Atlantikwall Raversyde — Attraction in Ostend

English/Nederlands

English Visited with a friend in August/October 2019. Museum is separated in multiple area's; the middle ages, first world war and second world war. You can visit them separately. We only went to the second world war area, which is a part of the Atlantic wall. Parking is free and tickets were 8 euro p.p. at the time (combi ticket for WW1 and WW2 area). The museum is quite large and mainly in open air. You can visit multiple bunkers and many of them are very well decorated. They had many Bofors 40L60 anti-aircraft guns and some other hardware like PAK guns. A great feature were the amount of underground tunnels throughout the museum which is pretty cool. The tour itself is directed and there is not a lot of room to wander off. The audio tour does not add a lot because its mostly basic war info, but it had some surprises. Its good if you don’t know a lot about the war. Overall a great museum which can be visited in approximately 2 hours (second world war part).

Nederlands Bezocht met een vriend in augustus/oktober 2019. Het museum is opgesplitst in meerdere gedeeltes; de middeleeuwen, de eerste wereldoorlog en de tweede wereld oorlog. Je kan deze apart bezoeken. Wij zijn alleen naar gedeelte over de tweede wereldoorlog geweest, welke onderdeel is van de Atlantic wall. Parkeren is gratis en tickets kosten 8 euro p.p. toen wij er waren. (combi ticket voor WW1 en WW2 gedeelte). Het museum is best groot en vooral in de open lucht. Je kan meerdere bunkers bezoeken en veel zijn mooi gedecoreerd. Ze hebben veel Bofors 40L60 luchtafweer opgesteld en wat andere hardware zoals PAK kanonnen. Een mooi kenmerk is de grote hoeveelheid ondergrondse tunnels door het museum wat erg leuk is. De tour zelf is geleid en er is niet veel plaats om af te dwalen. De audio tour voegt niet extreem veel unieke informatie toe, voornamelijk algemene info over de oorlog, al had het wat verassingen. De audiotour is goed als je niet veel weet van de oorlog. Globaal een goed museum welke bezocht kan worden in circa 2 uur (tweede...

Came here in Oostende for holidays, and I was met with this amazing WW1/WW2 Museum. I decided to visit it with my friends and family since I love to learn everything related to WW1 and WW2, and I was not disappointed.

The entry is relatively cheap for so much you can explore. We got told that a visit would take 2 hours, but we ended up exploring it for about 3 hours!

You’re given a map with a route that follows a certain route. It leads you to explore the WW1 route first and then the WW2 route.

You’re also given a device (a sort of phone) which is probably the most useful thing i’ve seen in a museum so far. It offers various things:

Audios: In the WW2 route, there are numbers marked on some doors where you can listen to information about that certain part -Location based information: It has some sort of tracker where, when you pass a certain area, it pops up images, maps, small videos and more information about that certain area.

Furthermore, the organisation, preservation and info boards are very good. It makes reading, as well as learning, much more enjoyable.

There are some areas in bunkers/underground routes, where you’re met with realistic war sounds, such as airplanes flying, bombs exploding and gunshots that give you that eerie experience of what soldiers had to endure day by day.

Finally, there are some TVs with small videos that explain certain events (How people survived during bombings, how the germans used their fortifications to defend the coast, how they used math to calculate the distance of the enemy’s ship, etc..)

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. As someone who loves everything about WW1/WW2, this museum is absolutely amazing and well explained. Totally recommend to take a moment to visit it and learn what the Belgian coast had to endure, as well as what happened in WW1/WW2 in general.

Fantastic, will come here one day with more friends and...

The Atlantikwall Raversyde is a fascinating and well-preserved section of the extensive WW2 fortifications along the coast. Having visited five times now, I still find the design and layout of this open air museum highly educational, offering a vivid glimpse into the harsh realities of wartime defense. The two-hour walk takes you through an immersive journey of how life must have been for soldiers stationed here, despite the fact that this location never faced direct threats during the war.

One of the most striking aspects is the sheer durability of the engineering—massive concrete structures that, even after 80 years of exposure to North Sea winds, storms, and salt, show minimal deterioration. It’s a testament to the efficiency in construction. However, this efficiency remains a source of my mixed feelings. The same German engineering prowess that built these formidable defenses was used elsewhere for far more sinister purposes, in concentration camps in Germany and Poland. This contrast is unsettling, raising difficult but necessary reflections on history. That being said, the museum is excellently curated, and the open-air setup makes for an engaging and thought-provoking visit. A must-see for history enthusiasts, though it leaves me with...