Dover To Calais Break ' Sightseeing Information

With Calais just 35km from England its a wonderful place to visit for day, a quick break or even longer, with easy access across the Channel via the many ferry operators and Euro tunnel you can be there in under an hour. Calais is more than just a day trippers destination.

Calais Town Hall - (Rue Du duc de guise) The wonderful Flemish style town hall was built in 1885, designed by the famous French architect Louis Debrouwer. The buildings are used for council meetings and marriages. There is also the beautiful statue of Burghers of Calais to the front of the town hall designed by Rodin.

Calais Theatre - (Place Albert 1er) Designed by the architect Malgras the Calais theatre was built in 1905 upon a once occupied cemetery. The front of the theatre is decorated with four statues symbolising music, poetry, comedy and dance. Outside is a monument of Joseph Jacquard who created Calais Lace.

Notre Dame Church - (Rue Notre Dame) Built in the thirteenth century and added to in the 1630s this large church has a capacity of up to 1400 capacity. Notre Dame is the only church that as an English perpendicular design and was once the marriage place of Charles de Gaulle and Yvonne Vendroux in 1921.

The Watch Tower - (Place d'Armes) One of the oldest monuments in Calais is the 35 metre high Watch Tower built in the 13th Century once the centre of a medieval castle. It now houses a beacon and is used as a lighthouse and is a famous historic Calais monument.

Richelieu Gardens: Designed in 1860 then re-designed in 1956 the gardens are a lovely place to spend a few hours or have a picnic, there various war memorials in the park.

Parc Saint Pierre: Built in 1863 the park has a replicas of the Versailles and Three Graces Fountains as well as an ornamental lake. The whole park is very tranquil and is used for various sporting activities and open air concerts.

Calais Coastline: There are various beaches along to the Calais coastline including a huge sandy beach in between two capes known as Wissant ideal for water sports and bathers. Many of the beaches in this area offer stunning scenery and are peaceful and quiet, ideal for bird watchers.

Accommodation and Eating out: There are many great hotels to stay at in Calais and lots of cafs & restaurants to dine at offering fantastic cuisine, local seafood and fine french wines at very reasonable rates, most waiting staff speak good English too but they are great places to try out your French language skills.

Getting there: We are spoilt for choice when crossing the Channel but if you are taking the car the ferry or the Channel Tunnel will see you there in next to no time. Euro tunnel trains leave every half an hour and ferries leave on a regular basis day and night to Calais.