Calais for the day, recomendations please?

[Kelly1978]

We're going to Calais on sat, just for the day. Any tips on where to go, things to see, where to eat, etc? (I've never been) We don't want to just be shopping all day, as we're taking the kids and they will get bored.

bump

The beach is great, we had been loads of times but only bothered to go to the beach last time and were pleasantly surprised, big sandy area and you can see all the ferries going in and out. Check your tickets, last time DH got the date wrong and we ended up spending a night in the car with 3 kids when we'd only planned to stay a few hours

If you are wine shopping at Sainsburys (in Calais Coquelles)there is a hypermarket next door - they share the carpark - where you can buy all the goodies (including lovely pastries!!) for a picnic lunch, and then take the road leading west from the hypermarket (away from the roundabout) towards the sea. You'll find a lovely sandy beach to have your picnic.

sainsburys in calais

I didn't know calais had a beach, I assumed since it was a big port it probably didn't.

I've jsut been to the website and you can order it online then pick it up there.

You can Kelly - though they sometimes have some AMAZING bargains when you get there, so I'd say its still worth a browse. The price everything in British pounds as well, so you can see exactly how much you're saving if you know your favourites. Anyone would think I was on commission here (I'm not!!)

Worth turning right and driviing down the coast a bit to nice villages and beaches.

It depends how much time you have - there is a sweet village about 30 mins west of Calais called Wissant, which has a good beach and I think you can hire bikes etc. V antique crazy golf course too. On the way you pass the WW2 look out posts etc which depending on the age of the children may be of interest. In fact we had a picnic up there on the hill once when it was too windy to eat on the beach, and found a lovely sheltered spot with great views.

The nearest beach to Calais though is I think at Sangatte.

We used to stock up at the hypermarket for wine to take home and picnic food (used to bring our own plates/cups/bottle openers etc). great day out. Calais itself is not v interesting.