Border path – Border post (De Panne, Belgium, France)
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General information about Grenspad Grenspaal
The Bray-Dunes – De Panne border post is a historic landmark dating back to 1819. It stands at the end of the Grenspad, a marked walking trail in the De Westhoek Nature Reserve.
In 1819, Belgium did not yet exist and was part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. That is why the letter "F" (for France) is on one side of the border post and the letter "N" on the other (and not "B" for Belgium). Here you are at the northernmost point of France and the westernmost point of Belgium (in other words, the real western point 😉 ).
Of course, there are still many of these boundary posts, and we are certainly not going to map them all. What makes this one special is that it had suffered irreparable damage in 2021, and the municipal authorities of Bray-Dunes and De Panne decided to install an identical new one. The immovable heritage was thus preserved. Restoration was not possible, so a complete replacement was chosen. This boundary post was inaugurated on November 22, 2024. Symbolically, it dates from 1819, but actually from 2024.
You can reach this border post by following the“Grenspad”(Border Path) along the De Westhoek Nature Reserve . Along this trail, you will see the not-so-attractive campsite "Le Perroquet" (which can accommodate up to 5,000 tourists – a veritable mammoth of a campsite) on one side and the beautiful sand dunes of the Belgian nature reserve on the other. With a bit of luck, you will also see the horses, just like we did: they are Konik horses (also known as Koniks for short). They were introduced to graze the dunes naturally.
Did you know that... the Province of West Flanders once commissioned a study to document the entire border story? You can find the report "De Grens in de Westhoek Deel 2 – Een grensmaterie. Inventaris van het erfgoed van de grens"(The Border in the Westhoek Part 2 – A border matter. Inventory ofthe heritage of theborder) by Monument in Ontwikkeling here (Frank Becuwe, 2012, 199 pages, PDF). Among other things, you will find all the border posts there. For example, you can read that there is still a border post at Maerestraat 4 with the letters F and B on it. This dates from 1892. Belgium already existed at that time, hence the letters.
“Sweet France”
When you walk along the border path, you will notice that there are various signs marking the boundary of the "De Westhoek" Nature Reserve. After all these years, these signs are virtually illegible, but they are still there and indicate the former boundary of the "dune reserve" (as the nature reserve was called at the time). If you walk from the inland towards the sea, you will always see them on a fence to your right . So far, so good.
Suddenly, you will notice that to your left, on the left-hand side (the French side), there are more signs like these. These are located right next to the fence of the "Le Perroquet" campsite. So, you have two boundaries of the "De Westhoek" Nature Reserve, as it were? Really? How is that possible?
Of course there are no two borders. As true gentlemen, when demarcating their reserve (1957), the Belgians placed the fence several dozen meters from the official border. This created a piece of "no man's land," as it were, between that fence and the official Belgian-French border. This piece was called "La Douce France." People went there to camp in the wild, it was a place where nudists went, and so on.
Since people wanted to avoid conflicts (just think of the problems that would arise if something were to happen there and the police or fire department had to/were allowed to intervene), it was ultimately decided to clearly abolish this strip of several dozen meters of "no man's land." In any case, it was Belgian territory, and there was no legal misunderstanding about that. For the "man in the street," it was, with a slight poetic exaggeration, a bit like the Wild West... 😉
So it came to pass that in 1973, a new boundary was established for the nature reserve: this is why you now see signs for the nature reserve on the left-hand side of what is now the border path. After a good 15 years, "La Douce France" came to a definitive end.
You can read more about this story on the blog “Bliedemaker."
Visitor tips Border Trail Border Post
General tips:
1) if you are looking for other nearby attractions, consult our Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen.
2) You can consult our overview lists: by category ( e.g. timeline, size, ...) or by region
3) You can also always consult tourist services: see our overview of tourist services
Tip 1: If you are interested in authentic boundary markers, you can also visit “Au Retour de la Chasse." There you can see an original one.
Geographical information
Address: Grenspad, De Panne, West Flanders, Belgium
Geographic coordinates:
– Google Maps: Latitude = 51.089115 – Longitude = 2.5455616666666625
– Open Street Maps: Latitude = 51.089115 – Longitude = 2.5455616666666625
– Altitude h = 2 m
Indication of Grenspad Grenspaal on:
Tourist map of Top.Vlaanderen – Google Maps – OpenStreetMap.
Route to Grenspad Grenspaal: Route via Google Maps
Meteo
7°C
| Day | Condition | Temperature | Precipitation | Rain Chance | Wind | Humidity | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Today
22:00
|
 cloudy
|
7° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 94 % | 1025 mb |
|
Tomorrow
22:00
|
 cloudless
|
7° | 15°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 12 Km/h | 96 % | 1025 mb |
|
Mon Mar 26
10:00 p.m.
|
 light rain
|
9° | 14°°C | 0.58 mm | 58% | 10 Km/h | 89 % | 1021 mb |
|
Tue Mar 26
10:00 p.m.
|
 very light cloud cover
|
8° | 11°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 16 Km/h | 96 % | 1020 mb |
|
Wed, Mar 26
10:00 p.m.
|
light rain
|
7° | 10°°C | 1 mm | 100% | 36 Km/h | 92 % | 1018 mb |
| Hour | Condition | Temperature | Precipitation | Rain Chance | Wind | Humidity | Pressure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Today
22:00
|
cloudy
|
7° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 94 % | 1025 mb |
|
Tomorrow
01:00
|
cloudy
|
8° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 12 Km/h | 94 % | 1025 mb |
|
Tomorrow
04:00
|
 slightly cloudy
|
7° | 8°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 11 Km/h | 96 % | 1024 mb |
|
Tomorrow
07:00
|
 very light cloud cover
|
7° | 7°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 10 Km/h | 96 % | 1023 mb |
|
Tomorrow
10:00
|
cloudless
|
9° | 9°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 12 Km/h | 84 % | 1024 mb |
|
Tomorrow
13:00
|
cloudless
|
13° | 13°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 7 Km/h | 63 % | 1023 mb |
|
Tomorrow
16:00
|
cloudless
|
15° | 15°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 5 Km/h | 54 % | 1021 mb |
|
Tomorrow
19:00
|
 cloudless
|
12° | 12°°C | 0 mm | 0% | 6 Km/h | 62 % | 1021 mb |
Tide predictions
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Internet information from and about Grenspad Grenspaal
Border path Border post:
Website - 
YouTube
Wikipedia information on:
– the phenomenon of “boundary posts” (EN - FR - AND)
Tourism Department "Visit De Panne"
Website - Facebook - Instagram - YouTube
Tourism "The Coast (Westtoer)
Website - Facebook - Instagram - YouTube
Our photos about Grenspad Grenspaal
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Photos from the visit on February 16, 2026
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Photos of the Border Trail (February 16, 2026)
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