What to do in Le Touquet when it rains: 12 ideas under cover (or almost)

When it rains in Le Touquet, there's no shortage of good options: the Musée du Touquet-Paris-Plage, set in a 1920s villa, the covered market, thalassotherapy, shopping on rue Saint-Jean, or the aquariums at Maréis in Étaples and Nausicaá in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

On the Côte d'Opale, rain often comes in showers: a grey day almost always brings a sunny spell. Here are our ideas, grouped by what you feel like doing.

Culture and heritage under cover

1. The Musée du Touquet-Paris-Plage Édouard-Champion

Housed in the Villa Way Side, an Anglo-Norman-style house built in 1925 on the corner of avenue du Golf and avenue du Château, the museum is the obvious cultural outing on a rainy day. Its collections bring together works by painters of the Étaples art colony (École d'Étaples), artists who came from all over the world to paint the baie de Canche in the late 19th century, photographic portraits of early 20th-century celebrities, mementoes of the resort's history and a collection of modern art. Temporary exhibitions regularly add to the visit, and guided tours and family workshops are on offer.

2. The Canche lighthouse

This is the resort's great landmark, visible from both the forest and the beach.

Designed by Le Touquet architect Louis Quételart and completed in the early 1950s, the lighthouse, a listed historic monument, stands about 57 metres tall. Its 274 inside steps are climbed under cover; at the top, on an overcast day, the view over the forest, the bay and the choppy sea has a charm all its own. It's open to the public at weekends and during French school holidays: check opening slots with the tourist office.

3. An Art Deco stroll between showers

Umbrella in hand, the town centre can be explored like an open-air museum: Jean Boissel's post office (1927), the covered market, and the Art Deco façades of rue Saint-Jean and the surrounding streets. Our article on Le Touquet's architecture gives you the route.

Market, shopping and treats

4. The covered market

Built in 1932 near rue Saint-Jean, Le Touquet's covered market comes to life on Thursday and Saturday mornings all year round, and on Monday mornings in summer. Under its arcades, you can stock up on fish, brown shrimps, cheeses from northern France and local vegetables, out of the rain.

5. Shopping on rue Saint-Jean

Rue Saint-Jean and the streets around it are packed with fashion and homeware shops, bookshops, delicatessens and galleries. It's easy to go from one shop window to the next without getting too wet. Rainy days are also the quietest for browsing the art galleries and interior design shops, which are often packed on sunny afternoons.

6. A warming afternoon tea

A rainy day is the perfect excuse to linger in a tearoom or pâtisserie in the centre. To find out what to try, read our article on what to eat in Le Touquet.

Wellbeing and relaxation

7. Thalassotherapy

Le Touquet is a thalassotherapy resort. On the seafront, the thalassotherapy centre at the Novotel Thalassa hotel has a heated seawater pool, drawn from the sea right in front of the hotel. Treatments, hammam, massages: ask the establishment directly about packages available to non-residents.

8. Spas and beauty salons

Several hotels and beauty salons in the centre offer treatments and massages. The tourist office lists them in its wellbeing section.

9. The casino and shows

The Barrière casino, in the centre, and the Palais des Congrès, which hosts concerts and shows in its Maurice-Ravel hall, offer an evening out under cover. Check the tourist office events calendar for the programme.

With children

10. Maréis, in Étaples

Across the Canche, Maréis, the sea-fishing discovery centre, tells the story of Étaples' fishermen, from the boatyard to the open sea. Children love the large aquariums, home to more than 500 creatures from the Channel and the North Sea, and the touch pool where you can stroke rays and turbot.

11. Nausicaá, in Boulogne-sur-Mer

Some thirty kilometres to the north, Nausicaá, France's national sea centre, is one of the largest aquariums in Europe. Allow at least half a day: it's the ideal outing for a truly rainy day. For more ideas nearby, read things to do around Le Touquet.

12. Library, games and workshops

The town's media library lends books, comics and DVDs. Depending on the time of year, the tourist office also runs workshops and offers an activity booklet for children. Find more ideas in Le Touquet with the family.

Even more ideas nearby

If the rain lasts several days, it's a chance to discover the hinterland and the neighbouring coast, by car or by train:

• Étaples: beyond Maréis, the fishing port and its quays are worth exploring even in grey weather, and the Musée Quentovic also holds works by painters of the Étaples art colony.
• Château d'Hardelot: to the north, between sea and forest, this 19th-century château is open to visitors; it lies on the Vélomaritime cycle route between Le Touquet and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
• Boulogne-sur-Mer: as well as Nausicaá, the fortified town and its harbour, France's leading fishing port, are worth a full day.
• Montreuil-sur-Mer: inland, this small hilltop town and its ramparts make for a lovely walk, with plenty of cafés to warm up in.

In all cases, check opening times before setting off: they vary with the season and school holidays. And remember that a day out in bad weather needs the same preparation as one in the sun: a change of clothes for the children, a snack, and a towel in the boot for the sunny spell that will come eventually.

A sample rainy-day plan

So you don't spend the day watching the rain, here's a sequence that works well:

And if the rain sets in, there's nothing wrong with staying in in the warm. At Villa Mon Étoile, the apartments have a bookshelf, board games and children's books, enough to turn a grey afternoon into family time.

Charles's tip: look at the hour-by-hour forecast rather than the icon for the day. On the Côte d'Opale, the wind blows the clouds away quickly: there's often a lovely window in the late afternoon. So save the beach for then, in raincoats and wellies, and keep the museum or Maréis for the heaviest of the rain.

To know what to expect by season, see our article on the weather in Le Touquet.