Boulogne – Hardelot-Plage (Neufchâtel-Hardelot)

(S) Start from the Pont Marguet in Boulogne, on the old town side.

Cross the Liane channel via the Marguet Bridge (take the covered footpath). Pass a car park, then keep to the right to walk along the quays in front of the ULCO (Université du Littoral Côté d’Opale). When you reach a paved area at the far end of the Bassin Napoléon, take the street that curves sharply to the left past a shipyard and the Chamber of Commerce buildings.

Continue along the long straight stretch through the warehouses (part of the road is reserved for pedestrians and cyclists; however, take great care with traffic as there is no physical separation). Pass the fish auction and reach the end of the road. Turn left onto the cycle path and continue to the end of the street, where you’ll find a lorry wash.

(1) Follow the road to the right, then turn right again to cross a railway line and turn left. After passing under a bridge, veer right and cross a car park to reach the beach.

(2) Turn left and follow the beach. You’ll come to a coastal stream just before a leisure centre. Cross it and turn left. Leave the beach via a tarmac path. This turns right after about ten metres and leads onto the Quai du Calvaire in Le Portel.

(3) Turn right and walk along the seafront. After a left-hand bend heading inland, cross the bridge on your right, then rejoin the seafront promenade. Walk to the end of the promenade.

(4) Leave the customs officers’ path opposite and turn left to head uphill along Rue de la Mer. Join Boulevard d’Alprech and continue uphill in the same direction. Take the second street on the right and enter a residential area. Then turn into the first street on the left and continue straight ahead.

At the end of the street, turn right onto Rue Champlain, then onto Rue du Commandant Charcot after a left-hand bend. At the junction, carry on straight ahead, then turn left to head back down Allée Paul Dukas. At the dead end, take a small tarmac lane on the left between two hedges and you’ll reach a road. Turn right and follow the road to a crossroads.

(5) Turn right and head uphill towards Stade Ravel. Pass the rocks blocking the way, walk alongside the stadium and reach the end of the track.

(6) Turn left onto a path running alongside a field. Continue in the same direction until you reach a hangar belonging to a microlight flying school.

(7) Turn right just before the hangar. Continue in the same direction, going round two earth mounds, and join a partially tarmac-surfaced track where it turns left. Continue downhill along this track, which ends at the entrance to a private property.

Carry on in the same direction along a path running alongside the property on the left. The path climbs and turns left, then veers slightly to the right alongside a power line. After the last pylon, you’ll reach a junction. Take the concrete track opposite, which passes close to a row of three blockhouses. Further on, carry straight on along a small tarmac road that descends and then climbs again to join the RD119 at Équihen-Plage.

(8) Turn right and follow the RD119. Head downhill to a roundabout.
(Note: leave the^GRP® trail, marked in red and yellow, on your left as it follows Rue de l’Égalité).
At the roundabout, head back up the opposite side via the RD236 and follow it all the way. After a right-hand bend, it descends again and ends in a cul-de-sac on the beach.

(9) Continue along the beach in the same direction. After 300m, turn left, just before a coastal stream.

(10) Leave the beach via a path that leads to a small car park. Further on, turn right onto the Dunes Path (next to an information board), which begins with a wooden staircase followed by a footbridge. The sandy path winds through the dune amidst the vegetation. At the two junctions you come to, turn right.

You’ll reach a concrete track branching off to the left. At the observation post, carry on straight ahead. The track descends. At the first junction, turn right and you’ll reach a second junction

(11) Change direction sharply by turning right once more. At the end of the concrete track, turn 90° to the left and cross the dunes to reach the beach.

(12) Turn left and follow the beach to Hardelot Plage. Just before reaching Hardelot, turn left inland, following a coastal river upstream to a footbridge. Cross the footbridge and, immediately afterwards, take the path on the right. This path joins a small road which you follow without changing direction, leading to the seafront promenade.

(13) Follow this promenade to the end of the route, at a flight of steps leading down to the beach a few metres past the lifeguard station (E).

FFRP rating: difficulty = 2; technical difficulty = 2; risk = 1

Boulogne: the old fortified town (the ramparts, the belfry, the town hall, the castle and its museum, the Basilica-Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l’Immaculée-Conception, the rampart walk), St Nicholas’ Church, the National Maritime Centre.
The beaches from Equihen-Plage to Hardelot-Plage.
The Dune Trail before Hardelot-Plage.