France – Calais Beach (En)
We went to Calais to catch the ferry to England, celebrate Ben’s birthday, and enjoy the beach. Calais Beach is a very popular summer destination, featuring a kilometre of fine sand, a scenic promenade, and modern recreational facilities. A highlight is the Calais Dragon—a huge mechanical dragon that breathes fire and water and moves along the seafront and the lighthouse.
Where to stay
We stayed at the Calais Camping-car (50.959242, 1.832659 lat, long), located right next to the campsite. It costs €17.50 per day, including electricity, and features several areas for filling up water and emptying grey and black water. As with all these types of sites, you pay at the machine for the duration of your intended stay. It is a huge site with spacious pitches. The water service area is located before the entrance barrier. The location is excellent—just a 10-minute walk from the beach and the seafront promenade. I recommend it for enjoying the beach and catching the ferry, which is a 15-minute drive away.
What to see
We walked along the river toward the beach and the seafront, where I wanted to check out the shops to buy a birthday gift for Ben. We reached the seafront and, to my great satisfaction, it was lined with stalls selling all kinds of things, so I bought Ben’s gift. I bought him a cap—since he had lost his in Greece—and a petanque set he wanted for playing in France.
We walked along the seafront promenade and the beach—which features several charming beach bars—until we reached the lighthouse and harbour area.
At the end of the promenade, you’ll find the lighthouse and the two mechanical dragons that spew fire and water. You can ride both the small and large dragons. It’s great fun watching them; they spray water at the crowd. They are quite a spectacle and the most famous attraction in Calais. We were surprised by the fast-food stalls selling hamburgers and French-fry sandwiches, which had queues at lunchtime.
There are many restaurants along the promenade, so we went to one for lunch to celebrate Ben’s birthday. He loved his gifts! We shared mussels and fries, along with wine and beer. A couple in the restaurant started playing the guitar and singing, so we even got a concert out of it.
The next day, we went to enjoy the beach. You have to go at high tide, so we were there by 11 a.m. I went for a swim, but Ben—as always—said the water was cold.
Early the next morning, we set off to catch the ferry to Dover, England.
Our next stop will be Canterbury, a historic cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, which you can see in the next blog post.
