Must-see attractions in Côte d’Opale

At this vast manta ray–shaped aquarium – one of the world's largest – huge tanks with floor-to-ceiling windows make you feel as though you're swimming…

Topped by a lighthouse and a radar station that keeps track of the hundreds of ships that pass by here each day, the 49m-high cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez are…

Boulogne's hilltop Upper City is an island of centuries-old buildings and cobblestone streets. You can walk all the way around this 'Fortified City' atop…

Southwest of Calais, just past Sangatte, the coastal dunes give way to cliffs that culminate in windswept, 134m-high Cap Blanc-Nez, which affords…

Innovative exhibits trace the history of lacemaking – the industry that once made Calais a textile powerhouse – from hand knotting (some stunning samples…

Dunkirk's landmark 58m-high belfry – the bell tower of the original Église St-Éloi before it burnt to the ground in 1558 – was erected in 1440 and has…

In front of Calais' ornate Hôtel de Ville stands the first cast of Rodin's famous sculpture Les Bourgeois de Calais (The Burghers of Calais; 1889), which…

Constructed in 1560, the Église St-Éloi was refaced with a neo-Gothic façade completed in 1889. It's dubbed la cathédrale des sables (cathedral of the…

This broad, gently sloping sandy beach stretching for 8km is safe for swimming and gets packed in summer.

Inaugurated in 1925, Calais' Hôtel de Ville (city hall) melds Flemish and Renaissance styles, as does its 78m-high, Unesco-listed beffroi (belfry) topped…

The cultures of five continents meet inside the Château-Musée, housed in a 13th-century fortified castle. Egyptian antiquities (some brought here by…

To learn about the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk, stop by this non-profit museum. In addition to a 15-minute film, there are scale models, and evocative…

Set inside a 19th-century tobacco warehouse, this museum will delight fans of maritime history and, especially, model ships. During school holidays you…

Designed by French artist Alain Godon (b 1964), this 9.5m-high sculpture made from polystyrene on a metal frame, coated with beach sand, depicts an…

Popular period songs play as you stroll past dozens of life-size tableaux of WWII military and civilian life at this museum. The dashing but wildly…

WWII hardware including a massive, rail-borne German artillery piece with a range of 86km is displayed at this well-organised museum, housed in a colossal…

Rising 63m high, this automated, first order port lighthouse is the highest of its kind in France (its beam can be seen from 60km away). The lighthouse…

Children can splash in the shallow, clear waters of Calais' cabin-lined city beach (patrolled by lifeguards in summer), while its fine sand is ideal for…

Housed in a massive concrete bunker built as a German naval headquarters, this WWII museum displays thousands of period artefacts, including weapons,…

To encounter the city's long-time commercial bedrock, commercial fishing, head to the quay used by small fishing boats. Hungry seagulls dive and squawk…