Through the Border Dunes

I like starting in Bray-Dunes. It is usually quieter than the Belgian side, and from Digue de Mer you reach the beach and dunes within minutes.

Near walking junction 54 stands a German bunker that belonged to Stützpunkt Adolf. It was a toilet bunker, and an original German inscription is still visible, warning of infection and asking soldiers to close the lid. It is a small, human detail in an otherwise grim set of defences.

From here, the walk continues along the beach towards Belgium. At low tide, you can see the remains of the river steamer Empress. Only a small part of it sticks out of the sand, probably a piece of the chimney.

Beyond the border, the route follows one of the quietest stretches of beach in De Panne. Eventually you reach the Westerpunt, the concrete viewpoint that has stood at the end of the promenade since 2024. From the top, you get a wide view across the sea, beach and Westhoek reserve.

In 2025, a public vote named the Westerpunt the most beautiful place in West Flanders. I would personally have chosen somewhere else. I find the dunes around it far more impressive than the concrete structure itself, although the view from the top is certainly worth stopping for.

This part of the coast also contains surviving traces of the German coastal defences from the Second World War. Bunkers and remains of the former anti-tank defences are reminders that this open stretch of beach once formed part of the Atlantic Wall.

From the coast, the route heads into De Westhoek nature reserve. It is the oldest nature reserve in Flanders and, together with the French Dune du Perroquet, forms a large cross-border dune landscape.

Much of this area was once known as the Sahara of De Panne. Wide expanses of bare sand and moving dunes dominated the landscape. Today, more of the reserve is covered by dune grassland and scrub, while housing, campsites and other development around its edges leave the dunes less room to move naturally.

Even so, this remains my favourite part of the walk. The paths wind through dune hollows, over sandy slopes and across open stretches of landscape. Highland cattle and Konik horses also graze parts of the reserve, helping to keep the dune vegetation open.

At node 3, you reach the French-Belgian border again and begin the return towards Bray-Dunes.

The border area looks very different from the way it did a few decades ago. Cafés and nightlife once benefited from the steady flow of people crossing between France and Belgium, but many disappeared as Europe’s internal borders became less important. Houses, small apartment buildings and campsite facilities now shape much more of the area.

Part of the return follows the line of the former railway, now a quiet route for walkers and cyclists. If you still want more dunes, you can head back onto one of the narrower paths behind the campsite. Here the landscape becomes wilder again, with old bunkers scattered between the sand and scrub.

From there, the route returns to Bray-Dunes. With beach, open dunes, wartime remains and border history all in one loop, this is still one of the most complete walks in this corner of the coast for me.