Opal Coast
Visit Saint-Omer
The town of a 3,400-hectare marsh, listed by UNESCO
- Audomarois marsh
- UNESCO
- Bacôve boat
- Land of art and history
Saint-Omer isn't on the Opal Coast, and that's exactly why you go: forty minutes from the sea, the landscape changes completely. There's no cliff or dune here, but a 3,400-hectare marsh threaded by 700 kilometres of canals, listed as a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
It's the last cultivated market-garden marsh in France. Thirteen thousand plots, five thousand owners, and market gardeners who still bring their vegetables out by boat. It's a day-trip stop once you've seen the coast, or when the wind is too strong to stay on it.
What to do in Saint-Omer?
- The Audomarois marsh by bacôve boat
- Notre-Dame cathedral
- La Maison du Marais
- The traditional boatbuilders' yard
- The urban library and its manuscripts
- The public gardens
- La Coupole at Helfaut, twenty minutes away
3 activities to book
What activities to do in Saint-Omer?
Our favourite
For the Audomarois marsh
Le marais en bacôve
Bacôve boat trips, on the traditional punt, leave from the marsh's landing stages.
1 h · booking required
For Second World War history
La Coupole
The history centre, housed in the V2 launch bunker, at Helfaut.
2 h · museum
For the town centre and cathedral
Le centre et la cathédrale
Notre-Dame cathedral, the ruins of Saint-Bertin abbey and the streets of the centre are all walkable.
2 h · on foot
Our 3 restaurants
Where to eat in Saint-Omer?
Our favourite
For a gourmet table
Bacôve
Camille Delcroix's restaurant, rue Caventou, inspired by the marsh.
Gourmet · 8 rue Caventou
For a brasserie near the Grand-Place
L'Audomaroise
A brasserie in the centre, rue Louis Martel, serving continuously in summer.
Brasserie · rue Louis Martel
For an estaminet
Les 3 Caves
A vaulted-cellar estaminet: carbonade, Welsh rarebit, potjevleesch.
Estaminet · Saint-Omer centre
Our 3 places to stay
Where to stay in Saint-Omer?
Our favourite
To sleep near the station
Mercure Saint-Omer Centre Gare
A hotel in the centre, a few hundred metres from the station, with a restaurant and parking.
Hotel · Saint-Omer
For a small address in the centre
L'Industrie Hôtel & Restaurant
Six rooms in the heart of Saint-Omer, with a restaurant.
Hotel · Saint-Omer centre
For a B&B
Villa Marguerite
Rooms in an old house with a garden.
B&B · Saint-Omer
Getting there and parking
By car, forty minutes from Calais on the A26, one hour from Boulogne-sur-Mer.
By train, Saint-Omer station is on the Lille–Calais line, and the town is then walkable.
Information about the town
The marsh is best visited by boat, and it's the only way to see what really matters: some plots can only be reached by water. Trips run in a bacôve — the large traditional flat-bottomed boat, punted while standing — or a smaller escute. Several landing stages offer guided trips all year round, and you can also rent an electric boat and set off alone.
Saint-Omer is France's summer cauliflower capital, and the marsh also grows Tilques carrots and open-field chicory. The Saturday-morning market, on the Grand-Place, is one of the best-stocked in the region.
The town holds the 'Pays d'art et d'histoire' label: the cathedral, the mansions of the centre and the library, which holds medieval manuscripts and a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, can be visited in half a day.
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