The travel guide
Opal Coast: the travel guide
A hundred and twenty kilometres between Berck and the Belgian border. Chalk cliffs, beaches where you can walk a kilometre out at low tide, and wind most days. Written by the people who live here.
If you could only see six
The Opal Coast highlights
- Escalles
Cap Blanc-Nez
A hundred and thirty metres of chalk facing England, and the finest view on the coast
- Boulogne-sur-Mer
Nausicaá
The largest aquarium in Europe, and the only place on the coast where rain changes nothing
- Audinghen
Cap Gris-Nez
The closest point in France to England, and the strait's watchtower
- Berck-sur-Mer
The Bay of the Authie
Seals, dunes and a bay that changes shape with every tide
- Neufchâtel-Hardelot
The château d’Hardelot
A neo-Tudor manor house, English gardens and the only Elizabethan theatre in France
- Calais
Calais Citadel
Vauban's ramparts turned into a park, open day and night
Where to go
The towns and villages, north to south
Every town has its own page: what to do, where to eat, where to stay, the beach, the tides and the one thing to know before you go. The coast first, in coastal order, then the countryside for day three and rainy days.
On the coast
- Bray-Dunes
- Dunkirk
- Gravelines
- Calais
- Wissant
- Tardinghen
- Audinghen
- Audresselles
- Ambleteuse
- Wimereux
- Boulogne sur Mer
- Le Portel
- Équihen Plage
- Hardelot Plage
- Le Touquet
- Berck-sur-Mer
Inland
What nobody else publishes
The beaches, with water quality
The 23 beaches along the coast are tested every year by the regional health agency. We show this rating on every page, along with the swimming season and the number of closures last season: 6 beaches are rated excellent, one rated poor.
What to do
43 things to do, sorted by mood
From free clifftop walks to the aquarium on rainy days, from sand yachting to golf in the dunes. By category, with the filters that matter on the day: when it rains, with kids, no booking needed.
7 things to do
Nature and hiking
The capes, the dunes, the bays, and everything you can walk
6 things to do
Wind and water sports
What the wind and the tide make possible here, and almost nowhere else
10 things to do
Museums and culture
Enough for a rainy day, and a few sunny ones too
9 things to do
Heritage
Vauban, the forts, the belfries and a 1,400-square-metre crypt
How much time have you got?
Our ready-made itineraries
The big dates
The next events on the coast
The second weekend of September, every year
Trail de la Côte d’Opale
Seven distances, from ten to a hundred and ten kilometres, over cliffs and dunes
From 14 to 15 November 2026
Étaples Herring King festival
Three tonnes of smoked herring in one weekend, right on the quayside
From 29 to 31 January 2027
Enduropale du Touquet
The biggest beach motorbike race, over ten kilometres of sand
Before you go
Checking the sea, and the tide times
Live
The Wimereux webcam
The beach and the seafront, right now. A quick look at the weather before you hit the road.
Twice a day
Tide times
What the tide changes on the ground: how wide the beach is, shellfish gathering, access to the forts.
The distances
The Opal Coast map
How long it takes to get from one town to the next, to plan a day that actually works.
On the ground
Tourist offices
Where to find a map, advice and today's opening hours.
To understand it
The history of Wimereux
Where the Belle Époque villas came from, and why the resort looks the way it does.
There's a group of you
A conference, a stag do, a wedding?
Tell us what you're after and we'll put you in touch with organisers from the area. It's free: we get paid on their side.
From the blog
Our latest articles
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Bagatelle | The Amusement Park of the Opal Coast
Discover every ride and show at the Opal Coast amusement park, and plan a day packed with thrills!
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Our favourite estaminets in the Hauts-de-France region: cosy, traditional taverns not to miss on your visit.
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Sand Yachting, from Ancient Egypt to the Beaches of the Nord
Where sand yachting comes from, how it reached the northern coast, and a tour of the beaches where clubs have settled, from Dunkirk to Fort-Mahon.
Do you run a restaurant, a place to stay or an activity on the coast?Become a partner