North France Trip with little ones

[bobski1]

Trying to make the most of the time off with the kids and wanting to do a little driving holiday to northen france but looking for recommendations for places to stay anywhere about 1hr from Calais, ideally close to sandy beach but with other things to do as I can't do sand in the crack every day! A good mix of history and nature would be ideal.

Although eurotunnel is faster will be taking the ferry, cheaper and gives them time to stretch the legs but never taken it before so unsure how bad the queues can get and how much extra time to give it? Was aiming for a mid-afternoon ferry but leaving in the morning, rather be there with time to spare than having to rush around.

thanks in advance

[miniman]

Le Touquet is very pleasant.

[bennno]

Honfleur is lovely, as is most of Normandy.

There was a big zoo there and loads of stuff for our kids when younger.

[miniman]

bennno said:

Honfleur is lovely, as is most of Normandy.

There was a big zoo there and loads of stuff for our kids when younger.

Great call on Honfleur, fab place.

[pheasant]

The Normandy beaches, Sword, Juno, Gold and their seaside resorts. Take in the history while you're there.

[miniman]

Some amusing branding on the kids' go-karts at Honfleur

[StevieBee]

miniman said:

bennno said:

Honfleur is lovely, as is most of Normandy.

There was a big zoo there and loads of stuff for our kids when younger.

Great call on Honfleur, fab place.

It is indeed a lovely place... but a good three hours from Calais so a bit beyond the 1 hour limit the OP wants. Dieppe or Le Harve would drop you closer but of course, a longer Ferry trip.

As for the Ferry - I much prefer it even thought it's a bit more hassle. The kids will too. Being able to see both the UK and France at the same time is quite cool and the undocking and docking is interesting for them to see. Peak times there can be a bit of wait at either end but normally you're hanging around for an hour at most.

[bobski1]

Honfleur / Normandy was the initial plan but its far from Calais, the ferry from portsmouth is double the dover to calais route so going to stick with the original plan.

[Riley Blue]

Boulogne for its aquarium though it's a bit pricey and can get crowded.

[Your Dad]

Have you considered heading East towards/into Belguim?

It's about 60mins drive to De Panne, which has a long sandy beach. Easy to jump onto a train from there and go to Ghent (castle and boat trips), Plopsaland theme park is just outside De Panne and has plenty of rides for younger people and also an indoor water park.

[M5-911]

Boulogne-sur-Mer. Plenty things to do for kids and grown up.

[raddog]

We just returned yesterday from just over a week doing exactly what you are describing, we stayed at Le Portel, just on the other side of Boulogne, it was relatively quiet with a fantastic beach and we stayed in a great AirBNB.

We actually drove along the whole coast from Calais and visited beaches at Sangatte (Actually quite nice!) Wissant, Wimereux, Hardelot Plage, Le Touquet, Berck and Fort Mahon.

Safe beaches for kids, not crazy busy, would definitely recommend. Seems like it's all quite off the radar. Le Portel was really undeveloped, the rest more touristy, Le Touquet is very nice of course and Hardelot similar. I'd probably not bother with Berck but the beaches are all fantastic.

Travel is really easy and spectacular along the coast with the A16 just inland if you want to jump the distances quickly. Mainly French, Dutch and Belgians on holiday there with a few Germans and English.

Our kids are 3 & 6

[blue_haddock]

miniman said:

Le Touquet is very pleasant.

That was going to be my suggestion too!

I would also recommend the aqaurium in boulougne, its the biggest in europe and our 6 year old absolutely loved it. In their largest tank there was this massive Manta Ray and we must have sat there for half an hour just watching it swim around.

[bobski1]

raddog said:

We just returned yesterday from just over a week doing exactly what you are describing, we stayed at Le Portel, just on the other side of Boulogne, it was relatively quiet with a fantastic beach and we stayed in a great AirBNB.

We actually drove along the whole coast from Calais and visited beaches at Sangatte (Actually quite nice!) Wissant, Wimereux, Hardelot Plage, Le Touquet, Berck and Fort Mahon.

Safe beaches for kids, not crazy busy, would definitely recommend. Seems like it's all quite off the radar. Le Portel was really undeveloped, the rest more touristy, Le Touquet is very nice of course and Hardelot similar. I'd probably not bother with Berck but the beaches are all fantastic.

Travel is really easy and spectacular along the coast with the A16 just inland if you want to jump the distances quickly. Mainly French, Dutch and Belgians on holiday there with a few Germans and English.

Our kids are 3 & 6

would you be happy to share the AirBNB?

What is the traffic/queue situation like at the moment we're heading there towards the end of holiday season but don't want the hassle of being stuck and having hungry/fed up little ones. Aim is for mid afternoon ferry but leaving in the morning to allow for stops if needed but then getting to the ferry port in good time, is there a minimum arrive before time?

MrsB has already suggested to get a hotel in folkstone but it is only 2hr drive to get there but for me it's a waste of a hotel stay for such a short journey.

[Mikehig]

Your kids may be too young but there's a couple of excellent WW2 V1/V2 sites close to Calais (Eperleques and Mimoyeques, if memory serves).

[omniflow]

I don't know if this is a generic scaremongering article, or whether it's been written in response to specific circumstances, but it's probably worth a read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gem5ey3nzo

[miniman]

Realistically it’s totally unfit for purpose for the volumes it’s trying to cope with.



The A20 comes in through the town and meets the A2 at a clusterfk of a roundabout with far too little capacity to shift the traffic into the port itself.

[Nick Forest]

omniflow said:

I don't know if this is a generic scaremongering article, or whether it's been written in response to specific circumstances, but it's probably worth a read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gem5ey3nzo

I don’t recognise the description of Dover in that article…I went through there last week on my way to the Swiss alps (my mates went via Eurotunnel) and the queues were fine and the boat sailed on time. Same coming back whereas my mates were delayed 90 mins at Eurotunnel on the return.

[blue_haddock]

We never really have an issue in Dover either. We get a ferry at 6am to 7am so miss all the chaos

[nickfrog]

Lol at the Normandy recommendations. Lovely but nowhere near Calais.

Google "La Ferme du Dizacre" (it's on most platforms).

Between the 2 Caps.

Rural but near coast, not far from Wimereux which is lovely.

We used to go there once in a while when the kids were small, they loved it.