Calais Walking Guide (8 walks around Calais) Walk

IGN Top 25 # 2103ET Calais/Site Des Caps.

The PDF contains map extracts.

These walks in the Calais area have all been designed to be possible on day trips (or better still, a short break) from England - either by ferry to Calais or train to the TGV Frethun station (just outside Calais). They are public transport friendly.

Warning, the routes are not necessarily waymarked - please follow the maps.

The walks PDF was kindly created for us and for you by Jeunes et Nature de Calais, a Calais based walking club.

These walks are also on their website, with IGN (the equivalent of OS) mapping and GPS data.

Calais, North and St Pierre quarter : The Port and the Lace Museum.

Town and marina / seafront, easy. 6 miles / 10 km.

Circular urban walk around Calais town centre, the old town, docks, seafront and pier. Passes the train station.

Start from Calais, central station (Gare Centre-Ville/ Calais-Ville). Things to see:

• The town hall with its distinctive belfry. In front, Rodin's statue of The Burghers of Calais.
• The Grand Theatre and Statue of Joseph Jacquard (inventor of a lace making machine).
• The Lace Museum (La Cité de la Dentelle) - [in English].
• The Bassin du Paradis (the oldest dock in Calais) and the surrounding docks area, known as the Courgain.
• Fort Risban and the passenger port.
• Calais Beach and the West Pier.

Further information:

• Musée des Beaux-arts (Museum of Fine Arts, an Art Gallery) - [French only].
• "La Balad-in" - free shuttle bus every 10 mins between the theatre, central station and Place d'Ames - see below under "public transport".

Calais and Blériot beach: Tour of the Forts.

Town and eastern beaches, easy. 6 miles / 10 km

Circular urban/seashore/countryside walk around Calais seafront, yacht marina, dunes and some old forts. Returns via an inland route. Access: A short walk from the train station.

Start from Calais beach, Digue Gaston Berthe (the promenade), by the west pier - a short walk from the ferry terminal or town train station. Things to see:

• Calais Beach and the west pier.
• Fort Risban, and the passenger port.
• The Pluviose memorial.
• The docking basin (bassin des chasses).
• Fort Nieulay.
• The Tom Souville sailing centre - [French only].
• The dunes of Fort Mahon.
• Fort Lapin.
• The beach huts on Blériot-Plage beach.

Sangatte Circular: Cap Blanc-Nez and the hills of Noires Mottes.

Cliff-top circular walk with channel views to the summiy of Cape Blanc-Nez, fairly easy - 1 small hill. 8 km / 5 miles

Sangatte is on the coast, about 5km west of Calais. Access by car, #5 city bus or Div'in coastal bus.

Start by the access to the sea at Sangatte, near the church. Bus stop: "La Div'in" . Things to see:

• The high cliffs of Cap Blanc-Nez.
• The memorial to the "Dover Patrol".
• Views of Sangatte and Escalles.
• Views of the bay of Wissant and Cape Gris-Nez.
• Fauna: herring gulls, kittiwakes, Northern fulmars, Jackdaws, etc.
• Flora: chalk grassland, wild orchids, Autumn Dwarf Gentian, etc.
• The entrance to the first attempted Channel Tunnel, dating to 1875. [Unofficial histories in French; English].

Further information:

• The Div'in, the coastal double-decker bus - see below under "public transport".

Calais-Frethun (TGV station) to the "d'Escalles balcony"

From the TGV station to chalk cliff cliffs, long, hard. 26km / 16 miles

Circular walk from Calais TGV station to the Escalles ridge with coastal views around Cape Blanc-Nez, and the Channel Tunnel terminal. Access by TGV, or by Div'in / # 5 bus as walk 3.

Start from the Calais-Frethun TGV station. Things to see:

• The hills of Escalles.
• The cliffs of Dover in the distance.
• Views of the bay of Wissant and Cape Gris-Nez.
• The countryside around Peuplingues and Bonningues-les-Calais.

Getting There

• Calais-Frethun TGV station has (few) direct trains from London. It is not on the same line as the Calais town station, but there is a shuttle bus between them.

Nielles-lès-Calais: Lowlands.

Inland, villages, lowlands and marshes, easy. 8 km (5 miles)

About 5km south of Calais, access by car or city bus

Start from the Town Hall of Nielles-lès-Calais, located in the "Basse Nielles" quarter, 800m east of the church of Nielles. Things to see:

• The village of St Tricat and its church.
• The lowlands and marshes of Nielles-lès-Calais
• The Calais heights.
• The countryside around Peuplingues and Bonningues-les-Calais.

2 inland short walks from Guînes, about 8km south of Calais, access by car of bus

6 : Coulogne / Guînes: between river and marsh.

Easy. 17 km (11 miles) or 10 km (6 miles)

A figure of 8 walk - Lowlands, a canal, a disused railway line, marshes, nature reserves.

Two possible start points: Coulogne Bridge (closer to Calais), or Tournepuits Road in Guînes.

Things to see:

• The towpaths along the St Omer Canal and the Guînes river.
• The bridge known as the "pont à deux trous" (the bridge with two openings).
• The neighborhoods of Préville and Trou-gai,.
• The marsh of Guînes, following the route of the disused Guînes railway line and two nature trails (circuits de décovertes): "La Calaisienne" - [French only] - and "les Tétards".
• The historic village of Guînes. Guînes Clock Tower - [French]; [English] .

Getting There

• Bus route: 6.

7 : Guînes marsh: The "Tétards" nature trail.

Easy. 2 km 1.5 miles

A nature trail. May be combined with walk 6.

Start from Guînes marsh, by the St Joseph Village (replica old village) - [French only].

Getting There

• Bus route: 6.

Wissant-Audinghen: Cape Gris-Nez and Tardinghen marsh.

Hard. 13 miles / 21 km

Figure of 8 walk around the clifftops of Cape Gris-Nez. Cliffs and beaches, return by an inland routes of dunes and marshes. Access by Div'in bus or car.

Start from: the church at Wissant (about 16km west along the coast from Calais), the Church at Tardinghen, or Cape Gris-Nez. Things to see:

• Wissant.
• The former sand and gravel quarry.
• La Motte du Bourg (hill).
• Tardinghen marsh.
• The dune of Le Chatelet.
• The "Courte Dune" headland.
• The beach at Gris-Nez.
• Cape Gris-Nez and its cliffs.
• Two inlets into the cliffs: the "cran aux oeufs" and the "cran poulet".
• Views of the coast of Boulogne (including Audresselles, Ambleteuse, and Wimereux) .
• Wissant Bay.
• Views of Cap Blanc-Nez.

Getting There

• The Div'in bus from Calais town centre runs along the coast.

• Hiking around Calais - Website of the walking club that created these walks.
• Calais Town - tourist information in English
• Calais & the Opale Coast Tourist Office - [In English].
• Nordmag (History and tourism, French only)

Buses in Calais are now free!

The Balad'in (town centre shuttle) run Mon-Sat, every 10 mins

The Div'in (Cap Blanc Nez cliffs shuttle) runs weekends Apr-Oct, daily Jul-Aug. At other times, the #5 city bus goes as far as Sangatte

• Calais public transport in English (Calais-Guide.co.uk); and (daytripper.net).
• Official Sites (French only) Fares are approx 1 Euro
  • Sitac Calais Bus Company;
  • La Balad'in (the walk in) - Calais Town Centre Free Shuttle bus. Its yellow, 9am-7pm Mon-Sat, every 12 mins
  • La Div'in - Coastal double-decker bus, Spring/Summer only. Otherwise line 5 goes some of the way.
• Bicycle hire (French only) Metro style ride a short distance and drop off scheme. 10 Euro to join, but then first 30mins is free.

By Public Transport (Train to Dover, then Ferry)

[Nov-24] Sadly, this is no longer easy. Only P&O Ferries take foot passengers, and then with a 90 minute check-in.

• Train to Dover (1 hour 30 mins from London),
• Walk (30 mins) to the ferry terminal (the free shuttle bus has ended). Arrive 90 mins beforehand.
• Ferry to Calais (1 hour 30 mins).
• In Calais, there is a pedestrian short-cut from the port to the town centre (turn right out of the port entrance).

See Seat 61 - London to Paris, and scroll down to the Calais Day tripper section.

By Public Transport (Eurostar from London St Pancras to Calais-Freuthen

[Nov-24] Not possible. Eurostar trains no longer stop at Calais TGV.

Only 1 hour via TGV. One of the walks starts at Calais Freuthen station. Its outside the town centre, but there is [2014] a free shuttle bus

By Car

90 mins drive to Dover, then 40 mins by Eurotunnel, or 90 mins on the ferry. There is lots of parking by Calais' town beach. French shops, including the hypermarkets are closed on Sunday.

Ferry: Usually cheaper. In winter there are sometimes very cheap daytrip offers - £30 for a car and 4 passengers.

• MyFerryLink : Dover to Calais ferries.
• P & O : Dover to Calais ferries.

Eurotunnel (car on train shuttle) : Quicker, but usually more expensive than the ferry. The French terminal is handy for the coastal walks. Its near to the large Citi Europe shopping Centre with a hypermarket.

• Eurotunnel

After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks!

You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:

National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234

Feb-17 Jeunes et Nature de Calais