Candy Shop

Candy Shop sits on Vlaanderenstraat, one of the busy shopping streets in the centre of Ostend. Astrid has run it since 1987, and there is a sister shop in Bruges; the walls are lined with clear dispensers holding, by the shop’s own count, more than 300 kinds of sweets.

This is the place for pick-and-mix nostalgia: gobstoppers, liquorice root and sweet watches sit alongside Dutch-style drop from sweet to salty salmiak, sour sweets, foam and marshmallow, nougat and meringue, sugar-free lines, lollies and imported American candy. There is a small chocolate corner too, with orangettes, flake truffles and Guylian sea shells, and you can buy sweets by colour for a themed party.

The shop’s signature is its snoeptaarten — candy cakes built to order in its own workshop, which it bills as the prettiest around, next to what it claims is the Benelux’s largest choice of sweets. Candy bouquets, party buffets and monthly candy subscriptions round out the range, and anything made fresh takes about five working days, so order ahead. There is a webshop, running since 2018, but it is just as easy to walk in. Open daily: Mondays from noon, otherwise from 10:00.