It's the sum of small pleasures that makes this Flemish beach resort an attractive place. A stroll along the beach is to be had anywhere on the coast, but only Ostend combines the pleasures of city life and the up-close roar of the sea.

Minutes before you pull into the train station, you can see the other side of the Ostend inlet on your right, a working port with a dwindling fishing fleet and huge mail boats between old warehouses. Snug between the dunes lies Fort Napoleon, refurbished into an attractive restaurant and exhibition centre. The area feels remote but can be explored by taking the tram that says "De Haan" above the perky driver.

Ostend is the perfect place to leave it all behind; it's the end of the line, after all. Many runaways and socially disadvantaged find their way to Ostend, or so the myth goes. It's as far away as you can get from regular life in Belgium. Over the years, some great artists and musicians have tuned in to this undercurrent of non-conformism. One of them is, of course, the man of masks, James Ensor. Others include the painter Léon Spilliaert, rock musician Arno and cartoonist Kamagurka.

As you walk along the quay to the beach, you'll pass the colourful fish stalls selling snails, shrimp and other seafood before the smell of the sea hits your nostrils. Enjoy your first view and then briskly walk on to the next bend, where the beach finally gives way to the vastness of the sea. Benches of pensioners watch how sunbathers move in and out with the tide and the meals.

Buy an ice cream as you walk on to the next showstopper: the Royal Arcades. The omni- presence of King Leopold II inspired Ostend's nickname: "Queen of the beach resorts". His architectural legacy also includes the Wellington horse race track next door. A Belle Époque tourist attraction was born.

Leopold's statue still stands tall in the middle of the promenade, admiring fisherfolk on one side of its base, naked Congolese on the other side. In a rebellious act, some unknown Oostendenaars have chopped a hand off of one the Congolese men to remind us of that darker legacy of Leopold's reign.

Nowadays, Ostend prefers the perhaps less grand but more fitting title "City by the Sea" and promotes its city centre shopping and excellent restaurants. As the day draws to an end, don't go home yet. This is by far the best time on the Belgian coast to sit down on the beach. Watch the families and kids drag their feet to go have dinner, a bath, a nap in a sand-strewn bed. Feel content, melancholic or lost. Feel free.