Where to Go and What to Do

Holidays by Destination Europe France Pas de Calais Where to Go and What to Do 

Beaches

Fort-Mahon-Plage Sands and Aquaclub water park with slides, wave machine etc and children's playground.
Hardelot Plage Sheltered between two dune ranges. Pine forest around the beach area is national parkland. Le wheeling is sand racing on wheeled surfboards. Station Kid status indicates child-friendly facilities, cleanliness and safety. Bikes for hire.
Le Touquet Despite an overdeveloped sea front has a certain charm dating from its initial development in the ‘20s, and is well geared to children. The beach sees wind surfers, kite flyers and at low tide lots of sand for games and walks. Aqualud waterpark offers 4,000 sq metres of pools and slides under a glass dome. Other sports offered include golf, horse riding and tennis.
Wimereux Another Station Kid; a late 19th century seaside town. Mountain bikes for hire and horse riding just outside the centre. Club Iodie offers reductions for under 13s in shops, leisure centres and some restaurants.
Wissant (Flemish for white sand) is notable for an extensive, sandy beach backed by rolling dunes. A centre for land-yachiting and water sports.

Animals

Zoo de Bagatelle Berck-sur-Mer, the largest amusement park in northern France with animals from yaks to Egyptian geese plus Europe's longest toboggan raft, monorail and more. F88, under 1.20m F58, under 1m free, mid-May to early September
Nausicaa Boulevard Sainte-Beuve, Boulogne. Imaginative layout brings visitors close to fish and other sealife including a section where you can stroke skate. Also restaurant and cafe.
Marquenterre Bird Sanctuary St Quentin-en-Tourmont, Rue. On the Somme Bay, a major stopover for migratory birds with in winter up to 120 million geese. Binoculars for hire and baby slings.

Museums

For more ideas contact the tourist offices.
Le Coupole Helfaut nr St Omer, in a bunker built to launch V2 missiles, covering World War II secret weapons and the French occupation, including for children and in English.
La Maison du Papier Rue Bernard Chochoy, Esquerdes, follows the history of paper through to modern inventions like the paper chair and includes a paper-making workshop where visitors can try their hand.
Ambleteuse a small museum to the Second World War.
Audinghen a former German blockhouse.

Out and About

The walled upper town of Boulogne with some medieval and Renaissance buildings plus a slightly peculiar 19th century basilica.
Etaples a fishing centre, once fashionable with artists.
Inland Montreuil-sur-Mer, a town retaining its ramparts, rebuilt in the 16th century. The new town was a setting (or at least where he wrote) Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.
Desvres a small town known for fine porcelain and pottery where you can visit one of the factories, and modern Maison de la Faience. There is a Custard Pie Festival in November - eating, not throwing.
Cap Gris-Nez and Cap Blanc-Nez mirror the white cliffs of Dover - good walking country.
St Omer with the 18th century Hotel Sandelin museum of Flemish arts and 13th century Basilique Notre-Dame.
The Marais ISNOR at Clairmarais tel: 21 39 15 145 does guided boat tours of the marshland waterways north of St Omer, created by monks in the 7th century.