Seaside & beachfront · Calais
Best Seaside and Beachfront Stays in Calais
Seaside stays in Calais all come down to one address on the Cote d'Opale: the Digue Gaston Berthe, the sea wall that runs behind the beach west of the port. Two properties sit directly on it, Hotel Residence du Golf and Hotel De La Plage, both facing open water across the Pas-de-Calais strait towards the English coast. This is not the Mediterranean and it does not behave like it; the light shifts fast, the wind is part of the deal, and the beach empties by early evening. What it offers instead is sand, free parking and a lighthouse within sight.
Updated July 25, 2026
Seaside & beachfront · Calais in numbers
The Opal Coast puts its seafront hotels literally on the sand at Calais. Hotel Residence du Golf sits opposite the beach at 745 Digue Gaston Berthe, eight hundred metres from the town centre, with rooms sleeping up to four and a beachfront position confirmed in its facilities. Its rooms carry a microwave, a fridge and an electric hotplate, satellite television with French and English channels, and a full en suite bathroom, and crockery and cooking equipment can be hired for an extra charge. Eighty parking places sit on site, five of them suitable for guests with reduced mobility, and the Channel Tunnel is five minutes away by car.
A few doors along the same Opal Coast sea wall, Hotel De La Plage faces the water at 693 Digue Gaston Berthe and offers sea views, a bar and a restaurant serving regional cooking. Its terrace faces the sea directly, which is the reason to choose it over anything inland, and rooms carry flat-screen satellite television, a desk and a modern en suite with bath or shower. Eighty free private parking spaces including five adapted places sit on site, and Calais Train Station is a five-minute drive inland in the city centre.
Everything the Pas-de-Calais coast is known for lies within reach of these two addresses. The Calais Lighthouse stands over the Courgain Maritime quarter to the east, the Dragon de Calais walks the promenade, and the chalk headland of Cap Blanc-Nez, the first of the Deux Caps, rises a short drive west along the coast road. Both hotels list beach access and hiking among their activities, and Hotel De La Plage adds bike tours and walking tours, which is how most guests reach the dunes and the coastal path beyond the town.
Calais holds its beach at arm's length from its centre, which is unusual for a French coastal town. The Digue Gaston Berthe sits west of the port, roughly eight hundred metres from Place d'Armes, and the two are joined by the free bus and a straightforward walk. That separation gives the seafront a quieter character than the streets around the station: fewer shops, more sky, kite surfers on windy afternoons and the Dragon de Calais working its way along the promenade.
Local tips
- Ask for a sea-facing room rather than a rear one on the Digue Gaston Berthe, the price gap is small and the view over the strait is the whole point.
- Rent the crockery and cooking equipment at Hotel Residence du Golf if you plan to self-cater, the rooms already have a hotplate, microwave and fridge.
- Take the free bus into Calais-Nord for dinner, the sea wall itself has only the hotel restaurants once the afternoon crowd has gone home.
- Walk east along the beach towards the lighthouse at low tide, the sand is firm and it is the simplest way to see the Courgain Maritime quarter.
- Check the wind before booking a terrace lunch, the strait funnels weather and the same terrace can be glorious or unusable within an hour.
Seaside & beachfront
2 stays in Calais
Frequently asked questions
Seaside & beachfront · Calais
Two are genuinely on the beachfront: Hotel Residence du Golf at 745 Digue Gaston Berthe and Hotel De La Plage at 693 Digue Gaston Berthe. Both list beachfront among their facilities, both face the sea across the promenade, and both hold eighty on-site parking spaces free of charge.