Nord-pas-de-Calais

Visit Nord-pas-de-Calais

There are several popular highlights in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, including the resorts such as le Touquet and the city of Lille, but if possible why not visit one of the famous Christmas markets held in the region each year that attract shoppers from across Europe.

Selected places to visit in Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France: introduction and highlights

A handful of seaside resorts are found in the Calais (Nord-pas-de-Calais) region, including Le Touquet and Boulogne-sur-Mer. These are equally popular with Parisians, shoppers on a day trip to France from the UK, and holidaymakers from the UK.

Other seaside resorts on this stretch of coast include Berck-Plage, the fortified town at Gravelines, Hardelot, Wimereux and Wissant, while a few kilometres inland be sure to visit Montreuil.

Lille is a major city that has reinvented and renovated itself in recent years and has much to admire. The town of Saint-Omer also has an interesting historical centre to explore, and their are several interesting monuments at nearby Aire-sur-la-Lys.

There is another significant large attraction in Calais - the battlefields and cemeteries of the WWI battles (and also earlier medieval battlefields).

Between Amiens and Lille, the Somme battlefields, from the ferocious battles that were fought at such enormous cost in human lifes from 1916-1918, are still a major pilgrimage destination. Some of the Somme trenches are kept intact to help the visitor better understand the battles and conditions that were faced.

Likewise, Dunkerque is at the northern edge of the region - the site of the largest ever sea evacuation, of the Allied armies in May-June 1940, and the first ever tank battle (WW1) took place at Cambrai

The great battles of Agincourt and Crecy took place near the pretty town of Hesdin. (See Hundred Years War)

Some of the beaches of the region, especially those south of Boulogne are attractive and popular. Close to Boulogne you can visit the national monument dedicated to Napoleon at the Column of the Grand Army.

- Roubaix is a town north-east of Lille that has reinvented itself very well, and also is ending point for the Paris-Roubaix cycle race each year. Arras is another of the most interesting towns in the region

Page in French? See Nord-pas-de-Calais (Francais)