Shopping in Ostend: a walk down the city's shopping streets

Ostend (Oostende) keeps its shops close together. Almost everything is in a compact cross of mostly car-free streets around the Wapenplein, the central square, a few minutes on foot from both the train station and the sea. You can walk the lot in an afternoon, and still have time for chips on the promenade afterwards.

It is a proper mix. The main streets carry the familiar Belgian and international chains, while the quieter side streets are where the independent boutiques, the chocolatiers and the odd concept store have settled. This guide walks you down them from the station end to the Kursaal, points out the shops we think are worth a stop, and tells you when the markets are on and how Sunday opening works. We checked addresses and opening days in October 2026; hours still change with the seasons, so check the shop’s own page before a special trip.

At a glance

Kapellestraat: the high street

The Kapellestraat is Ostend’s main shopping street and its busiest, running from the church end up towards the Wapenplein. It is largely pedestrian, and it is where you will find the big names: high-street fashion, shoe shops, phone and beauty chains, one after another. It is the place to go if you want a mall’s worth of shops without the mall.

It has its sweet stops too. Leonidas at number 9 is the reliable Belgian pralines chain, good for a quick box of ballotins or a chocolate for the train. Keep the Kapellestraat for browsing the chains, and save your appetite for the independents a few streets over.

Wapenplein and the Ensorgalerij: the square in the middle

The Kapellestraat opens onto the Wapenplein, the square with the bandstand that acts as the hinge of the shopping district. On the square itself, Neuhaus at number 4 is the grander of the two big praline houses, the one that invented the filled praline in 1912.

Step into the covered James Ensorgalerij, the little glass-roofed arcade off the square, and the shops get more interesting. Bretoentje is a cheese shop that has been here for more than forty years, with Belgian and European cheeses and boards made up to order; a few doors down, De Pottery sells ceramics and homeware, including plates and mugs with an Ostend lighthouse on them that make an easy present. A short walk away on the Groentemarkt, the open-workshop chocolatier Olivier Willems makes chocolate in Ostend itself, including a praline built around the local PoppoLou beer.

This is also where the city’s weekly market sets up (see below), so a Thursday or Saturday morning here is busier and more fun than the rest of the week.

Adolf Buylstraat: the boutique spine

From the Wapenplein, the Adolf Buylstraat carries on towards the Kursaal and the sea. It is fully pedestrian, a little calmer than the Kapellestraat and a touch more upmarket, with a run of Belgian fashion labels and the odd café terrace spilling into the street. At the Wapenplein end, Moeder Babelutte at number 2 sells the coast’s own butter toffees, cuberdons and old-fashioned sweets — a more local souvenir than a generic box of chocolates.

The side streets: where the independents are

Turn off the main spine and the shops get smaller and more personal. This is the part of town worth wandering without a list.

• On the Vlaanderenstraat, Ida (numbers 68–70) is a womenswear boutique with a carefully chosen mix of labels, and it is dog-friendly.
• Just off it on the Hertstraat, LILY has spent more than a decade selling European fashion and interior brands, good for a gift.
• On the Sint-Paulusstraat, Ferm Homme is a rare dedicated menswear boutique.
• On the Koningstraat, Cascade is a newer womenswear shop with its own point of view.
• On the Van Iseghemlaan, Brut is a concept store that mixes vintage pieces, plants and design, a short walk from the beach.

For a tea or a quiet browse away from the crowds, Tealicious on the Hendrik Serruyslaan stocks loose teas, coffees and the pots to brew them in. Ostend also keeps a couple of good independent bookshops in and around these streets, though one of the best-known, on the Leopold I-plein, is temporarily closed after storm damage — worth checking before you go.

Beyond the centre

Three shops are worth the short trip out. Over on the Oosteroever, at the Vismijn fish market, Deschildre Streekproducten sells Flemish regional food and its own seaweed charcuterie, and you can taste on the spot. If you are self-catering, the Delhaize on the Hazegras side, near the station, is the handiest full supermarket, open late and on Sunday mornings. And for beach and outdoor gear there is A.S.Adventure on the Torhoutsesteenweg, a short tram or bus ride from the centre. Nearer the Kursaal, the small independent bookshop De Witte Zee is a good browse for literature and postcards.

Market days

Ostend’s weekly market is one of the best reasons to time a shopping trip:

• Thursday is the big one, spread across the Wapenplein, the Groentemarkt and the Mijnplein. The Wapenplein is non-food goods, the Groentemarkt is food.
• 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.
• During the Oktoberfoor funfair in autumn, the market moves temporarily to the Vindictivelaan.

Sunday opening and hours

Ostend is a seaside town, and shops in seaside towns are not required to take a weekly closing day. In practice that means many shops open on Sundays, especially in summer and during school holidays — but each shop sets its own hours, and smaller independents often close on a Monday or over lunch instead. Do not assume; the opening hours on each shop’s page are the ones we have checked.

Getting there

The shopping streets are about a ten-minute walk from Ostend station, straight up towards the Wapenplein, and the coast tram stops at Marie-Joséplein right by the centre. The core streets — the Kapellestraat, the Wapenplein and the Adolf Buylstraat — are mostly car-free, so leave the car in one of the central car parks and walk. The whole shopping district sits between the station and the sea, which makes it easy to fold an hour of shopping into a day on the beach.