Gite not too far from Calais

[SquiffyHock]

We would like to go away next May- have decided to drive as DC 3 will be 2 months old!!

I would love to find a child friendly place to stay within a 2/3 hour drive of Calais. There will be 4 adults, 2 children and baby.

Can anyone recommend somewhere? I don't even know the regions this will cover. Ideally it will be within walking distance of a town or village.

Ta!

Anyone?

we have stayed here 4 times - not a gite though..

food lovely very friendly - good base to explore rest of region

Within 3 hours of Calais you can get to Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Haute-Normandie and most
Belgium

What kind of activities do you like? Beaches are good between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Baie de Somme. Lots of sand. Weather dependent though. There is a pool, ice rink and softplay in Boulogne-sur-Mer for wet days.

Beaches in Haute-Normandie often pebbly.

My experience of Calais is not good.... drivve as far and as fast as you can away from the flea infested place.

Ani, I used to be of that opinion but it is surprisingly nice only half an hour away from Calais. Weather is just like Kent though.

This looks nice. Have not been there myself.
Othersideofthechannel knows the area well I think!
Tbh you are not going to get that many gites which are walking distance from a town - they do tend to be pretty rural.
There is a string of lovely resorts along that coast - Berck, Wimereux, Hardelot - all trying to revive a dwindling market by working hard to be child-friendly - or "Kid's plage" as I think they call it
Cle Vacances is the equivalent letting service for seaside properties btw.

Oh I love the Pas de Calais! Totally underrated by British holidaymakers! We had a superb stopover (again) at the Ferme Auberge de la Raterie in Wierre-Effroy near Boulogne last month. It has lovely countryside, magnificent beaches, heaps to do (Aqualud and Bagatelle further down the coast for children) and...err...Kentish weather, as OSC correctly points out.

The food is good at La Raterie isn't it. Overall experience a little marred by them doing fish for my vegetarian father after we had warned them in advance

Calais was the only place that I didn't feel safe when we went on our camper travels, but you are right there are nice places on the coast and just inland. We found booking essential for the nice campsites.

Anifrangapani, Calais is a pretty horrible town but the beach is quite good for little ones once you get used to the ferries going past. There is a great playground in the sand.

Ah, bless We were sorry to miss Christophe's soiree cabaret though . Ds and dd were goggle-eyed when they realised that the genial guy in the dining room was a singer too.
We had fleas in our Normandy gite (bad previous tenant, house was lovely) so getting to that pristine bedroom and looking out over that wonderful garden was the perfect end to a pretty good holiday.
Am keen to revisit Berck having finally just seen Le Scaphandre et Le Papillon...

You would have loved the unlit and seemingly exitless private carpark we were directed to at a hotel in Le Havre ani
Actually the city centre and the car park were fine...it was just so empty...and...dark!

Haute Normandie probably more picturesque than Pas-de-Calais and lots to do with children: labyrinthe, amusement park, zoos etc.

The Gites de France site is good but I would recommend deciding on the area first as there are loads of gites.

There are several Pierre et Vacances holiday villages along that coast.

Thanks so much for the responses!

GreySkull - that looks lovely but I really want the freedom of self-catering, my parents will be with me too.

I will explore some of those links - as I said, I was planning on driving 2/3 hours from Calais so will be a fair distance away.

We live in Kent so will be used to the weather

othersideofthechannel - is Le Touquet nice? Have heard good things but can't seem to find any nice places to stay.

Found a couple of fab places but one was an 8 hour drive which I think is a bit much with 3 children!

I'm looking for a really lovely villa/gite that is within walking distance of a village/town not too far from a beach.

I've only been to Le Touquet a couple of times. It is quite a smart seaside resort but always very busy in the height of summer. Lots of cars. There is a big undercover pool with slides called Aqualud. Big sandy beach. Lots of shops. Upmarket and clean. There is a pierre et vacances in Le Touquet and lots and lots of hotels.
There's nothing wrong with it but not my cup of tea. We prefer quieter seaside towns and villages where you can see the countryside at the same time as the sea.

I agree, 8 hour drive too much with children. Especially if you are only going for a week. You'd have two whole days of travelling.

If you are thinking about Pas-de-Calais. Wissant between Calais and Boulogne has a lovely beach, country walks and is a bit quieter than Le Touquet.

Have a look at www.gites-france.com, you can search for baby friendly ones.

We stayed here last year - middle of countryside, largeish garden, lovely living area in house and great BBQ. Only about 20-20 mins from Calais and day trip distance from Bruges etc. www.cottages4you.co.uk/uce/c4y?view=details&action=readDetails&cottageId=404836&holidayPark=N&sleeps =3&propertyTypeId=&complexId=