BOULOGNE-SUR-MER is quite different from Dunkerque and Calais – recommendation in itself. It has long been an important harbour and claims to be the largest fishing base in Europe. This is just as well since the year 2000 saw the last cross-Channel ferry dock here; the economic effects have yet to hit hard but some shops in the town centre have already folded. Rising above the drab lower town is an attractive medieval quarter, the ville haute, contained within the old town walls and dominated by a grand, domed cathedral that apes St Paul's in London. Amid the newer shopping streets of the ville basse are some of the best food shops in the whole region, along with a large array of fish restaurants. Alone among the far northern Channel ports, this is a place that might actually tempt you to stay.
Pages in section ‘Boulogne-sur-Mer’: The Town, Information, Shopping, Restaurants.
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