Pas de Calais, Picardy and Champagne
A dramatic coast and historic landscape with worldcelebrated highlights...
The Pas de Calais provides a fine introduction to France, with unmistakable Gallic appeal. Windswept cliffs, dune backed beaches and seaside villages sweep along the Côte d’Opale from Calais to Boulogne and Le Touquet has long been a favoured holiday town. Lille is an interesting city with lively nightlife and fine restaurants, while attractive towns such as Bergues and St Omer are pleasant to explore.
As the Pas de Calais merges into Picardy, history has coloured the peaceful rolling landscape and rural towns with poignant significance. Evocative memorials and countless white crosses commemorate the fallen of the World War battlefields and the great gothic cathedral of Amiens is definitely an impressive sight.
The toast of France and indeed the world, the precious Champagne vineyards stretch for miles. Reims and Épernay compete for the most famous Champagne houses, with guided tours of the cellars the essential, heady highlight. Medieval Troyes features distinctive half timbered houses and the city is also becoming renowned for designer outlet shopping.
Highlights
- The Côte d’Opale – follow coastal paths around the panoramic Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez for views across the channel to England’s white cliffs.
- Amiens – admire the magnificence of France’s largest gothic cathedral and take a riverside stroll in the medieval Saint Leu quarter with lively restaurants.
- Champagne – take the Route Touristique de Champagne through the vineyards and choose from the famous cellars offering tours and tastings, including Mumm, Pommery and Taittinger in Reims or Mercier and Moët et Chandon in Épernay.
- Ardennes – discover the well kept secrets where France meets Belgium, including unspoilt villages, medieval castles and distinctive cuisine in a scenic setting of wooded hills and fertile valleys.
- Out and about – criss-cross the forested Montagne de Reims regional park, following cycling and hiking trails, finding a curious woodland of miniature beech trees near the village of Verzy.
Marne River, Cumieres, Champagne
Your nearest airports - Charles de Gaulle, Beauvais and Lille
Your nearest ferry ports - Calais, Dunkerque.
