What to See in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage: 9 Sights and a Two-Day Plan

What should you see in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage? First and foremost the Canche lighthouse, the town hall, the covered market, the museum in Villa Way Side, the seafront and the Canche bay. The resort is compact: all these places lie within a two-kilometre radius and are easy to link on foot or by bike. Here are our nine must-sees, from heritage to nature, with distances from the centre.

The Canche lighthouse

Standing 57 m tall in red brick, the Canche lighthouse is the most visible landmark in town. Designed by Louis Quételart, built from 1949 and completed in the early 1950s, it replaced the two 19th-century lighthouses destroyed during the war. It has been a listed historic monument since 2011.

Its 274 steps lead to a panorama over the town, the forest, the Canche bay and, on a clear day, the coast as far as the cliffs. Climbs are only possible at certain times (usually weekends and French school holidays): check with the tourist office before you come.

The civic heart: town hall, church and covered market

These three sites face each other, a stone's throw from rue Saint-Jean.

• The town hall (1931), by Louis Debrouwer and Pierre Drobecq, blends English Gothic, half-timbering and Artois gables beneath a 38 m belfry. It is a listed historic monument; the tourist office runs guided tours.
• Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc church, opened in 1911 and rebuilt from 1950 to 1955 after the 1944 bombing raids.
• The Jardin d'Ypres, the resort's first public garden, named in 1935 in tribute to the Belgian refugees taken in during the First World War.

The covered market

Built in 1931–1932 by Henri-Léon Bloch and Henri-Paul Nénot, Le Touquet's covered market forms a semicircle around a square, cut by a great arch over rue Jean-Monnet. Its façades, roofs and market hall are listed as historic monuments. On market days you will find flowers, fruit and vegetables and regional produce, as well as jewellery and wicker baskets. Days and times vary with the season: check the tourist office website. To know what to buy there, see our guide on what to eat in Le Touquet.

The Musée du Touquet-Paris-Plage – Édouard Champion

Founded in 1932, the museum occupies Villa Way Side, an Anglo-Norman house tucked away in the forest on the corner of avenue du Golf and avenue du Château. The drawing rooms have kept their wood panelling. Inside you will find painters of the Étaples art colony and the Opal Coast (Eugène Chigot, Henri Le Sidaner, Eugène Boudin), a collection of 344 signed photographic portraits of early 20th-century personalities, and a collection of modern and contemporary art. Temporary exhibitions are held throughout the year. The museum is closed on Tuesdays.

The seafront and place du Centenaire

The promenade runs alongside a fine sandy beach that becomes very wide at low tide. Along the way you will pass the wooden-horse carousel, the beach clubs, the sand yachts and, on place du Centenaire, the Tour Paris-Plage: a 9.5 m Eiffel Tower unveiled in 2017, the work of sculptor Alain Godon. On boulevard du Docteur-Jules-Pouget, look out for the group of four late-19th-century villas (Saint-Augustin, Thalassa, Phébus and Borée), listed as historic monuments. In the evening, this is the best place for the sunset, as we explain in our article on the best views in Le Touquet.

The Canche bay, the forest and the villas

The Canche bay

North of the resort, the Baie de Canche National Nature Reserve, created in 1987, covers about 500 hectares of dunes, mudflats and salt meadows. From the corniche road, reserved for pedestrians and cyclists, an observation point overlooks the estuary: at low tide, you can often see harbour seals on the sandbanks. The tourist office offers guided outings with binoculars and spotting scopes, starting from the water sports centre.

The forest and the villas

Planted from the 1850s onwards, the pine forest shelters the resort's most discreet villas. Follow the cycle paths towards avenue du Golf and avenue du Château, and read our guide to Le Touquet's architecture to recognise the styles and the architects.

Other curiosities in the centre

Between the major sights, a few stops are well worth a detour:

• The Village Suisse, avenue Saint-Jean: three chalets built in 1905–1906 by Paul Bertrand, with a ground floor inspired by medieval castles.
• Villa Tata Ice (1926), avenue de la Paix: its pink face-shaped façade is one of the most photographed in town.
• The Jardin des Arts, near rue Saint-Jean: a garden square redesigned in 2017 around a large steel sculpture by Albert Féraud.
• The post office on rue de Metz, a listed historic monument, and the Westminster hotel, opened in 1924, whose brick façade towers over avenue du Verger.
• The Jardins de la Manche: a trail of town gardens awarded the “Jardin remarquable” (Remarkable Garden) label in 2022.

To wander between these places, follow our walk through Le Touquet's iconic streets.

Planning your visit: itinerary and distances

Day 1: the centre on foot

1. In the morning, the covered market, then the town hall, the church and the Jardin d'Ypres.
2. Lunch in the centre, then rue Saint-Jean and the Village Suisse.
3. In the afternoon, climb the lighthouse (if it is open), then follow the seafront to place du Centenaire.
4. In the evening, sunset on the promenade.

Day 2: forest and bay by bike

1. In the morning, a loop through the forest and its villas, then the museum in Villa Way Side.
2. In the afternoon, the water sports centre, the corniche road and the Canche bay observation point, ideally at low tide.

There are plenty of cycle paths and the terrain is almost completely flat: it is the most pleasant way to link the forest and the bay.

Distances from rue d'Étaples

Approximate figures from rue d'Étaples, home to Villa Mon Étoile, a 5-minute walk from the beach:

Charles's tip: check the tide times before heading to the Canche bay. The seals rest on the sandbanks at low tide; at high tide, you will only see water. Take binoculars and stay on the waymarked paths.

To fill the rest of your stay, see also things to do in Le Touquet.