knokke heist

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chippy348

Original Poster:

647 posts

153 months

Tuesday 4th August 2020
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Spent a few hrs in knokke heist just before lock down https://goo.gl/maps/VsomWwvNT2iy95b19

Looked a nice place, so planning a for a 4 day break in a few weeks. Usually do Ghent, Koln or Dusseldorf

Anyone ever stopped there ?

sunbeam alpine

7,057 posts

194 months

Tuesday 4th August 2020
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It's the Belgian Deauville - quite chic, some places a bit snobby, but generally you can have a good time. Excellent beaches and lots to see. Better to head north along to coast in the direction of Holland - heading south takes you to Zeebrugge, which also has nice beaches once you get past the port.

Having said that I'd give it a miss just now. Local councils have a lot more powers in Belgium - and they can impose stricter rules than the national rules/guidelines - and the Covid rules in Knokke are quite draconian.

You have to wear a face mask outdoors over the whole area - the only exception is on the beach itself. In addition you actually have to book a place on the beach - and there are a limited number of places available.

It's definitely worth visiting, just not now! smile

TheDriverCom

113 posts

101 months

Wednesday 5th August 2020
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The Zoute Grand Prix, a yearly rallye held here is always a great weekend with plenty to do and see. I believe it is still going ahead this year during October.

chippy348

Original Poster:

647 posts

153 months

Wednesday 5th August 2020
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
It's the Belgian Deauville - quite chic, some places a bit snobby, but generally you can have a good time. Excellent beaches and lots to see. Better to head north along to coast in the direction of Holland - heading south takes you to Zeebrugge, which also has nice beaches once you get past the port.

Having said that I'd give it a miss just now. Local councils have a lot more powers in Belgium - and they can impose stricter rules than the national rules/guidelines - and the Covid rules in Knokke are quite draconian.

You have to wear a face mask outdoors over the whole area - the only exception is on the beach itself. In addition you actually have to book a place on the beach - and there are a limited number of places available.

It's definitely worth visiting, just not now! smile
Many thanks for your invaluable information, i will give it a miss for now but do want to visit it again.

Will make our way to good old Koln for a few days away

chippy348

Original Poster:

647 posts

153 months

Friday 7th August 2020
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
It's the Belgian Deauville - quite chic, some places a bit snobby, but generally you can have a good time. Excellent beaches and lots to see. Better to head north along to coast in the direction of Holland - heading south takes you to Zeebrugge, which also has nice beaches once you get past the port.

Having said that I'd give it a miss just now. Local councils have a lot more powers in Belgium - and they can impose stricter rules than the national rules/guidelines - and the Covid rules in Knokke are quite draconian.

You have to wear a face mask outdoors over the whole area - the only exception is on the beach itself. In addition you actually have to book a place on the beach - and there are a limited number of places available.

It's definitely worth visiting, just not now! smile
Change of plan, thinking of going a bit further up to Cadzand-Bad. Any opinion on that in the current CV-19 times

sunbeam alpine

7,057 posts

194 months

Friday 7th August 2020
quotequote all
chippy348 said:
sunbeam alpine said:
It's the Belgian Deauville - quite chic, some places a bit snobby, but generally you can have a good time. Excellent beaches and lots to see. Better to head north along to coast in the direction of Holland - heading south takes you to Zeebrugge, which also has nice beaches once you get past the port.

Having said that I'd give it a miss just now. Local councils have a lot more powers in Belgium - and they can impose stricter rules than the national rules/guidelines - and the Covid rules in Knokke are quite draconian.

You have to wear a face mask outdoors over the whole area - the only exception is on the beach itself. In addition you actually have to book a place on the beach - and there are a limited number of places available.

It's definitely worth visiting, just not now! smile
Change of plan, thinking of going a bit further up to Cadzand-Bad. Any opinion on that in the current CV-19 times
Cadzand is lovely. It's actually where we go if we want to go to the beach. It's usually a lot less busy than the Belgian beach resorts, although we don't get there in the peak summer months as I have an agricultural contracting business so we're flat out in July/August (unless it's raining, but then we don't want to go to the beach). Breskens (a bit further along) is also very nice - and a bit bigger - so may offer a better chance of finding some accommodation. It still has a working fishing harbour and you can buy fish and seafood off the boat. Goes without saying that they have excellent seafood restaurants!

https://cadzand.org/en/

^^That's the Cadzand tourist website (in English). I can't advise on anywhere to stay as it's only a half hour drive from home for me!

I've had a quick look on the website regarding Covid measures, and they seem more relaxed than the Belgian rules, and pretty much everything seems to be open.

I don't know if you have seen, but Belgium will be on the UK 14-day quarantaine list from Saturday, and it's not clear how they will treat "transit" passengers who have only passed through.

chippy348

Original Poster:

647 posts

153 months

Friday 7th August 2020
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
I don't know if you have seen, but Belgium will be on the UK 14-day quarantaine list from Saturday, and it's not clear how they will treat "transit" passengers who have only passed through.
Many thanks for your reply it does help us out a lot.

We are now going Harwich to Hook of Holland now so avoiding BE, it been a few years since i have done a Ferry crossing but it makes more sense with this one.



sunbeam alpine

7,057 posts

194 months

Friday 7th August 2020
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If you're going into Hoek than you don't need to go down as far as Cadzand to find some really nice places. I've done loads of classic cars runs over the whole area but never done an overnight stop, so can't give much practical advice over where to stay.

Might be worth looking at Zierikzee (very touristy), Ouddorp, Brouwershaven, Domburg and Westkapelle - the whole area is very beautiful.

If you do go to Cadzand don't get caught out - the ferry from Vlissingen to Breskens has changed to foot passengers only, so you have to go via the Westerschelde tunnel. This is about 7 km long and quite enjoyable in something a bit throaty... smile

Edited by sunbeam alpine on Friday 7th August 16:09

chippy348

Original Poster:

647 posts

153 months

Friday 25th August 2023
quotequote all
sunbeam alpine said:
It's the Belgian Deauville - quite chic, some places a bit snobby, but generally you can have a good time. Excellent beaches and lots to see. Better to head north along to coast in the direction of Holland - heading south takes you to Zeebrugge, which also has nice beaches once you get past the port.

Having said that I'd give it a miss just now. Local councils have a lot more powers in Belgium - and they can impose stricter rules than the national rules/guidelines - and the Covid rules in Knokke are quite draconian.

You have to wear a face mask outdoors over the whole area - the only exception is on the beach itself. In addition you actually have to book a place on the beach - and there are a limited number of places available.

It's definitely worth visiting, just not now! smile
Bringing this back up hopefully for sunbeam alpine to see.

Thinking of going to getting to knokke September 7/8, all ok kids back at school ? i know its the weekend but just trying to get a feel for it.

sunbeam alpine

7,057 posts

194 months

Friday 25th August 2023
quotequote all
chippy348 said:
Bringing this back up hopefully for sunbeam alpine to see.

Thinking of going to getting to knokke September 7/8, all ok kids back at school ? i know its the weekend but just trying to get a feel for it.
Belgian schools will be back but I expect it will still be quite busy.

If you can wait a month you could see the Zoute Grand Prix - definitely worth a visit as you'll see seriously expensive classics being driven very enthusiastically, mostly on public roads, plus some closed timed sections with good viewing. You might find it more difficult to find accommodation though.