Some of the best French tourist attractions for families are in Northern France, where a seaside break combines fun indoors and out with immersion in nature.
Escape from the pressures of everyday life and reclaim your family time with a short hop across the Channel to Northern France. Here you’ll find some of the very best France tourist attractions to experience with kids, whether you want aquatic fun in a big swimming pool or in the sea or the chance to learn new skills such as sculpting local bird species together.
Aquaclub Belle Dune: fun and good value for money
Among the best places for family weekend breaks in France is the glorious Somme Bay, where fun, relaxation and education come together in one perfect holiday. It’s here, at the Belle Dune Holiday Village at Fort-Mahon-Plage, that you’ll find the Aquaclub Belle Dune, complete with indoor and outdoor swimming pools (including a wave pool) and water slides. Ideal for both fine weather and rainy days, it also offers up the chance for parents to chill out, with a sauna, a hammam and a Jacuzzi, as well as a bar!
Oases of Nature around the Somme Bay: horse-riding & birdwatching
Away from the water, another highlight of this part of the coast of France is the chance to ride local miniature Henson horses – a modern, friendly and docile breed created in the Somme Bay. Perfect for horse-riding with kids, these horses are the perfect way to explore the landscapes of the Parc du Marquenterre bird reserve with its pastures, dunes, woods and inland marshes. Several venues offer rides, including the Espace Equestre L’Etrier in Fort-Mahon-Plage, the Espace Equestre Henson-Marquenterre in Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont, the Haras Henson Marquenterre in Rue and the Ferme Relais de la Baie de Somme in Ponthoile.
The Marquenterre is the perfect place for kids to discover the joys of bird-watching whatever the season in which you choose to visit. Situated in the heart of the Somme Bay nature reserve, this peaceful, almost otherworldly spot is the place to see thousands of birds belonging to more than 300 species, including waders, shorebirds, water birds, perching birds and birds of prey. Wonderful species you might spot and learn here include oystercatchers with their distinctive long orange beaks.
A wonderful place for an escape into nature as a family, the Marquenterre has three walking circuits lasting from 45 minutes to two hours and 12 observation posts with English-speaking nature guides who share their expert insights into how the various birds live in the wild. Come in the main summer school holidays and you can enjoy special family workshops that include the likes of bird-themed sculpture and sketching.
Meanwhile, the Somme Bay is also home to the largest seal colony in all of France – members of which can be spotted resting on the sandbanks that emerge as the tide recedes.
Child-friendly beaches on the coast of France
Of course, one of the biggest French tourist attractions is its stunning coastline – and few places have better beaches than the Somme Bay. The Plage de Fort-Mahon itself has a gorgeous sandy beach with huge sand dunes and calm waters that make it ideal for a family day out during which parents can be calm in the knowledge that the kids are safe. Popular water and land activities here include wind-surfing, land-yachting and kiting, while the very long promenade of the Avenue de la Plage is a delightful for a relaxing family stroll.
Other fantastic, family-friendly beaches on this diverse and dramatic coastline are those at the charming seaside resorts of Quend-Plage, Le Crotoy, Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Cayeux-sur-Mer, Ault-Onival and Mers-les-Bains. All of them are ideal for experiencing some of that famous French art de vivre - a state of mind when time slows down and the finer things in life, from local produce (don’t miss a taste of the lamb from the nearby salt marshes, or of foraged coastal ingredients such as samphire) to culture, can be enjoyed in a leisurely and mindful fashion.
Useful information
Tourist Board Information of Quend
1 Place 8 Mai 1945
F-80120 Quend-Plage-les-Pins
Tel: + 33 3 22 23 32 04
Tourist Board Information of Fort-Mahon
555 Avenue de la Plage
F-80120 Fort-Mahon-Plage
Tel: +33 3 22 23 36 00
Tourist Board Information of Mers-les-Bains
3 Avenue du 18 Juin 1940
F-80350 Mers-les-Bains
Tel: +33 2 35 86 05 69
Places to visit near Belle Dune
Aquaclub de Belle Dune
Promenade du Marquenterre
F-80120 Fort-Mahon-Plage
Tel : +33 3 22 23 73 00
Parc du Marquenterre
25bis Chemin des Garennes
F-80120 Saint-Quentin-en-Tourmont
Tel: +33 3 3 22 25 68 99
Le Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme (vintage steam train)
Gare - Avenue du Général Leclerc
F-80230 Saint Valery sur Somme
Tel : +33 3 22 26 96 96
Where to stay?
Promenade du Marquenterre
F- 80120 Fort-Mahon-Plage
Tel: +33 3 22 23 10 00
The Domaine du Val (wooden house)
Route du Val
F- 80132 Grand-Laviers
Tel : +33 3 22 20 02 69
Camping Domaine Du Château De Drancourt
Lieu dit estreboeuf
F-80230 Saint-Valery-sur-Somme
Tel : +33 3 22 26 93 45
Where to eat near Belle Dune?
Au coin des Goûteux (picnic basket)
67 rue de la Ferté
F-80230 Saint Valery sur Somme
Tel : + 33 3 22 60 81 33
La Fournée de la Baie (bakery & pastry - taste the “gâteau battu”: a sort of brioche)
28 avenue de la République
F-80230 Saint-Valery-Sur-Somme
Tel : +33 3 22 26 71 65
