Knokke-Heist is a beach resort and town of 33,000 inhabitants (2018) on the Belgian sea coast in the northern corner of West Flanders. The mayor, Count Leopold Lippens, said that he wants that worldly people would feel at home here. Different clubs like tennis and golf clubs are available.
Knokke-Heist consists of the proper centres of Knokke and Heist, with Knokke bordering Sluis in the Netherlands.
Knokke used to be known as the more upper class and chique seaside resort town on the Belgian coast (like 'the Saint-Tropez' or 'Monaco' of the Belgian coast). However, a lot of this is past glory. The influx of less wealthy day trippers, who come in by train and overwhelm the city's beaches during summer, make Knokke's seafront look like any other Belgian coastal town with a train station (e.g. Blankenberge, Oostende). Mayor Count Leopold Lippens once even famously complained about the so-called 'frigoboxtoeristen' - day trippers who bring their cooler box full of food and drinks, and do not consume anything in seaside pubs or restaurants - whom he even wanted to prevent from coming to Knokke. The uniform and ugly rows of grey apartment blocks lining the seafront (the 'Atlantikwall') are also no different from any other Belgian coastal town. On the other hand, the remote Zwin Beach at the far eastern end of Knokke, on the Dutch border, is one of the most remarkable beaches on the entire Belgian seaside.
The E34 motorway from Antwerp, which continues as the N49 highway on its last stretch, terminates in Knokke-Heist. The E40 motorway (to Ghent, Brussels, the rest of the Belgian seaside and the Channel ports Dunkirk and Calais) can be reached via Bruges.
Knokke is a terminus railway station. One hourly direct train departs Knokke for Bruges, Ghent and Brussels, after which it continues to and terminates in Brussels Airport Zaventem. Connections to other places can be made in Bruges, Ghent or Brussels. There are three train stations on the territory of Knokke-Heist, and the train stops in all of those: Station Heist 📍, Station Duinbergen 📍 and the terminal station, closest to the actual centre of Knokke, Station Knokke 📍. Usually trains go for Knokke once an hour, but the schedule should be checked in advance on the website of the Belgian national railway company NMBS.
Another option to reach Knokke, especially from other towns on the Belgian seaside, is by coastal tram (de Kusttram in Dutch). The 60-km-long tram line runs from De Panne near the French border to Knokke as the final stop, almost the whole length of the Belgian coast. The Kusttram Terminal Station 📍 is located very close to the main railway station for Knokke.
Bike lanes along the Belgian seaside are in terrible condition. Inside the towns, they often (like in Knokke for example) run on the busy seafront promenade, where one has to be constantly on guard for collisions with pedestrians ignoring the bike lane, children playing and riding go-carts, etc. In between the towns, the bike lanes are usually barely separated, narrow strips running right next to the main coastal highway, with traffic racing by at high speed. This highway runs behind the dunes, so sea-views are non-existent there.
In the direction of the Netherlands coast, the situation is very different. A very safe, comfortable and scenic bike path exits Knokke towards the east, along the suburb 'Het Zoute' and then around the Zwin Nature Reserve, continuing to Cadzand-Bad in the Dutch municipality Sluis. From there on, it continues as an extremely scenic bike path atop the dunes, passing along 15 km of unspoillt beaches before reaching Breskens. This is one of the best coastal bicycle paths in Zeeland, as it gives you unrivalled and uninterrupted views the whole time over both the beach and sea on one side and the polders behind the dunes on the other.
Knokke proper is small enough to get around on foot. To move around the municipality, you can use the coastal tram (only towards the west), car or bicycle.
The major shopping streets are the Lippenslaan (called after the ruling mayoral dynasty - connecting the seafront with the railway station) and the Kustlaan. Several supermarkets can be found around town, including Delhaize and Albert Heijn. There are also a couple of night shops around the Lippenslaan, popular among youth to buy booze at night.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division