You don't see it very often: a 50 hectare sports park with more than 20 football pitches, a large sports hall, a cycling track and various club houses. De Schorre sports park, home of KV Oostende, offers all the facilities necessary for a big international tournament. Every year, the Sirene Cup attracts around 100 teams from 6 or more countries, so it's a real challenge to be the team who goes home with the cup. However, you don't have to come purely for the sport - within 10 minutes you can be at the beach promenade and the lively centre of this popular spa town.
The Sirene Cup is organised by the 'Koninklijke Voetbalclub' (Royal Football Club) of Oostende. This club was established in 1981. The 1st team currently plays in the 1st national league. KV Oostende has 22 youth teams from which the select teams play at the highest level in Belgium.
The Sirene Cup is played at the impressive De Schorre sports grounds in Ostend, a few kilometres from the beach and city centre. The park has no fewer than 20 pitches, various clubhouses, canteens and a sports hall with a restaurant. Sportpark De Schorre is also the part-time base of KV Oostende. During the tournament, the venue will be festively supplemented with a large tent, terrace, food and drink stalls, bumper balls, bouncy castles and a stage. The event will also include numerous other activities. The sports ground is only a stone's throw from the beach and the boulevard on the Belgian coast.
Oostende (70,000 inhabitants) offers everything you would expect from a seaside town: an expanse of sea, a beautiful beach and a boulevard jam-packed with restaurants, cafés and hotels. In addition, the area behind the boulevard is riddled with shopping streets. In short: Oostende is a seaside town with an urban flair. De Schorre sports park is a couple of kilometres away from the centre and the boulevard.
Oostende Municipal Swimming Pool:
Is it too cold outside, or are you not keen on the salty seawater? Then head to the Oostende municipal swimming pool to cool off.
Fort Napoleon:
At the end of the 18th century, France annexed Belgium. Napoleon feared an English attack on the port of Oostende, so in 1811 he had an imposing fort built in the dunes: Fort Napoleon. It is now a museum, bistro and restaurant - it's really worth a visit.
Not exactly beach weather? It’s less than a fifteen-minute ride by train to the centre of Bruges. This historic city is also known as the Venice of the North. Just take a cruise around the city and you’ll understand exactly why. The beautiful city centre offers, among many other things, a museum dedicated to that other Belgian speciality: chocolate. Simply delicious!
