Markets in Ostend: the weekly market, the fish market and more

Ostend (Oostende) has a market almost every day of the week. The big weekly market fills the central squares on Thursday and Saturday mornings, a flower market takes over the Wapenplein on Sundays, and down on the harbour the open-air fish market sells the North Sea catch every day it comes in. For a town this size, that is a lot of market, and it is one of the better reasons to be up and about early.

This guide covers the markets worth planning around: when they are on, where to find them and what to look for. We checked the days and places with the city in October 2026. Market times shift with the seasons, and bad weather at sea can empty the fish stalls, so treat the hours below as the usual pattern rather than a promise.

At a glance

The weekly market

Ostend’s weekly market is the big one, and it runs twice a week. It spreads across the squares in the heart of the shopping district, so it is easy to fold into a morning in town.

• Thursday is the larger day, across three squares: the Wapenplein for non-food goods — clothes, bags, household bits — the Groentemarkt for food, and the Mijnplein as well.
• Saturday the market runs on the Wapenplein and the Groentemarkt.
• Hours are 6am to 1pm, but from 1 October until the Easter holidays it starts an hour later, at 7am. There is no market on 25 December or 1 January.

It is a proper Flemish market: fruit and veg, cheese and charcuterie, rotisserie chicken, flowers and plants, fabrics and clothes, and the usual stalls of socks, batteries and kitchen gadgets. Come for the food, and bring a bag. When you have filled it, the market squares put you right by some of the city’s best food shops: Neuhaus is on the Wapenplein itself, the Ostend chocolatier Olivier Willems has his workshop on the Groentemarkt, and the cheese shop Bretoentje is a step away in the covered Ensorgalerij. If it is chocolate you are after, see our guide to Belgian chocolate in Ostend.

One thing to know: each autumn, when the Oktoberfoor funfair takes over the Wapenplein, the weekly market moves temporarily to the Vindictivelaan.

The Sunday flower market

On Sunday mornings, the Wapenplein hosts a flower market instead. It is a smaller, gentler affair than the weekday market — cut flowers, bunches and plants — and it runs from about 7am to 1pm. It is a pleasant thing to walk through on a Sunday, when many of the shops nearby are open too (Ostend is a seaside town, so Sunday opening is normal here).

The Vistrap: Ostend’s fish market

The market that says the most about Ostend is the Vistrap, the open-air fish market on the Visserskaai by the Montgomerydok. It is open daily, and what makes it special is who sells there: only the owners of small coastal fishing boats, selling their own catch from trips of less than a day.

Expect fresh North Sea fish — whole, gutted or filleted — and cooked grey shrimp, peeled or unpeeled. What is on the stall depends on the season and on whether the boats could get out; after a storm at sea there may be little or nothing. Come early in the morning for the best choice. The Vistrap itself does not sell hot food, but the fish stalls along the Visserskaai nearby do a roaring trade in shellfish, smoked fish and paper cups of hot sea snails (wulloks) — an Ostend institution.

For regional food to take home rather than cook that evening, Deschildre Streekproducten, over at the Vismijn fish auction on the Oosteroever, sells Flemish specialities and its own seaweed charcuterie, with tastings on the spot.

Seasonal and special markets

Beyond the regular markets, a few things are worth timing a visit around:

• In December, a Christmas market with an ice-skating rink sets up in the centre — the usual chalets, mulled wine and lights that come with the city’s winter programme.
• In autumn, the Oktoberfoor funfair takes over the Wapenplein for a couple of weeks, with rides and stalls (and, as above, it bumps the weekly market round the corner to the Vindictivelaan).
• Flea markets and brocante fairs (rommelmarkten) pop up through the year, good for second-hand finds, vintage and the odd antique. Dates move, so check what is on during your stay.

Practical tips

• Markets are a morning thing. The weekly and flower markets wind down by 1pm, and the fish is best early, so plan for before lunch rather than after.
• Bring a bag, and some cash. Many stalls now take cards, but not all, and the food stalls are quicker with coins.
• Getting there: the Wapenplein is about a ten-minute walk from Ostend station, straight up through the shopping streets; the coast tram stops nearby at Marie-Joséplein. The Vistrap is on the harbour side, along the Visserskaai.
• The weekly and flower markets share the Wapenplein, which is also the hub of the city’s shops — so a market morning slots neatly into a walk down Ostend’s shopping streets.