Falling in love with Le Touquet

Raff
Jul 9, 2019
2 min read

Le Touquet was our first stop and wow, what a gorgeous town. We had visited before, but briefly- either for a day or a quick over nighter on the way to or from Calais. This time we were able to do it justice, and there is a lot to see.

There are miles of fine sandy beaches, sand dunes, parks, tree lined avenues dotted with antique shops, brasseries, bar tabacs and bike rental shops.

We arrived at the aire at around 4pm, unhitched the car which went into the adjoining (free) car park. We found a level pitch backing onto a forest and facing the beach. Our German neighbours were very friendly- to the other side we had a French family who were equally as pleasant.

We unfolded the bikes and headed along the cycle path to the town. The cycle pathways at Le Touquet are probably the best we have encountered so far- along the sand dunes and beach, relatively level and I felt safe all the way along. We managed 10 miles that day which is an achievement for me, somebody who has found cycling difficult in the past!

The following morning we took a day trip to neighbouring Berck Sur Mer where we parked in a nature reserve and walked along the promenade to the town centre, treating ourselves to a glass of wine in the town square. It was extremely busy, everybody out enjoying the fresh air. We even saw 10 seals bobbing by the shoreline, much to the delight of the crowds watching!

We ventured into the town centre in the morning to have a walk around and explore and encountered a huge market, selling everything - from food, fish, material, electronics, cookware, toys, fresh fruit and vegetable, homemade jams and pickles. It was heaven!

The prices were quite steep though so we browsed and enjoyed the ambiance before heading back to the motorhome and on to our next destination of neighbour Merlimont Sur Plage.

We decided to use the camping car park app which allows you to reserve places at private aires, a great idea. For a more reasonable 12 euros we are enjoying electric hook up (6amp), water, waste and a gentle walk to the beach. The town is quite strange- very quiet and in a state of economical distress perhaps!

We have decided to stay an extra night and will use this as a base to explore the area before heading down to Le Crotoy this week.