Through the polders in the Westhoek

Start at the parking lot of the Flemish Visitor and Nature Education Center De Nachtegaal (V) at the end of the Olmenstraat in De Panne. The center has developed a Smuggling Bike Tour and you will pick up a piece of it at the start of this tour. Cycle from the car park to the Kerkstraat. Cross it and cycle left on the separate cycle path until you can turn right into the Calmeynbos. If you choose the unpaved variant of the adventurous smuggler, that is. Otherwise, continue straight until the roundabout and turn right into Duinhoekstraat. Follow it until you can cycle left into the Langgeleedstraat. For the adventurous variant, take the path that is forbidden for riders. Go through the sasje and then cycle along the wire fence. On the T turn left until you reach the asphalt service road. Follow it to the right. From the forest you cycle through the Westhoek dunes on a mountain bike route, parallel to a bridle path. At the end, turn left and cycle a bit on a narrow concrete bike path. If that stops, you have to go 150 m on a narrow, unpaved path, also a bridle path, with priority for the four-legged friends. The soil can be very rough. You end up on a paved road. Turn left until you reach Duinhoekstraat and turn right at the zebra crossing into Langgeleedstraat. You cycle between the white houses of two holiday domains and over the Langgeleed. On the left you see the amusement park Plopsaland 1. Cross the railway and cycle to the Nieuwpoort-Dunkirk canal. Turn left towards Adinkerke. If you catch sight of the pedestrian bridge, the Smekaertstraat moves away from the canal. At the first intersection, the Smuggling Bike Tour turns right. You cycle straight on to the church of Adinkerke. Here you can see on an information board of the Westhoek cycling network that this is junction 1. The flat polders Cross the road and cycle next to café Au Bon Coin into the Noordhoekstraat, direction junction 2. At the fork, turn right onto Burgweg, direction Veurne. Now you move into the flat polders for a while. At the end of the Burgweg, follow the Klokhofstraat to the right. At the canal you turn left with the road and cycle straight towards the towers of Veurne. Past the Klokhof farm you will arrive at the busy Europaweg. Follow the separate cycle path until you reach the traffic lights. Cross the road here and cycle through the Pannestraat into Veurne. At the roundabout you are at junction 2. If you want to see the historic city center, cycle straight on to the Grote Markt (highly recommended!). This tour turns left, towards junction 68, via the Astridlaan and the Oude Vestingstraat. Turn left at 68, direction junction 5. You cross the railway and cycle through the Rozendalstraat, which turns into Conterdijk, along the Nieuwpoort-Diksmuide canal. On the left the buildings of the Westhoek Kayak Club, further on the right, on the other bank, Looringhe Stede 2, a white farm complex from 1445 with tower. You reach junction 5 on a convex pedestrian bridge. On the other side a white chapel, on the left in the distance the military airport of Koksijde. Continue to follow the channel, towards junction 6. On the other bank you will see the restaurants Rubensstee and 't Schiptje, on your side 't Korenhof. Under the Wulpenbrug and a little further you reach the artwork Blij weerzien and the Florizoone bridge, a drawbridge for pedestrians and cyclists. You are now at node 6. Choose direction 20 here. Cross the bridge and cycle next to café Wielrijdersrust & the thirsty heart into the Kortestraat. You cross the Veurnekeiweg and cycle through the center of Wulpen, past the historic 17th-century Gasthof 3, formerly a 'passer-by guest house'. Past d'Oede Pastorie you cycle out of the village again. Through the Wulpendammestraat, past a chapel from 1866 into the polders. Turn left into the Booitshoekestraat, cross the Bommelarevaart and cycle past it. At the first intersection turn right and a little further across the highway, with a beautiful view of the flat polders from the bridge. Along the Frontzate You can let yourself be bulged up to junction 20 at café De Landman. Turn left towards junction 21, barely 500m further. Continue straight ahead on Pervijzestraat, direction 22. You drive along the Proostdijkvaart, cross it and cycle a little further along the Kleine Beverdijkvaart. Cross the Oude A-vaart and at the fork follow the Booitshoekestraat to the left. You now cycle more or less parallel to the Kleine Beverdijkvaart to the busy N335 (Nieuwpoort-Diksmuide). Cross it and 500 m further you are at junction 22.

Now follow the Frontzate to the left, towards junction 7. You cross the Kleine Beverdijk and continue to follow the straight former railway dike towards Nieuwpoort. Along the way you will encounter a lot of bunkers and (restored) war memories. In Ramskapelle are the remains of station 4, which served as a watchtower during WWI. A plaque commemorates the bloody battle that was fought here. Three statues of soldiers recall the Christmas Truce of 1914. Keep following the Frontzate, under the highway and along the Koolhofput, the reservoir of the Koolhofvaart. Cross the NieuwpoortDuinkerke canal and you are at junction 7. Follow the canal to the left, direction 6. You cycle with a bend under the Pelican bridge and a little further under the Zelte bridge. Continue towards Veurne between the Nieuwpoort-Dunkirk canal and the Langgeleed (popularly called the Lange Lis), a drainage that flows into the IJzerhavengeul in Nieuwpoort. At junction 6 in Wulpen turn right, direction 66, through the polders. At 66 in the centre of Oostduinkerke turn left, direction 65, before Hotel Beau Site, into the Guldenzandstraat. Back to the coast At riding school Ter Duinen you bend to the right, into the dunes, winding and undulating until you can turn left into the Doornpanne nature reserve. You cycle out again and start a long street tour. Keep an eye on the signage, because there is a lot of twisting and turning in a maze of streets. At a roundabout you come to junction 65. There direction 1, on a busy road, without a bike path. From the church square in Koksijde-aan-Zee, with the impressive Church of Our Lady of the Dunes, you can follow a suspender cycle path. Turn into a narrow path, away from the busy road. You cycle past the Abbey Museum Ten Duinen 1138 5 to the wide Koninklijke Prinslaan, with a roundabout on the left and the Zuidabdijmolen. Turn right and then into the first street on the left. Continue through the center of Sint-Idesbald and past the Paul Delvaux Museum to the busy Royal Lane. Then turn left on the bike path. Where the Koninklijke Baan turns into Nieuwpoortlaan, you climb onto the unpaved path for a beautiful view of the Houtsaegerduinen. You descend back to the paved road and stand on the outskirts of De Panne. You have to take the Koninginnelaan on the left, but if you want to see the sea, you have to cross the Nieuwpoortlaan on the right and cycle across the square to the seawall. The last part goes through the center of De Panne back to the starting point