The Quaint Opal Coast
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Port
Dunkirk (Lille), France
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Activity Level
Moderate Activity
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At (prices in USD)
$100
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 4 Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
The Opal Coast is the stretch of Channel coast between Calais and the mouth of the River Somme, characterized by huge, wild and windswept sandy beaches. In the northern part, as far as Boulogne-sur-Mer, the beaches are fringed, as on the English side of the Channel, by white-chalk cliffs.
Here, between the prominent headlands of Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Gris Nez, the coastal road winds high above the sea, allowing you to appreciate the 'opal' -- the landscape of sea and sky merging into an opalescent, oyster-grey continuum.
The southern part of the coast is flatter, and the beach -- uninterrupted for 25 miles -- is backed by a landscape of pine-anchored dunes and brackish tarns. The scene is punctuated every few hundred yards by German pillboxes now toppled by the shifting sands uprooting their foundations.
A panoramic drive takes you past Cape Blanc Nez and Cape Gris-Nez. Photo stops here are sure to yield some great snaps before you head back to the pier in Dunkirk.