A quick trip on the ferry from Dover to Calais is a popular choice amongst several in England looking for a weekend break abroad. Being in my mid-20s now and never having been in France for more than a toilet break on a road trip to Germany last year, I went over the weekend to see what Calais was really like…
A 2.5 hour drive from our hometown, just north of London got us into Dover bright and early and were able to park our car safely and give us a few minutes spare before catching the courtesy bus to the terminal, which included a long-winded check in process.
A mixture of families, elderly and kids on a school trip greeted us on our 9.05 ferry departure from Dover. Two guys in our mid-20s, we stood out just a bit. There’s only so much sea I could take before taking a much-needed nap ahead of what I was expecting to be an exciting weekend in France.
After arriving in Calais, with no check in or anyone waiting at the other end it was up to us to find our own way. To get out of the terminal we had to go over a parking lot by foot and into the town itself. Yes, we were foot passengers of course. Otherwise we’d have saved a lot of time and gone via the EuroTunnel.
Prior to the trip I had pinpointed the majority of Calais tourist ‘attractions’ on Google Maps and created a ‘What To Do in Calais’ walking guide for the pair of us. We promptly made our way over to Fort Risban – the departure point. In truth, it’s the worst-looking fort either of us had ever come across. At least there were two monuments to take photos of and be educated by the plaques next to them explaining what they were commemorating. Fortunately for me they were in both French and English, of which I can only read one.
After the disappointing fort, we walked past the ‘Bassin du Paradis’, which was anything but paradise. Merely just a sectioned off spot of sea with a load of old, little boats in to be honest. As shown in this photo I took:
We walked past a couple more monuments onto the more-impressive looking Calais Lighthouse. That was still standing tall, compared to the fort and the age-worn monuments. Being afraid of heights I didn’t go up the stairs to the top.
A short walk away from there we walked to the Notre Dame Church and the Watchtower. Two of the first attractions that I put down on our walking guide. We were greeted by a poor Frenchman trying to sell us a map of Europe at the Watchtower, so we swiftly moved on.
Throughout all of this walking we were looking for a decent-looking restaurant to get lunch in. Without luck. Whilst there were a few restaurants in this French town, and a greatly named ‘English Pub’ (and not so greatly named, ‘Le Liverpool’ restaurant), they all looked tatty and the pair of us were afraid to risk our health by eating in one. We later found a sandwich shop down Rue Royale and got a baguette each filled with plenty of ham and cheese.
And then Calais looked attractive all of a sudden. We headed over to the beautiful and well-maintained Parc Richelieu, opposite the famous Fine Arts and Lace Museum. And just past that, over a bridge was the impressive Town Hall. I was particularly fond of the Laurence Jenkell artwork outside; some large sculptures of sweets scattered around the Town Hall garden out the front. These sculptures with the flags of a few European countries; including Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Netherlands and Great Britain. The Town Hall was something to admire in the sunshine too.
Amongst the sculptures was the old Rodin’s Six Burghers masterpiece, another famous landmark in Calais. And opposite that was the Remembrance Monument. This part of Calais was certainly the highlight of the trip. All of these attractions were covered in less than 2 hours. So if you’re considering Calais, spend some time at the beach, or perhaps in the War Museum otherwise you’ll be hoping you booked a quick return on the ferry.
Calais certainly has its historic landmarks, making it an attraction for a school trip. There is a beach which we didn’t visit, but otherwise there wasn’t anything to make me want to come back to this part of France in the future. £100+ on petrol and a £98 ferry hardly made it worthwhile either. Why didn’t we go to Brighton instead…
