Calais

About Calais - travel, visiting and history

The town of Calais is in Northern France, and will likely be your first experience of being abroad if you have travelled by ferry or through the channel tunnel. Calais is the closest French town to England, and is often overlooked by travellers who are on their way to other major French towns and cities. However, the next time you are considering a visit to the continent, stop just across the shores and discover Calais.

About Calais

Calais is situated directly opposite Dover, overlooking the Straight of Dover itself. This straight is the narrowest of possible points across the channel, only 33 kilometres wide, hence the construction of the channel tunnel there and the location of the two ports. If you stand on the shores of Calais, on a clear day you'll be able to see Dover; it is only 33 Kilometres away! Look out for the white cliffs.

The population of the municipal region of Calais that was taken at the 1999 survey was numbered at 125,584. The town itself is split into two sections, the old town and the new town. Calais-Nord (the old town) is surrounded by harbours and canals, and is positioned on an artificial island. St Pierre, the newer part, is just to the south.

Getting to Calais

There are several ways to travel to Calais - by car or coach with a ferry crossing, by car with the Channel Tunnel connection, or by Eurostar train from London, Ashford or Ebbsfleet. Crossings are very quick. The Eurostar train takes just 1 hour, the ferry 1 hour 30 minutes, and the Channel Tunnel a mere 35 minutes from Folkestone to Calais.

So next time you think about going straight to Paris or Lille, stop and give a thought to Calais; there’s more than enough to see and do.

Calais - Visiting Calais, travel to Calais, and History of Calais