Le Touquet or Hardelot: Two Neighbouring Resorts, Two Atmospheres

Le Touquet or Hardelot? These two Opal Coast resorts, about 24 km apart, were partly dreamt up by the same Englishman and share pine trees, dunes and golf. Yet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is a small town that stays busy all year round, while Hardelot remains a more residential resort that is very quiet out of season. Here is our point-by-point comparison to help you choose according to what you want from your stay.

Le Touquet and Hardelot: the comparison at a glance

Two resorts born of the same English adventure

The two resorts share a history. Le Touquet was born in 1882, when Alphonse Daloz launched the Paris-Plage development in the middle of pine-planted dunes. At the end of the 19th century, the English businessman John Whitley helped develop the resort with his partner Allen Stoneham and brought in a British clientele. After disagreements, from 1905 he devoted himself to another project a few kilometres further north: Hardelot-Plage, next to the château he had owned since 1897.

Hardelot quickly gained villas, tennis courts and a golf course. In 1911, the aviator Louis Blériot had a villa built there and launched his “aéroplages”, forerunners of the sand yacht. Badly hit during the Second World War, the resort was largely rebuilt after 1945, which explains the mix of older villas and more recent apartment buildings facing the sea.

Le Touquet, which became a town in its own right in 1912, has better preserved its fabric of Anglo-Norman and Art Deco villas, and has the facilities of a proper town. To find out more, read our article on the history of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage.

Beaches and nature: dunes on both sides

Hardelot, between dunes and forest

Hardelot's coastline stretches for about 8 km, from the Écault dunes in the north to Dannes in the south. The resort itself occupies a stretch of seafront lined with apartment buildings, but a few minutes' walk brings you to wild dunes, including those of Mont Saint-Frieux, protected for their ecological value. Inland, the Hardelot forest and the lac des Miroirs, below the château, make for lovely walks or bike rides.

Le Touquet, the big beach and the Canche bay

In Le Touquet, the fine sandy beach runs for more than 12 km and stays wide even at high tide. To the north, the pointe du Touquet opens onto the Canche bay, where you can watch migrating birds and, sometimes, seals. The town itself is built in a pine forest of about 800 hectares, criss-crossed by cycle paths.

In short, the two resorts offer a comparable natural setting. Hardelot feels wilder as soon as you leave the centre; Le Touquet gives you more space on the sand and direct access to the forest from the town's streets.

Golf, board sports and outdoor activities

Golfers will be well served either way: this is probably where the two resorts are most alike.

• Golf in Hardelot: two 18-hole courses. Les Pins, designed by the British architect Tom Simpson in the 1930s, winds through the trees; Les Dunes, opened in 1991, makes more of the dune landscape.
• Golf in Le Touquet: three courses, including La Mer, a links among the dunes, La Forêt and Le Manoir (9 holes). All the details are in our guide to golf in Le Touquet.
• Sand yachting and board sports: Hardelot has a water sports centre (base Georges-Pernoud) for sand yachting, kayaking, dinghy sailing and kitesurfing. In Le Touquet, the huge foreshore is one of the coast's great sand-yachting grounds.
• Horse riding and cycling: both resorts have riding centres and forest trails. Le Touquet has the edge with a denser cycle network, handy for getting everywhere without a car.

A golf break can easily combine the two: from Le Touquet, Hardelot is less than half an hour's drive away.

Culture, events and everyday life

Hardelot, the château of the Entente Cordiale

Hardelot's great cultural asset is its château, located in the neighbouring village of Condette. Rebuilt in the 19th century in a neo-Tudor style by an Englishman, it has housed the Centre culturel de l'Entente cordiale since 2009, devoted to relations between France and Britain. Opposite the château, a 388-seat wooden Elizabethan theatre opened in 2016; it hosts the Midsummer Festival every summer. The resort also holds a classical music festival in August and a large Lille-Hardelot cycling ride in spring.

Le Touquet, a town that lives all year round

Le Touquet works like a small town: covered market, shops and restaurants on rue Saint-Jean, cinema, conference centre, riding centre, museum. The calendar is punctuated by recurring events, from the Enduropale in winter to summer concerts and competitions; see Le Touquet's highlights.

The difference is felt above all out of season. Hardelot is a very residential resort: its population goes from about 1,800 people in winter to more than 15,000 in summer, and the choice of shops shrinks noticeably outside the holidays. Le Touquet keeps most of its shops and restaurants open for much of the year.

Getting there and planning your stay

From Paris, both resorts are reached via the A16 motorway: allow about 235 km for Le Touquet and 245 km for Hardelot, a little under 3 hours' drive depending on traffic.

• By train to Le Touquet: Étaples-Le Touquet station is served by direct TGVs from Paris-Nord and by TER regional trains; it is a few minutes from the centre by bus, taxi or bike.
• By train to Hardelot: the nearest station is Neufchâtel, served by TER trains on the Boulogne–Étaples line; it is a few kilometres from the beach, and a car remains handy.
• Between the two: about 24 km via the D940, through Camiers and Dannes, i.e. 25 to 30 minutes.
• Towards Boulogne-sur-Mer: Hardelot is about 15 km from Boulogne and Nausicaá, an advantage if you want to explore the northern Opal Coast.

For other day trips from the resort, see our guide things to do around Le Touquet.

So, Le Touquet or Hardelot?

Our view, depending on your profile:

1. You are looking for peace and nature: Hardelot, especially out of season, for its dunes, its forest and its gentle pace.
2. You are coming as a family and would rather leave the car: Le Touquet, where beach, shops, market and cycle paths are all within walking or cycling distance.
3. You play golf: both, ideally staying in one and playing in the other too.
4. You love culture and Franco-British history: Hardelot for its château, Le Touquet for its architecture and its museum.
5. You are coming in winter or for a long weekend: Le Touquet, livelier out of season.

Charles's tip: for a day in Hardelot from Le Touquet, take the D940 through Camiers and Dannes, visit the Château d'Hardelot in late morning (check opening days on the Département's website), have a picnic by the lac des Miroirs, then finish on Hardelot beach at low tide for the sunset.

If you choose Le Touquet as your base, our apartments at Villa Mon Étoile are 300 m from the beach and 200 m from rue Saint-Jean, and Hardelot is only 25 minutes' drive away. Also torn between Le Touquet and the southern part of the coast? Read our comparison Le Touquet or Berck.