain. Those ferries no longer run. The straightforward way to the coast now is the train, the coastal tram, or the motorway.
Intercity trains run from Brussels to Oostende station in about an hour and a quarter, with frequent services through the day. The station is close to the centre and the beach. The Kusttram, the coastal tram, links Ostend with the other resorts between De Panne and Knokke. By car the E40 (A10) is the main road from the interior.
If you are coming from the United Kingdom
There is no passenger ferry from the UK to Ostend, and none to any other Belgian port. The old Dover–Ostend service ended decades ago; the later Ramsgate boats stopped in 2013; the last direct UK–Belgium passenger route, Hull–Zeebrugge, ended in 2021. Travellers now cross by the Channel Tunnel, or by ferry to Calais or Dunkirk, and continue by road — Dunkirk is roughly three-quarters of an hour from Ostend — or they travel via Brussels by Eurostar and then take a domestic train to the coast. Eurostar itself does not serve Ostend.
The local airport
Ostend-Bruges Airport, a short drive from the centre, is mainly a cargo field with a limited passenger operation. It is not a substitute for Brussels Airport if you are flying into the country. Once you have arrived, the notes on Ostend itself cover the promenade, the museums and the tram along the shore.