Opal Coast
Visit Desvres
Three centuries of earthenware, and a state forest at the end of the street
- Earthenware
- Ceramics Museum
- State forest
- Hiking
Twenty minutes from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Desvres has been making earthenware for over three hundred years. It's not a museum memory: the town still produces it today, and the craft is passed on from workshop to workshop.
The rest of the scenery is a state forest and hills — the Boulonnais, which has nothing of the flat country you might picture coming down from the north.
What to do in Desvres?
- The Ceramics Museum
- The earthenware workshops
- Desvres state forest
- Hiking trails from the museum
- The market
3 activities to book
What activities to do in Desvres?
Our favourite
For Desvres earthenware
Le musée de la Céramique
The museum traces three centuries of Desvres earthenware, with demonstrations.
1 h 30 · museum
To walk or ride under the trees
La forêt domaniale de Desvres
Waymarked trails, on foot or by mountain bike, on the edge of town.
2 h · waymarked path
To watch the clay being worked
Les ateliers de faïenciers
Several workshops in Desvres open their doors and sell on site.
1 h · depending on the workshop
Our 3 restaurants
Where to eat in Desvres?
Our favourite
For the town square
Chez Jules
A brasserie-restaurant on place Léon Blum.
Brasserie · 11 place Léon Blum
Also on the square
Brasserie de l'Agriculture
A brasserie on place Léon Blum.
Brasserie · 22 place Léon Blum
For a table on rue de l'Église
Le Jean Bart
A restaurant on rue de l'Église.
Restaurant · 45 rue de l'Église
Our 3 places to stay
Where to stay in Desvres?
Our favourite
To sleep in the countryside
La Ferme du Moulin aux Draps
A three-star hotel, rue de Crémarest, with a restaurant.
Hotel · rue de Crémarest
For the town centre
Hôtel de l'Union
A hotel in Desvres, rue des Potiers.
Hotel · 2 rue des Potiers
For a simple stopover
Picque Pierre
A hotel in Desvres, rue Roger Salengro.
Hotel · 99 rue Roger Salengro
Getting there and parking
By car, twenty minutes from Boulogne-sur-Mer, forty from Calais.
No train station: it's the car, or the bus from Boulogne.
Information about the town
The Ceramics Museum is the only one in the region: seven hundred pieces spread across about ten rooms, telling the story of Desvres earthenware, its production techniques and its old and contemporary collections. You can also watch people at work, which changes everything for children.
The state forest starts at the edge of town, and several waymarked trails set off directly from the museum. A good way to split a day: ceramics in the morning, a walk in the afternoon.
Desvres is paired with its neighbour Samer under the same tourist office — the two towns are best visited together in one day.
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