Le Touquet with a baby: our tips for a stress-free holiday

Yes, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is an easy destination with a baby or toddler. The town is flat, distances are short, the seafront promenade and the forest lanes are pushchair-friendly, and the resort, which holds the Famille Plus family label, has plenty of playgrounds and activities for the youngest. The main challenge is the Channel climate: wind, sometimes deceptive sunshine and a cool sea.

Here is how to prepare your stay, enjoy the beach with a pushchair and keep an under-3 busy without rushing around.

What to pack, and what you'll find on site

The secret to travelling light with a baby is knowing what awaits you on arrival. Well-equipped accommodation saves you loading the car with a cot and a high chair. At Villa Mon Étoile, the Hélios and Cassiopée apartments each provide a high chair, a travel cot, a baby bath, child-friendly tableware, toys and books, along with a fully equipped kitchen and a washing machine.

There's no need to fill the boot with nappies and wipes: supermarkets and pharmacies are close by, and Le Touquet's covered market sells fruit and vegetables for homemade purées. See our guide to grocery shopping in Le Touquet.

The beach with a pushchair: promenade, boardwalks and timing

Le Touquet's beach is huge and gently sloping, with fine sand that's perfect for first sandcastles. But a standard pushchair quickly gets stuck in dry sand. A few pointers:

• The seafront promenade runs the full length of the seafront: wide, flat and paved, it's the pushchair walk par excellence, with the sea on one side and the cafés on the other.
• The wooden boardwalks installed for access for people with reduced mobility, notably near the Saint-Jean 2 car park, also make it easier to get down to the beach with a pushchair.
• A baby carrier remains the best option for venturing towards the dunes or along the water's edge at low tide.
• The tides greatly change the width of the beach: at low tide, the foreshore is very wide and the water far away; check the tide times before you settle in.

As for facilities, there are showers and toilets on the seafront. The beach bars let you take a sheltered break for a bottle or a nap in the pushchair.

Activities with a baby or a child under 3

Playgrounds

The tourist office lists six free playgrounds around the resort:

• the Jardin d'Ypres playground, place Édouard-VII, near the town hall;
• the market playground, on the corner of rue Jean-Monnet and rue de Metz;
• the Quentovic playground, also on rue de Metz;
• the Espace Canche playground, boulevard de la Canche;
• the equestrian centre playground, avenue de la Dune-aux-Loups;
• the airport playground.

The Parc de l'Estuaire is another free space popular with families.

Forest walks

Le Touquet's forest is criss-crossed by lanes and cycle paths where you move along in the shade of the pines, sheltered from the wind. It's the ideal place for a nap in the pushchair or a bike ride with a baby seat or trailer.

Activities and swimming pool

• The Festival des Tout-Petits, every summer from mid-July to mid-August, offers shows, storytelling, puppets and workshops for 0–12-year-olds; part of the programme is suitable for the youngest.
• The carousel on the seafront delights children as soon as they can sit up.
• The tennis centre swimming pool, outdoor and heated, opens in the warmer months depending on the weather; its shallowest pool is 0.90 m deep: with a baby, ask at reception about access conditions.
• The beach clubs welcome children from 3 years old: one to keep for the following years.

Good to know: Aqualud, the former water park on the seafront, has been closed for several years and will not reopen; the town has launched a project to redevelop the site. For ideas by age, see our guide to Le Touquet with kids.

Health: pharmacies, doctors and emergencies

There are several pharmacies in the centre of Le Touquet, and general practitioners work in the resort. For a minor problem, the pharmacy is often the best first port of call; in the evening, on Sundays or on public holidays, calling 3237 (or the 3237.fr website) tells you the nearest duty pharmacy.

• Life-threatening emergency: call 15 (SAMU) or 112, the European emergency number, free from any phone.
• Nearest hospital: the Centre hospitalier de l'arrondissement de Montreuil, in Rang-du-Fliers, about twenty kilometres away, has an accident and emergency department open 24/7.
• Before you leave: take the health record book, your health insurance card, current prescriptions and a small kit (thermometer, saline solution, the usual fever reducer approved by your doctor).

If your child needs specific medical follow-up, note down the details of a paediatrician or doctor in the area before you leave, and check their availability: in summer, practices are very busy.

When to come with a baby, and what time to go out

With a toddler, peace and quiet often matters more than warmth. Each period has its advantages:

Sun and wind

On the Opal Coast, the breeze cools the air and makes you forget how strong the sun is. Paediatricians recommend not exposing babies to direct sunlight: a hat, covering clothes, a UV shelter and outings in the morning or late afternoon rather than between noon and 4 pm. Conversely, the sea wind can quickly chill a baby in a pushchair: always keep an extra layer and a rain cover. To plan ahead, see also our article on Le Touquet's weather.

Charles's tip: plan the beach around the tide and nap time. In the morning, head onto the sand on a falling tide, when the water leaves warm pools where little ones can splash about under your watchful eye; in the afternoon, have the nap in the pushchair under the pines in the forest, sheltered from the wind, then come back to the promenade for an afternoon snack.

Choosing accommodation suited to toddlers

With a baby, location makes half the holiday. Being within walking distance of the beach and the shops means you can go back for nap time, nip home for a forgotten bottle and never get back in the car. Also check the number of bedrooms (so the baby can sleep in peace), and whether there's a washing machine and a kitchen to prepare meals and bottles.

At the villa, the beach is about 300 m away and rue Saint-Jean 200 m; each apartment sleeps 4 people plus a baby, and together the two form a 4-bedroom duplex for 8 people, handy when grandparents or friends travel with you. Find our advice on choosing a family holiday rental in Le Touquet.