Opal Coast
Visit Bray-Dunes
The northernmost commune in France, and two hundred and fifty hectares of dunes
- Northernmost in France
- Dune Marchand
- Perroquet beach
- Belgian border
Photo: Alex59123, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bray-Dunes is France's northernmost commune: at the end of its beach, you can walk into Belgium. It's also, and above all, a dune massif — the landscape isn't a beach lined with dunes, it's a dune belt running down to the sea.
The Dune Marchand national nature reserve protects its richest part, between Bray-Dunes and Zuydcoote. People come here to walk, not just to swim, and that's what sets this commune apart from the rest of the Flemish coast.
What to do in Bray-Dunes?
- Perroquet beach
- The Dune Marchand nature reserve
- The dune massif trails
- The sea wall and the seafront
- The Belgian border, reachable on foot
- Sand yachting on the hard sand
3 activities to book
What activities to do in Bray-Dunes?
Our favourite
For the protected dunes
La réserve de la Dune Marchand
Two hundred and fifty hectares of dunes between Bray-Dunes and Zuydcoote, with waymarked trails.
1 h 30 · waymarked path
For the beach at low tide
Le char à voile
Bray-Dunes beach is a ground for sand yachting, with supervised sessions.
Supervised session · booking required
To cycle into Belgium
Le vélo jusqu'en Belgique
The Vélomaritime links Bray-Dunes to De Panne, on the other side of the border.
1 h · bike
Our 3 restaurants
Where to eat in Bray-Dunes?
Our favourite
For fish, facing the sea
La Voile Bleue
A restaurant serving fish, mussels and seafood, place de l'Esplanade.
Fish and seafood · 63 place de l'Esplanade
For a refined table
L'Art de l'Eau
A restaurant on avenue du Général de Gaulle.
Restaurant · 989 avenue du Général de Gaulle
For moules-frites
Les Amarres
A brasserie on boulevard Georges Pompidou.
Brasserie · 802 boulevard Georges Pompidou
Our 3 places to stay
Where to stay in Bray-Dunes?
Our favourite
To sleep on the seafront
L'Étoile des Dunes
A hotel with direct beach access.
Hotel · Bray-Dunes
For an apartment near the dunes
Holiday Suites Bray-Dunes
A resort residence, two hundred metres from the dunes.
Residence · Bray-Dunes
To camp
Camping municipal Les Dunes
Bray-Dunes' four-star municipal campsite.
Campsite · Bray-Dunes
Getting there and parking
By car, a quarter of an hour from Dunkirk on the D60, one hour from Calais.
By train to Dunkirk, then the free town bus to Bray-Dunes.
Information about the town
The Dune Marchand national nature reserve covers eighty-three hectares within a preserved massif of two hundred and fifty hectares, between Zuydcoote and Bray-Dunes. It has been protected since 1974. More than three hundred plant species grow there, including orchids, and the reserve alone holds half the species recorded in the Hauts-de-France region.
Perroquet beach is wide, exposed to the wind, and bordered on its northern side by dune rather than sea wall. It's a ground for sand yachting and kite flying, and one of the few places on the coast where you can walk a long way without crossing a road.
The Belgian border sits at the end of the beach, marked by a simple boundary post. On the other side is De Panne and its shopping seafront — a half-hour walk from the centre of Bray-Dunes.
Do you know Bray-Dunes? Your review
No reviews yet. Yours will be the first.
The form is unavailable at the moment. Send your review to the editors, we’ll publish it here.