Mike's Guide to Northern France

Mike's Guide to Pas-de-Calais (Northern France)

How to get there?

By far the best way to France is by car and ferry. Dover to Calais by Hoverspeed is the quickest route at just 50 minutes. There is little to be gained by arriving very early as you are boarded depending on vehicle size, and the ferry terminals have little to offer. Facilities on board are basic, but adequate. The food on board is however very expensive, at £3 for a single sandwich, so you may want to plan your snacks ahead.

If I go by car, what do I need to do before I go?

Your existing insurance should cover you to drive in France, but obtaining a green card for your vehicle is worth while. Mine cost £10 from my insurers. You’ll need a red reflective triangle in case you break down and supposedly a GB sticker, although I never bothered with that. Check out the French Driving regulations and speed limits by clicking HERE. Foreign break-down cover is worth considering, but it can be expensive at around £40-£50 for a week. The AA can sell you this even if you are not a member. Try to arrive in Dover with little fuel in your tank and then fill up as soon as you get to France – unleaded costs around 50p a gallon less than the UK, and diesel is even cheaper. It is also well worth purchasing a map before you go. Every road has a unique number which are used on direction signs, but these numbers are not shown on large scale road atlases. If you can, buy a map of Northern France, or the Calais region, as this will prove a lot more helpful.

Where to Stay?

The beauty with Pas-de-Calais is that all areas are dead easy to get to, with fast roads and great sign-posts making it almost impossible to get completely lost. This means that you can stay ‘off the beaten track’ without being hours away from the good stuff to see and do. The nearer the coast you are, the more you pay, it’s as simple as that. Northern France is the ideal place to go self catering as the food and drink is so cheap. Try www.easycottages.com for a great selection of properties to rent. Their after-sales service is fantastic and they get great deals on ferry prices. To give you a ball-park figure, we paid £380 for the week 7^th-14^th September for a good sized three (double) bedroom cottage/house for 6 people – this included return ferry crossings for two cars. We stayed in the village of Verchocq, which is north-west of Montruil. The area around there is very rural and quiet, without being too far from civilisation.

What to do when you arrive in France?

Assuming you are self-catering, your first port of call has to be a hypermarket. Carrefour is the first one you come to when you leave the ferry terminal, and it has a petrol station. It is well worth checking out www.day-tripper.net before you go to gain information on the hypermarkets, but if you do want more than food and drink, it is worth visiting the Auchan complex on the other side of Calais. For example, we picked up an Epson printer, which would cost £50 in the UK, for £28. The best bargains are wine, beer and cheese, but pizza is more expensive than the UK !! When you eventually leave Calais, the Autoroutes are by far the best way to your destination. You can avoid them, but you can travel to most destinations in Pas-de-Calais for about £1.40 and arrive much sooner. You can only exit and enter a Autoroute where you see a numbered junction on your map, so plan ahead which junction is best to exit from. If you are heading for the west coast you’ll need the A16, and to go inland, follow the A26.

Where to Visit in Pas-de-Calais

Despite the copious amounts of internet research I carried out before I visited France, one very important fact was missing from all the sites I checked out ..... most of the attractions and things to do are closed after the 1^st September. We had no idea of this, and it is not mentioned on any of the leaflets from the tourist information, so we kept turning up at things to discover them closed. If you are planning to visit the area after the 1^st September it is worth planning ahead as the places closed during the week do tend to open at the weekend. Museums and the like are mostly open during the week, so visit them Monday-Friday and save the amusement park type of places for the weekend. DO NOT TRUST THE TOURIST LEAFLETS - Some places actually advertise being open ‘every day’, and yet they are still closed during the week, so ‘every day’ seems to mean ‘every day we want to open’. Obviously, this becomes very annoying as there is loads of fun stuff to do in the area, so it may be worth considering paying the extra and going before the 1^st September, although this can add as much as £400 to the cost of renting a property !!

Each title block for a town is linked to further information about the place.

Boulogne - Definitely one of the aforementioned places that you can visit during the week. The best place to visit is Nausicaa, the sea life centre (2nd from left), but expect to be there for 3-4 hours as there is loads to see and do. It's not cheap, but it is good value. To find the place head to the port and follow the signs for Nausicaa. There are loads of places to eat and drink in Boulogne, and the area around Dalton Place near the Church (2nd from right) is one of the best places to hang out. There are plenty of Chinese restaurants in Boulogne as well if that grabs your fancy. Do find time to pay a visit to the old town, within the walls/ramparts and have a walk around. The cathedral (right) is a pleasant site.

Desvres (left & centre) and Hucqueliers (right)

2 fairly small towns which are worth a flying visit as you pass through. There's not a lot in either, but they are generally free from tourism and give an insight into French town life.

Etaples

Etaples is portrayed as a quaint fishing village, and seems very popular with tourists. However, there is actually little there, but the town square and town hall are worth a visit. A large market is held on a Friday.

Le Touquet

Other than Boulogne, there are two main 'seaside' resorts in Pas-de-Calais. Berck is the Blackpool of the region and should only be visited if you like those sort of places. However, Le Touquet is more upmarket than Berck and in my opinion, is a much nicer place to visit. It is obviously the playground of the wealthy, and this is evident. As tacky as it may seem at first, do take a trip on the little train which leaves from outside Aqualud (left), it is nice way to see the whole of Le Touquet. Check out the contrasting architecture (centre) and wonderful designs (right). The beach is great and there is loads of free (gratuit) parking available. Aqualud looks amazing, but again closes during the week after 1st September. Rue St. Jean is the main tourist area, and in the side streets you will find loads of restaurants serving great food whilst you soak up the sun. Don't miss the ice-cream parlour on Rue St. Jean serving 48 flavours !! and the art shops are worth a visit.

St. Omer

A very religious place, St. Omer is one of the largest towns in Pas-de-Calais, but to be truthfull, there isn't a great deal there. The Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) is worth a look (left) and the cathedral (centre left) has some interesting stuff inside, and for 60p you can take the DIY tour. Opposite the Town Hall are some bizarre looking narrow buildings (centre-right). Within the town is the St. Omer brewery and the guide books will have you believe they welcome you for a tour, but unless you are in a group of 20, they don't want to know. There's some good shopping in St. Omer, and be sure to check out the ruins of St. Bertin's Abbey and it's spooky headless statues. The only other thing to spend time on is to travel along rue St. Bertin between the abbey and cathedral, following the monk's footsteps.

Montreuil

If you only visit one historical place in Pas-de-Calais, make sure it is Montreuil. We came here to kill a few hours and spent the whole day. When you first arrive, follow the signs for the 'office de tourisme' (near the the Citadel), and pick up a map. The ladies in there will tell you what to go and look at during your visit. The religious quarter (left) is worth a quick glance, as is Place Darnetai (centre left), but the main area is around Place de Charles de Gaulle, where you will find loads of places to eat and drink near the pretty fountain and theatre. A quick walk around the ramparts (walls) will help you discover amazing narrow ancient streets (centre right). Leave time to tour the Citadel (right), with it's underground tunnels and tonnes of history.

Hesdin

Hesdin is steeped in history, and has a definite Spanish look and feel to it. The Thursday market is enormous and takes over the whole town, and is as good a day as any to visit the place. You should try to visit at least one town market during your visit, and this is definitely one of the largest. Be advised though that French town markets start early and generally pack up around midday, so plan around this.

Azincourt and Maintenay

Hesdin is only a ½ day place to look around, but you can make up the day with visits to these 2 places, which are both fairly close by. Azincourt (or Agincourt as we Brits call it) is a nice place to visit and the town is totally obsessed with the embarassing French defeat, which is very difficult to understand. The museum is interesting and quite high tech, although it is a little expensive and tends to be repeatative. If you choose to give the museum a miss, you can still tour the battlefield, and see the monument (left) and the crucifix to honor the dead French soldiers (centre). The Moulin de Maintenay (right) is a beautiful spot and well worth a visit. The creperie next door has a terrace which is a great spot for an (overpriced) afternoon beer in the sun.

Calais

Most people see Calais as simply somewhere to start and end their holiday, but it is well worth having a good look around. Fort Nieulay (left) is an intruing place, but public access is limited. Be warned, the area surrounding the fort has become a haven for drunks in the alcoves. The theatre (centre left) is a beautiful building, and a must is a quick visit to the Hotel de Ville and the famous statue of the Six Burghers (centre-right), although trying to snap a photo without someone else in it is a task in itself. In addition to the hypermarkets there are loads of shops in Calais, and the town specialises in lace and sea/sailor related gifts. If you need to chill out for a bit, Parc St. Pierre (right) opposite the Town Hall is very beautiful, with a great kid's play area

Mike's Top Tips

Buy a decent scale map before you go.
Don't go to Northern France after the 1st September !!
Learn some basic French before you go - the people in Northern France are a lot more inclined to assist you if you make an effort.
Visit a hypermarket in Calais.
Have lunch and an ice-cream on a sunny day in Le Touquet.
Visit Montreuil.
Drink wine whilst out, it is much cheaper than anything else.
Try loads of cheeses.