Where to Stay in Calais, Hauts-de-France

What is Calais known for?

It overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest reach of the English Channel, and its ferries and the Channel Tunnel carry the shortest sea route between the two coasts. Lace made its name too. The Calais lace museum keeps the craft that once clothed Europe, while the tall Belfry of Calais and the church of Notre-Dame mark the old town above the harbour.

What are the main landmarks in Calais?

Calais keeps its landmarks around the old town and the harbour. The brick Belfry of Calais rises over the town hall square, and the church of Notre-Dame anchors the early streets of Calais-Nord. Lace has its own house.

The Calais lace museum tells the story of the town's great craft, the Musée des beaux-arts holds its art, and the ferry terminal and the harbour look out across the Strait of Dover toward England.

What is the history of Calais?

Calais grew as a fishing and trading harbour on the narrowest reach of the English Channel, where the Strait of Dover carries the shortest crossing to England. It was the Channel that made Calais. In the medieval wars between the two crowns the English took Calais and held it for two centuries as their last foothold on the mainland, and the church of Notre-Dame rose in that long English age.

France won it back at last. The town returned to the French crown, and the Belfry of Calais later rose over the market square as the sign of the reborn commune. Lace changed the trade.

Machines and workers came across the water and made Calais a great lace town, a craft the Calais lace museum still keeps, while the Musée des beaux-arts gathered the town's art. The modern crossings followed the old. Ferries and then the Channel Tunnel bound Calais to the English shore across the Strait of Dover, carrying the traffic the harbour had always served.

Where is Calais?

Calais stands on the flat coast of Hauts-de-France, looking out across the Strait of Dover at the narrowest point of the English Channel. The city is the largest town of the Pas-de-Calais department, and on a clear day the White Cliffs of Dover show across the water toward England. Low dunes and marsh ring the port.

The harbour and the ferry basins open to the sea, and the tunnel dives beneath the strait a short way to the west.

What is the climate of Calais?

Calais has a cool oceanic climate shaped by the sea. Mild damp winters and cool summers follow the winds off the English Channel, and grey skies and rain cross the flat coast through much of the year. The wind rarely rests.

Salt gusts sweep the harbour and the dunes off the Strait of Dover, and the weather can turn quickly on the open water.

How do you get to Calais?

Calais is one of the great gateways between France and England. Ferries cross the Strait of Dover to the English coast, and the Channel Tunnel runs its trains beneath the sea from just outside the town. Rail links reach inland too.

Fast trains connect the city toward Lille and Paris, and the motorways of Hauts-de-France meet at the port.