With an historic heritage, Calais is a tourist destination not to be missed!
Discover the architectural jewels of the city: The Beffroi (bell tower) is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; The Italian style theatre; the Town Hall; The 6 Bourgeois; The Notre Dame ...
Participate in the various festivities of the year: the Summer Village on the beach, the lights and Christmas festivities ...
Enjoy the varied cultural programmes in the many venues of the city including a national stage, called The Channel.
Travel around the floral city, meet the fishermen of the port or relax on the beach ...

Calais also has respect for tradition. The Calaisiens have retained a knowledge of lace manufacture which is internationally recognised. To highlight this symbol of the city, Calais will open the International City of Lace and Fashion show in spring 2009, an event by Maria Dompé not to missed.
Calais has the advantage of a remarkable position. European crossroads between Britain and the countries of northern Europe. All transport facilities are available: the Channel Tunnel, ferry, airport, highways.

Stop and discover Calais! A tourist’s delight with historic and gourmet qualities.

Calais has taken its destiny into its own hands.

We would like you, the visitors for a day, a weekend, a week, to be our ambassadors with the following message: Calais is a welcoming and dynamic city! Calais opens its arms to you.

• Calais port and resort :

The first city department of Pas-de-Calais with its 77 000 inhabitants, a European crossroads with its thirty million passengers (tunnel and ferry combined), Calais is the center of communications by road, rail and port. World Capital of lace making, a city of culture, sports, floral displays, universities, it offers a multitude of opportunities for recreation and relaxation. Every year, important events are organised and run in the city. Food is certainly not forgotten: various hotels will welcome you warmly and many restaurants offer a table of rich and varied products ....

• The Monument to the Six Bourgeois by Rodin

Displayed in front of the Town Hall, the life size bronze group of the six bourgeois, vibrates with life and emotion. This immortalises the expression of the heroic nobility of these men humiliated before Edward III, King of England during the siege of 1347. This famous creation was inaugurated in the presence of the sculptor on 3 June 1895. This masterpiece required ten years of study and research. The public is invited to freely admire this monument.

• The Town Hall

A building filled with history. Located in the heart of the city, the Town Hall is one of the most beautiful monuments in Calais in the grounds of which lies the work of Rodin, The Six Bourgeois. Its construction was decided in 1888, work began in 1911 and ended in 1925. Neo-Flemish predominant within, this monument stands proudly with its belfry of 75 metres which houses a electronic bell and clock system above the place of the Unknown Soldier. The body of the building offers very slender forms. The beautiful red brick and stone, hides in fact a reinforced concrete structure. The town hall contains a magnificent stained glass windows showing the liberation of the city by the Duke of Guise in 1558 and a canvas of Jeanne Thil representing the dedication of the Bourgeois of Calais and the busts of Henri de Guise and Richelieu.

The belfry of the Town Hall is listed as World Heritage by UNESCO since 15 July 2005.

• The church Notre-Dame

The building as it stands today is the result of several construction campaigns spanning thirteenth and seventeenth centuries. The church derives all its originality of this mixture of styles since it must be the only church in English Perpendicular style yellow brick to exist in continental Europe! Its bell tower stands at the crossroads of the transepts, the nave, very austere, with a date of the XIII century, the heart and transept, Gothic, the fourteenth century. The chapel is Absidiale style, known as the Virgin and was added in 1631, it is classic French style. In 1691, on the north side of the nave, Vauban built a tank used to collect rainwater in anticipation of a siege. Today, the church boasts its celebrity marriage of Captain De Gaulle with Calaisien Vendroux Yvonne in 1921.

• The Municipal Theater

The first stone was laid on 9 July 1903 on the site of an ancient cemetery. The theatre was inaugurated on 1 October 1905 by the president at the time and ranked 3rd monument of France through its architect, Malgras-Delmas, who copied the facade of the Paris Opera. Easy access (5 doors), this work of art has two floors and is decorated with beautiful statues and 930 decorative places in a horseshoe shape around a stage of 100 square meters. The room has great acoustics and scenery representing 83 different tableau make this scene one of the most beautiful in France!

• The Lighthouse

Located in the district of Courgain, the lighthouse dominates the entire with its height of 58 meters. Built in 1848 to replace the lantern tower of Guet, the lighthouse (271 steps), a survivor of the Second World War, we discover a splendid panorama, whose magnitude is surprising: the port, basins, the Citadel stadium, Place d’Armes, Notre Dame. To visit the lighthouse of Calais – contact Opal Association Tour - 5 rue du Quebec - 62100 Calais. Tel / fax: 03.21.34.33.34.

• Fort Nieulay

Located at the entrance to the city from Boulogne-sur-Mer, the fortress of Nieulay was built between 1360 and 1558, by the English. The Fort Nieulay you see today was built by Vauban in 1677. This is an example of moated fort in France. The fortress had two main interests: financial interest: a tonlieu (toll) had been established that merchants had to pay; strategic interest: the defenders of the fort could see the enemy and thus flooding the lower part of Calais to push the enemy back. Currently, only two buildings remain, the officers quarters and the gunpowder room.

• Fort Risban

On the coast, Fort Risban has a strong link between Calais and the sea, in the past it was a lighthouse. Included in the inventory of Historic Monuments in 1990, it remains alongside Fort Ambleteuse as one of the last marine forts. Built during the Hundred Years War, it was rebuilt after the fighting between the French and English. The tower of Lancaster (Duke of Lancaster, governor of Calais 1348-1361) was erected and took the name of Risban in 1450. In 1622, under Louis XIII, the fort served as a starting point for the construction of a dam up to Sangatte. It also served as a beacon in defending the foreshore on the west side. During the Second World War, it housed many Calaisiens fleeing the bombing. Since 1950, the fort has been opened to visitors.

• The Citadel

In 1229 Philippe le Hurepel, Comte de Boulogne, began building a castle in the northwest corner with a tower and a paved square tower. During the British occupation from 1347 to 1558, the kings of England stayed there regularly.
In 1560, the castle was partially destroyed and in 1632, Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu ordered the construction of new fortifications (the arsenal, powder room...) and a dyke linking the citadel at Fort Nieulay was built. During the Second World War, the Citadel was a seat of resistance and saw the disappearance of interior work (barracks, arsenal ...).
Currently, it houses a sports stadium that can be reached by browsing the flower aisles located through the Neptune door.

• Watch Tower

The tower is built on the site of an old fortified tower (thirteenth century) attributed to Philip Hurepel. It was damaged in an earthquake in April 1580, it was repaired in 1631 and then consolidated after a bombing in 1809. In 1816, a Chappe telegraph was installed until 1849; from 1818 until 1848 it was also a lighthouse. During World War I, a military post was installed and a dovecote. The walkway culminates at 23 meters high. The tower was spared the bombardments of the Second World War, when more than 70% of the city was destroyed.

• The Museum of Fine Arts

Centred around the sculptures of the nineteenth and twentieth century, with works by Rodin, its masters and its successors, the Museum collections are spread over two levels. Since spring 2001, the permanent exhibits are displayed and updated regularly, according to themes, to blend ancient and modern art and contemporary collections. With the benefit of natural light in the Museum of Calais, the visitor sees works of art from nineteenth century sculpture to contemporary photography paintings of geometric abstraction of the 1950s.

• The War Museum

The War Museum, situated in a green park opposite the town hall, served during World War II as a command post for the Navy for the port of Calais and a transmission centre for the entire northern region of west France. As a member of the association "La Route 39/45," the War Museum offers various rooms where objects are exhibited - uniforms, weapons and other miscellaneous documents. During your visit you will discover through this unique collection of history of the town of Calais and its region from September 1939 until the liberation of the city in 1944.

• The International City of Lace and Fashion

The International City of Lace and Fashion is arranged in one of the last and largest lace plants dating back to the 1870s. To display the modernity of the project, the architects chose to associate a construction that evokes contemporary lace by undulating glass and silk Jacquard boxes representing the “Leavers” trades. More than 7 800 m² will be devoted to the lace theme. Not only referring to the know-how, technology, economic and social history, customs, but also the most contemporary lace, the International City of Lace and Fashion opened its doors in spring 2009 with an architecture signed by Moatti and River, an agency in Paris who in 2005 boasts the headquarters of Jean-Paul Gaultier Couture.

• The Nautical Centre and ice rink ICEO

The ICEO part of the Community of Agglomeration of Calais, offers a pleasant days relaxing and family entertainment. You can take advantage of the 25m sports pool, pool activities where you can practice water aerobics, aquaboxing ... aquastep Basin play with an 80metre slide and other water games (geyser, water cannon, waterfalls and jet massage bench), the wading pool, spa and a diving pool with a depth of 3.5 m. There is a ‘well being’ space that offers steam, sauna and whirlpool promoting relaxation but also a cardio space. Outside with the return of summer temperatures, you can enjoy an outdoor pool of 250 m² with slides and mini-golf course.

• The waterfront

Calais has a climate and environment where the wild beauty is preserved. The beach is natural, beautiful and clean, which annually attracts thousands of tourists: English, German, Dutch, Belgian ... The action taken by the city for the environment continues with the introduction of pedestrian path on the seafront during the summer (from June 15 to September 15) where young and old can enjoy the many activities in safety.

• The festivities

The months of June, July and August are months of warm, festive fun and should be an opportunity to go out and enjoy the many activities the city of Calais offers its residents and tourists. Everyone of all ages may participate in the summer of the city of Calais.

All musical and cultural tastes, sports are met by programming: entertainment and sports tournaments on the beach, parades including the international giants of Dover, discovery of other traditions, folklore of the world, animations and shows for children, concerts ...

• The Calypso sports and cultural complex

The Calypso is a multipurpose building dominated by sport and culture, with a capacity of 6683 people. Many national and international artists contribute to the spectacle. For the sports facility configuration, the maximum spectators in the stands is held at 2 349 and mobile platforms for 952 spectators for a total of 3 301 places.

• City Sports

Who did not shed a tear in the finals of the French football cup in May 2000? Besides football, Calais is a city where sports teams are evolving high levels in disciplines such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, gymnastics ... Large sporting events come to animate the city throughout the year: cycling races, duathlon, run and bike, cross country ... The new stadium, the L’Epopee with a capacity of 12 000 seats reinforces the structure of high sports.

• City Flowered

120 Hectares green areas: two public parks, the city park of the " Fort Nieulay" , the walk of the public gardens… 260.000 flowers and crop plants tightens each year of it before to embellish the city. In preoccupations with a protection environmental, the common one installation a management differentiated from its green areas. It takes into account the characteristics and the potentialities of the green areas in order to develop them. L’ interest of this management is to make it possible to the townsmen to discover the spaces varied while developing the biodiversity through more ecological practices

• Rambles City

The destination "Calais Côte d’ Opale" is ideal for in loves ones with natural big spaces. Foot has, with bicycle or with horse, between friends or in family, far from crowd but close to the men, the visitor walks on through the typical villages, of exceptional landscapes, like the Great national site of the " 2 Caps". In Calais, the city park of "Fort Nieulay", the beach and the Walk of the public gardens are places impossible to circumvent for the discovery of fauna and the flora

• Gastronomical and commercial city

True pole transfontalier, Calais lays out a considerable market of more than 60 million; inhabitants with 3 capitals (London, Paris, Brussels) with less than 2 hours. Strong an important Hotel capacity, a centre town animated, a rich and varied gastronomy, Calais offers a range of quality services. The refitting of urban spaces and the valorization of the inheritance, accompaniment existing trade and the restoration of the commercial frontages and its centre town make Calais a pleasant and gravitational city