Le Touquet Christmas Market: Festive Breaks Over the Channel - 7th and 8th December 2024

Every winter, Le Touquet-Paris Plage – a stylish but family-friendly beach resort in the heart of the Opal Coast only an hour’s drive from the ferry port of Calais – becomes the gorgeous setting for one of Northern France’s most atmospheric Christmas markets. 

 

All  the magic of Christmas is here for the taking, as well as local produce and products ranging from jewellery, hand-made wooden toys, clothes, festive decorations and other artisan crafts to gourmet specialities such as champagne and cheese, all sold from quaint wooden Alpine-style chalets. 

 

Snacking on festive treats such as roast chestnuts, crêpes and waffles as you browse, you will be accompanied by traditional carol-singing and all the other sights, sounds and smells of this most spellbinding of events illuminated by sparkling lights and beautifully decorated Christmas trees.

 

French Christmas markets are a wonderful opportunity to spend some quality time together as a a couple or a family, with children, parents and grandparents, and to get away from the routines and pressures that stop us from doing so in everyday life. Christmas is an ideal time to reconnect with one another and with our own needs and to create lasting memories while relaxing to the full and enjoying some of that famous French hospitality.

 

As well as the chance to shop for unique Christmas presents to take home with you – the market, which is open at weekends and then daily during the Christmas holidays themselves – offers up two ice-skating rinks (a main one and one specially for children), horse-drawn carriage rides, an Enchanted Forest with an illuminated interactive trail with goblins (it’s here that kids can come to post their letter to Santa, and have a souvenir photograph taken), festively themed shows, a traditional carousel and storytelling.

 

 

 

Le Touquet is most famous for its eclectic Art Deco villas (many of which were commissioned by wealthy British visitors in the 1920s, including playwright Noël Coward) and its long fine-sand beach – both of which are worthy of a stroll whatever time of year you visit. And if you’re in the mood to learn about history and/or for some quiet contemplation, the British cemetery at Etaples lies just across the Canche estuary from Le Touquet.

 

Another local institution not to miss is the resort’s covered market, with stalls laden with colourful seasonal regional produce. It’s generally held twice a week (Thursday and Saturday mornings), but during the Christmas holidays there’s an additional market on Monday mornings. Nearby, the Poissonnerie Perard fishmongers is a top spot to try local seafood. 

 

There are also plenty more Christmas-shopping opportunities in store in the town’s many enticing boutiques, including fashion for all tastes and budgets. France is renowned around the world for its craftsmanship, luxury and attention to detail, and the huge array of ‘Made in France’ objects that you’ll find in Le Touquet’s various shops ensure that you’ll find something wonderful to bring home with you and imbue your home or those of your friends or family with that ‘French touch’.

 

Other ways to bring home some of that classic French art de vivre is to take advantage of your visit to stock up on local beers, wines, champagne or spirits– the ideal ingredient for a Christmas toast…

 

 

7th and 8th December 2024

Open from 6pm until 10pm on Saturday and from 9am until 6pm on Sunday.

For more information, get in touch with the tourist board information of Le Touquet : Tel : + 33 3 21 06 72 00