Oostende Car Rental Guide
The current page provides information about car rental in Oostende as well as a general description of the car rental and driving restrictions valid in Belgium.
Rental Restrictions
Cars rented in Belgium are not allowed into the following countries: Albania, Bosnia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Luxury cars are not allowed into Italy.
Driving Restrictions
In Belgium, traffic is on the right. The minimum age of a driver is 18 years. In order to sit in the front, children must be at least 12 years old. Those under 12 must be seated in a safety seat. The legal blood alcohol limit is 0.5‰.
Priority is given to the vehicle on your right, but trams always have priority.
When driving, headlights must be on between dusk and dawn and in poor weather conditions. You may only use the horn outside built-up areas.
Blue Zone parking areas for parking with discs are indicated by signs placed near them. However, where there are parking metres in the zones, the discs are not required. Outside the Blue Zones a parking disc must be used where indicated. Parking in the Blue Zone is usually allowed for up to 3 hours. Parking is forbidden within 15 metres of a tram, bus or train stop or where the tram or rail lines cross the road.
The police are authorised to collect fines on the spot. If you refuse to pay, you must place a security deposit.
Speed limits:| Area | Speed |
| City | 50KM/H |
| Open Roads | 90KM/H |
| Highways | 120KM/H |
Emergency Numbers
Ambulance/fire: 100
Police: 101
Road Tolls
There is a toll for the use of Antwerpen's Liefkenshoek Tunnel.
Some useful expressions for tourists visiting Belgium
Car Rental Agency - Bureau de location de voitures/Auto Verhuur
About Oostende
Oostende is a transport centre, a ferry port and a resort town. People flock to the city for sun, surfing, sailing and the famous casino Kursaal.
The main tourist attractions are the fishing harbour and the old town as well as the North Sea Aquarium and other museums. The most important attraction is the “Atlantikwall”, an impressive complex of tunnels and bunkers built by Germans during the World Wars. In the Yacht-Harbour there is the Mercator Ship, which is a floating museum. The “Fort Napoleon” in Oostende is the only still completely intact Napoleonic fortress left in Europe.
Oostende offers you many bars, cafes and restaurants and also various sports activities for spending your leisure time.
Area:
Population: 70,000
Country: Belgium
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1
Telephone Area Code: 59
Monetary Unit: Euro
